Case Study:
Victory in Wausau
A Stunning Mayoral Win Against a Democratic Rising Star

The Problem
The spring 2024 mayoral race in Wausau, Wisconsin, became the state’s most-watched contest, pitting Conservative Doug Diny against incumbent Mayor Katie Rosenberg, who many characterized as a rising star in the Democratic Party with eyes on statewide office. Rosenberg took office following the 2020 mayoral election with a decisive 52%- 47% victory. Up for reelection in 2024, Rosenberg benefited from a strong Democratic base and a late influx of six-figure funding in the campaign’s final days.

The Goal
The Majority Strategies team needed to craft a strategic voter contact plan to:

1) Solidify Diny’s base and appeal to persuadable voters, and

2) Shift the narrative by contrasting Rosenberg’s record with Diny’s vision to motivate undecided voters on key issues. With limited funds, every dollar had to target the right voters effectively.

The Plan of Action
Majority Strategies developed a lean yet impactful plan, leveraging data and targeting to maximize reach in a non-traditional spring election. The strategy included:

Data-Driven Targeting:
We identified a coalition of 5,799 high-to-mid turnout voters using cutting-edge analytics, with a heavy focus on absentee and early voters.

Multi-Channel Approach:
We combined three mail pieces, a new campaign website, a :15 video for over-the-top (OTT) and Facebook (FB) ads, and digital flights to expand beyond persuadable voters into harder GOP-leaning demographics.

Contrast Messaging:
We emphasized Diny’s strengths against Rosenberg’s record, coordinating mail, digital, and social content for consistency.

The Details
Voter Reach:
Targeted 5,799 unique voters in Wausau.

Direct Mail:
Produced three mail pieces tailored to key audiences.

Digital Advertising:
Three flights of Facebook advertising with over 330,000 impressions, exceeding the industry click-through rate (CTR) benchmark of 0.9% with a 1.12% CTR. The :15 video and OTT/CTV ads reinforced the direct mail messaging.

Website:
Launched a new website to highlight Diny’s strengths and issue positions and drive engagement.

The Results
Despite Rosenberg’s incumbency and Democratic spending, Doug Diny delivered a stunning upset, winning the race by 424 votes – 50.8% to 49.2%.

Key Takeaways
Majority Strategies turned a challenging race into a victory using our data insights to target the right audience on the right medium with the right message and effectively utilize a tight budget.

We identified a critical block of 5,799 voters and crafted creative contrast messaging that shifted the narrative against a well-funded incumbent. Diny’s contrast messaging changed the race’s trajectory, making him the highest-profile Republican win in Wausau that spring.

The +8.2% turnout lift among high-turnout voters added 214 votes, and we persuaded 859 new voters to cast their ballots in the mayoral election.

Majority Strategies took my vision and turned it into powerful, budget-friendly messaging that truly connected with voters.
– Doug Diny

View the full case study and samples of our work here.