I will get right down to some of the practices that got me elected to 3 terms in the City Council, then helped me defeat a 5 term incumbent in the Utah State Legislature.
City Council:
To successfully win a city council race you need to engage the voters directly and get them to turn-out to vote since they traditionally have low voter turnout. Walking personally and meeting voters is a key to victory. I ran in a city-wide race in a city of 140,000 people, where the top six vote getters go to the general election to then fill three seats on a two-year cycle, so half of the six council members are up for election.
During the primary, I tried to targeted areas of highest to lowest voter turnout when deciding where to walk. Once I got into the general election, I would target and walk the precincts where I did the worst to the best. In many instances, by walking areas where I did poorly, I went from sixth place to first or second place.
State Legislature:
I used the same tactic running for the state legislature that I did when I ran for city council where I served three terms. When I first ran, I was able to defeat a five-term incumbent because I was regularly out walking two month or more prior to the election and right up to election day.
During the primary, I targeted areas of highest to lowest voter turnout as well as party affiliation when deciding where to walk. When I got my parties nomination and into the general election, I once again targeted and walked the voting precincts I did the worst to the best. Walking precincts where I did poorly, was a good way to meet people that hadn’t supported me and let them get to know me and earn their support.
Cottage Meetings:
Another key to winning local & state house elections is to have cottage meetings in a home of one of your supporters. People feel more comfortable going to the home of a neighbor to hear your message.
When I first started having cottage meetings, I would wrongly think they weren’t successful if I only had ten to fifteen people attending. A close friend of mine that had many years of campaign experience explained to me that people that are willing to come to a cottage meeting are the type of people that talk to their friends about who to vote for. You may have just ten people attending but if they talk to their friends, it can and will influence 80-100 people.
I consider the many cottage meetings I held as a candidate was one of the keys to my success. They might seem like a lot of work for a few people, but they can be the difference maker!
The Vottiv Difference
Their local, and state centered software and tools make everything I talked about easier to accomplish, and more effective.
Targeting high voter turnout areas. When I did this I would look at a past election and choose a precinct with a high voter turnout. Then I would proceed to knock every door in that area. Not know if I was knocking on the door of a likely voter, or even a registered voter. With Vottiv you can create a group based on voter propensity. You could easily create a group of voters who consistently vote in local elections, then target them with their door-to-door canvassing app, texting, mailers or several other ways.
General election/runoff strategy. If you make it through the primary, and want to focus on an area that you performed poorly in based on the precinct-level returns you can draw the specific areas you wish to target in Vottiv, then start working on the likely voters in those areas.
Cottage Meetings. Let’s say through your canvassing efforts you find a supporter that is willing to put on a cottage meeting for you. you could select an area like you see above. Create the group for that area, and send out a text to voters in that area inviting them to the cottage meeting. Which will help you get even more people to attend, and spreading your support.
Bottom line is these are some of the most effective ways to win a local election, and as you can see using Vottiv makes it so much easier, effective, and affordable. Learn more at vottiv.com and start a 14-day free trial!
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