Catching An Edge On Your Opponent?

When Rebecca Casper filed for Mayor of Idaho Falls she faced a formidable foe in Sharon Parry. Steve Taggart, one of Casper’s advisors, observed that Parry had been a City Councilor for 6 years having won each race by more than 70%. Parry had high name recognition having received lots of positive press and appeared to be well liked and hard to beat.

Everyone associated with the Casper campaign knew it was a big challenge. Casper was comparatively new to politics. She had served on several committees and was well qualified but had much lower name ID. So the team behind Casper was looking for ways to catch an edge to try and win. That’s why they reached out to Action Solutions, looking for that edge to win this race. When they reached out, no one thought they could win in this initial race with greater than 50%. If Casper garnered 50% or more there would be no run-off race. But no one expected that outcome.

However, the Casper campaign put together a multifaceted approach that included Action Solutions’ automated calls. These calls included some voter ID calling and some automated calls asking for the vote on election day. Action Solutions’ consultative approach, along with on-the-ground wisdom from volunteers like Steve Taggart, made those calls an effective way of gauging the potential electorate’s feelings about issues.   It also aided in crafting the right messages about what Casper planned to do and made effective appeals to them to ask for the vote.

Using messages like the following, “Hello, this is Rebecca Casper, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to speak to you in person. As you know the City Election is next Tuesday, November 5th. I want to take Idaho Falls to a higher level; my commitment is to solve current problems, grow our economy and enhance our community. If you would like to know more about where I stand please go to my website at Casperformayor.com. Again, this is Rebecca Casper, and regardless of who you vote for, make sure you take the time to vote on Tuesday. Thank you!”

Rebecca Casper was able to effectively appeal to her future constituents and encourage them to vote for her.

On election day, Casper won 54% of the vote and is now installed as Mayor of Idaho Falls! As a surprise, Casper won without the need for a run-off election as she received greater than 50% of the vote. Mayor Casper is now the second highest ranking Republican woman in the State of Idaho! Congratulations to Rebecca Casper and her team of supporters!

Do you have an election coming up? Call or email Action Solutions today. If you have any questions or would like more information regarding options available for communications campaigns, contact Jeff Kubler at 888-761-3003, or at jeff@actionsolutions.net.