The David Valadao campaign engaged the Arena campaign consulting team in a bid to take back a Congressional seat lost to Democrats in a contested race in 2018.

The Problem

In 2020, CA-21 was once again a toss-up. Facing a 16-point Democrat registration advantage in the 75% Latino district, David Valadao’s 2020 bid to reclaim his old congressional seat was a long shot with the headwinds of a tough year for Republicans.

The Strategy

Recognizing that there wasn’t a silver bullet against TJ Cox, the campaign consulting team at Arena worked to develop a comprehensive, methodical political mail program that used different messages to build on one theme: TJ Cox was too corrupt to be in Congress. 

In this district, every vote mattered. In response, the mail plan delivered specific messages to specific audiences, from swing voters to low propensity Republicans, in three different languages.

Arena’s efforts in the mailbox were integrated with a comprehensive digital plan. Working with a curated network of digital Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs), Arena was able to reinforce the message being delivered to voters in the mailbox. 

Additionally, using television retargeting, the Arena team was able to make sure voters—who were served an ad attacking Valadao or supporting TJ Cox—were served a response from the Valadao campaign.

The Results

In the end, Arena’s political campaign strategy and creative political advertising paid off as David Valadao was elected to Congress by a margin of more than 1,500 votes.

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Arena’s campaign consulting team has helped Republican clients win in all 50 states. Contact us now, and learn how we can help your campaign or ballot initiative win on Election Day.