CASE STUDY: ELECTIONS
Defending (& Strengthening) a Legislative Majority in Unprecedented Circumstances
The Background
Less than six months before Election Day, former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was arrested amid a federal $60-million racketeering and bribery investigation. The resulting snowball effect immediately put the GOP significantly behind in establishing the political operation necessary to protect the GOP House majority. The caucus did not have opposition research, nor voter contact plans, nor budgets. Work that would typically have been completed 6 to 12 months prior to the election would now have to be done in just a little over 2 months before the start of early voting.
The Plan
With the GOP majority suddenly in jeopardy, the caucus needed to very quickly establish a political operation for dozens of now-contested races. The GOP faced an uphill battle in terms of time, fundraising, polling, opposition research, and the limitations of COVID-19. The Majority Strategies and Causeway Solutions teams were hired 100 days out from Election Day to tackle the unprecedented challenge of building the necessary political operation from scratch and delivering the caucus’s voter contact plans in over 30 districts.
The Solutions
Majority Strategies’ direct mail and digital advertising were combined with Causeway Solutions’ data insights to deliver targeted, creative messaging aimed at persuasion and turnout, with a specific focus on absentee voters.
The Results
The House GOP overcame every challenge of the 2020 political cycle, including the fallout from the Householder indictment, and not only protected its majority but did the unthinkable and strengthened it from 61 seats to 64 seats – one of the largest historical majorities on either side of the aisle in a year when Democrats flipped the White House, gained the majority in the U.S. Senate, and protected their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Ready to get started? Contact the Majority Strategies team today.