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Primary ground game

Cobb has most volunteers, Ratigan the most union backing, Martz and Nelson vie digitally

Running for Congress is a costly endeavor, in money, time, people and ideas. The five Democrats competing in Tuesday’s primary election in New York’s 21st Congressional District have been gathering and spending these resources in an effort to take on Republican incumbent Rep. Elise Stefanik in the November general election.

People power

Tedra Cobb’s campaign has the largest human base, with 900 volunteers calling voters, knocking on doors, writing 50 letters to the editor and posting on social media.

There are so many volunteers, she said, that the volunteer coordinator, who is also a volunteer, is working nearly full-time, delegating work. Cobb, of Canton, said emphasizing the team effort she needs in her campaign is part of what draws people to volunteer for it; they see that they can be useful and take the opportunity.

“We’re all really committed and inspired by each other,” Cobb said. “Yeah, I am the candidate, but I am one of the team members as well.”

Dylan Ratigan of Lake Placid, the only union-endorsed candidate in the race, is being supported by members of those unions, whom he calls the “backbone” of his campaign.

He said he has about 500 volunteers, and all but 150 of them are members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees, Aluminum Brick & Glass Workers International Union, the Pipefitters Union and teacher’s unions. They’re making calls, knocking on doors and mailing out pamphlets.

“It’s humbling … especially considering we’ve only been in the race for three months,” Ratigan said. “I think it’s an indication of how frustrated people are with a broken political system.”

Katie Wilson of Keene also expects to have around 500 people on primary day to get out the vote. Emily Martz said she has around 100 daily volunteers and 100 who do what they can around tighter work and family schedules. Patrick Nelson of Stillwater has around 70 people in his core group.

Marketing moves

Days before the primary election, Martz supporters could be seen driving around in the “Martz-mobile,” a car pulling a trailer with a large, wooden “Martz for Congress” sign riding on the back, blasting an rewritten version of “The Stars and Stripes Forever” from roof-mounted speakers.

Though the campaign has distributed a couple hundred lawn signs, Martz’s communications director Christopher Di Mezzo is not convinced they are effective, preferring to opt for the “digital lawn sign.”

On Twitter, the Martz campaign account Photoshopped a large Martz lawn sign looming over the Northway and also placed Martz signs in the hands of Ratigan’s communication director, Stewart Lowry.

“Some levity is needed,” Di Mezzo said. “Emily has felt strong that we should be in the direction of getting along with everybody, because at the end of the day, we are all on the same team.”

Ratigan said he likes the picture, a parody of his own gag, “Where’s Stew?” which developed when actor John Cusack of “Say Anything” fame endorsed Ratigan and Lowry was pictured holding a Ratigan sign over his head in the manner of Cusack’s “Say Anything” character, Lloyd Dobler.

Di Mezzo claimed the Martz campaign is the first to run with a “digital first” strategy, targeting voters more accurately than by casting a wide net of television or mail advertising. Nelson disagrees Martz was first.

“I don’t see how that can be true, because we were digital first when we announced, and we announced before everybody,” said Nelson, who announced his run back in January 2017. “We have the strongest digital presence of any Democratic campaign in the history of the 21st Congressional District.”

Di Mezzo argues that since the Martz campaign has put significant money into its systems, it should count as the first.

Through the campaign’s integrated systems, someone who visits Martz’s website gets added to a list on Facebook, highlighting him or her as a likely voter. These systems also incorporate email, text messages and advertising.

Di Mezzo said focusing on digital is difficult because there has not been much research or examples of how it is best utilized. He thinks this difficulty would be an advantage in the general election, as Stefanik may be more focused on traditional advertising than setting up digital systems.

Nelson said that because of his campaign’s smaller budget, they decided to pick a single medium and push that one hard.

Nelson, who said he was a Redditor before the campaign, has done several “Ask Me Anything” events on Reddit, including ones on the r/Political_Revolution and r/Bitcoin subreddits. He also has produced many YouTube videos explaining his positions and ideas.

Since much of this is new to campaigning, Nelson said he is experimenting with it and finding the new online avenues to work well.

Katie Wilson’s strategy for media exposure runs in the opposite direction, spreading her messaging over as many media as possible.

Tim Lim, Wilson’s advisor and friend, said she has used her budget on television ads, digital campaigns, mail and landline calls.

“We want to use tactics that are cutting edge and also tactics that have been tried and true, but everything in moderation,” Lim said.

Lim has run campaigns before but decided to work on Wilson’s for free after he learned about her congressional bid from a mutual friend in Washington, D.C.

Lim said campaigns can often spend a lot of money on television advertising. Since consultants earn commission on the media produced, their goal is often to spend as much as possible on TV. He said lower-budget ads can often be more authentic and effective, and the campaign’s media buyer is buying direct response spaces, discounted ad slots not reserved for a certain time.

Cobb said her messaging focus is to inspire others with her work ethic, letting them see how hard she could work in Congress by the way she works on the campaign trail.

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