GOP communications consultants worry their side may learn the wrong lesson from Greg Gianforte's victory Thursday night. The Montana Republican won a special House election that turned out to be […]
Campaigns and Groups Ignore Wikipedia at Their Peril
On the internet, there is no truth greater than Wikipedia. Wikipedia pages are almost always present at the top of search results, and most searchers looking for quick answers to […]
Making Sense of Political Tech in 2019
In 2019, what’s a campaign to do? With 20 Democrats running for president, including Uncle Joe Biden but excluding Mike Gravel, how can anyone stand out from the crowd? Down-ballot, […]
2019 Reed Award Winners
Congratulations to the 2019 Reed Award winners. The winning firms were honored at The Reed Awards Conference at 800 Congress in Austin, TX on February 21. Named for Campaigns & Elections founder Stanley Foster […]
Consultants Ponder Ways To Combat The Industry’s Harassment ‘Blind Spot’
As published stories of alleged work-related harassment and assault shine a not-so-welcome light on the political campaign industry, practitioners are grappling with how to confront predatory behavior. While some […]
Throwing Spaghetti at the Wall
The key to success online, says Blue State Digital’s Alex Kellner, is not to get distracted by the traditional campaign plan. “Don’t be afraid to throw spaghetti at the wall,” […]
Words We Remember
If you tune out the endless convention speeches, you might miss a moment when history is made. So you want to get terror suspects screaming for mercy? Make them sit […]
Archive: An Interview with Roger Ailes
Editor’s note: In May 1988 Campaigns & Elections sat down with Roger Ailes, then media strategist for George Bush, to get his take on negative advertising, combating negative stories, and […]
11 Consultant Predictions for 2024
If the first two weeks are any indication, the next 12 months are going to be wild. A presidential election in the United States, and some 50 other contests around the globe, […]
7 reasons print isn’t dead for campaigns
In the age of smartphones, the media advertising cliché is that print is dead. Yes, some publishers are abandoning their dead-tree editions. And for advertising, digital is increasingly attractive because […]
How Campaigns Reached Voters of Color Online In 2020
2020 was an unprecedented year in that campaigns, non-profits, and independent expenditure efforts were in an arms race to persuade and mobilize voters of color. If there was any takeaway this cycle, it’s that voters of color aren’t just the margin of victory — they’re the key to victory.
Consultants Remember Wooten Johnson
Julian Wooten Johnson, Jr., known as Wooten, passed away Dec. 6 at the age of 51. A political consultant and veteran of many a hard-fought campaign battles throughout the country, he was known as a Southern operative. He was a fundraiser in Alabama, a caucus director in North Carolina, a DCCC regional director, a campaign manager and chief of staff for Rodney Alexander.
Unsiloing Media Buying Can Help Campaigns Overcome Blind Spots
Think back to the not-so-distant past, when our media choices were limited to cable or broadcast. Now come back to today, when the typical viewer has almost infinite choices on […]
Democratic Consultant Indicted On Campaign Finance Charges
Following an FBI investigation, Kentucky-based Democratic consultant Dale Emmons was indicted Friday by a federal grand jury in Lexington on charges stemming from work he allegedly did for Alison Lundergan […]
FEC Weighs New Rules to Govern Political Ads Online
The Federal Election Commission on Thursday wrapped two days of public hearings to weigh new rules on digital ad disclaimers. The commission heard from a total of 18 witnesses across […]
April Hackney Remembered As ‘Pioneer’ Consultant
The consulting community is mourning the sudden loss of April Hackney who passed away in Anchorage last week. Hackney, who served as president of Hackney & Hackney, Inc., was a […]
Channeling Your Candidate’s Mission Into A Message
Harvey Milk was here to recruit us. Bill Clinton believed in a place called Hope. Ronald Reagan suggested it was a time for choosing, and Donald Trump promised to Make […]
Campaign Guru’ Gets 15 Months In San Diego Corruption Case
Almost a year after he was convicted of helping a wealthy Mexican businessman funnel money to support candidates running for local and federal office in San Diego, Ravneet “Ravi” Singh […]
2017 Rising Stars
Since 1988, Campaigns & Elections has recognized up-and-comers in the campaign business with the coveted Rising Star award. It's one of the most prestigious honors in the campaign world for a reason: industry […]
Is The Trump Effect Reducing TV Ad Prices?
Hillary Clinton unveiled a massive ad buy this week but behind the scenes has started strategically shuffling her media resources. On Monday, the same day her campaign trumpeted $80 million […]
How some of the industry’s top firms created their brands
What do J.R.R. Tolkien, the Boston Red Sox, hamburgers and the Revolutionary War have in common? Not a punchline, believe it or not. In fact, they’ve all served to inspire […]
Arnold Pinkney, consultant for Jesse Jackson in ’84, dies
Consultant Arnold Pinkney, who helped elect Dick Celeste governor of Ohio and managed civil rights advocate Jesse Jackson’s 1984 presidential campaign, has died. “With his passing, a huge part of history goes […]
What the GOP must learn from Tuesday’s special election
Low turnout in Tuesday’s special Senate election was supposed to help Republican Gabriel Gomez. But facing unseasonably hot and humid weather in Massachusetts, voters in the moderate suburbs barely outpaced […]
It’s never too soon to start fundraising
With the elections only a couple of weeks past, we Republicans can still feel the sour taste of Gov. Romney’s defeat and the triumph of a House victory. Luckily this […]