Success Story

Virginia House Dems

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for Virginia State House


Overview

Tech for Campaigns is a strong partner of the Virginia House Democratic Caucus, and partnered with the Caucus again in 2019 to support 28 candidates running for House seats in the state. Teams crafted candidate websites; authored awareness, persuasion and GOTV ad campaigns using Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Google Display, and Snapchat; and focused on persuasion and GOTV using email as well as a personalized texting push.

Additionally, Tech For Campaigns rebuilt the Virginia House Democrats website and managed their digital advertising — building support for all House candidates and progressive causes in the state.

Background

In 2019, all 140 seats in the Virginia General Assembly were up for election. Going into the election cycle, Republicans held a razor-thin majority — just 2 seats — in both the House of Delegates and the Senate. This presented an urgent opportunity to flip both chambers and enable Virginian legislators to pass common sense gun reform, the Equal Rights Amendment, and Medicaid expansion.

Tech Needs

Races in the Virginia State House were won or lost by razor-thin margins in 2017. Shelly Simonds, candidate for Virginia House of Delegates, lost by 1 vote! With these types of margins, the Virginia House Democratic Caucus knew that their candidates were positioned to win, and Democrats with people-first policies  could take control the House, if every candidate they supported had a more comprehensive, professional, targeted digital strategy.

"Our partnership with TFC was essential to helping our candidates run professional, strategic digital campaigns. Their volunteers and staff provided Virginia's candidates with expert advice and talent, and were a key factor in flipping Virginia's State House blue."

— Trevor Southerland, Executive Director, Virginia House Democratic Caucus


The Team

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The Work

Digital Ads teams drove strong digital campaigns across awareness, persuasion, list-building, Get Out The Vote, and ‘rapid response’ efforts. At the same time, Email Teams helped candidates fundraise, while Website teams created engaging portals for campaigns to tell their stories, capture voter interest, and build their online presence.

In parallel, Tech For Campaigns teams provided direct digital support to the caucus, rebuilding their website from the ground up, and crafting advertising campaigns on Facebook to persuade key constituencies, contrast Democratic candidates against their opponents, and much more.

The Results

By partnering with the Virginia House Democratic Caucus, Tech For Campaigns expanded the digital strategy of democratic House candidates for little to no cost to each campaign. This enabled candidates to focus on the needs of their constituents and, ultimately, earn enough votes to flip the Virginia State House.

“Working with TFC on Josh Cole’s campaign was incredible. Being able to be part of turning Virginia blue is exciting, and I’m grateful that TFC exists to allocate volunteer resources where they’re needed!”
— Tanay Mehta, Team Lead on Josh Cole Email Marketing

For example: 

  • Alex Askew won as a first-time candidate running for a House seat in District 85 against a former incumbent. TFC built his website and created and executed a digital advertising strategy that ran across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Google.
  • Josh Cole flipped a seat in a highly competitive district, District 28, one that he had previously lost by less than 200 votes. TFC overhauled his website, executed a digital advertising strategy, and raised thousands of dollars via email for his campaign.

By flipping both the State House and Senate in 2019, the Virginia General Assembly was able to dismantle decades of restrictive Republican-approved legislation in their 2020 legislative session. The General Assembly passed bills to raise the minimum wage, empower local governments to remove Confederate statues, transform the energy landscape in response to climate change and pass common sense gun reform.1,2

In 2021, Tech For Campaigns is again partnering with the Virginia House Democratic Caucus to help them retain control of the House. 

Sources
  1. https://www.virginiamercury.com/2020/02/12/in-five-weeks-virginia-democrats-reshape-decades-of-state-policy/
  2. https://wtop.com/virginia/2020/03/gun-legislation-heres-what-the-virginia-general-assembly-passed/
“My experience with TFC was incredibly valuable. I was able to not only learn more about the significance of state elections but more importantly, make a positive, measurable impact on my candidate's campaign.”
— Jen Rhee, Graphic Designer, Larry Barnett Digital Advertising

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