Putting it all Together: Case Studies
Statewide Surprise
New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli faced a very difficult situation heading for his first election to a full term as Comptroller. He had been appointed to the job by the State Legislature after the previous Comptroller had pled guilty to misuse of state resources, but was immediately attacked by the Governor who had preferred a different candidate, and for the following three years had his office placed under investigation by the Attorney General (generally stemming from scandals left over from his predecessor).
By 2010, the legislature that had appointed him was deeply unpopular with the voters, and the Attorney General that had investigated him was now running for Governor and refusing to endorse him (despite the fact that they were in the same party). With a self-financing opponent who would ultimately outspend him nearly 3-1; a campaign that was in disarray just 6 weeks before Election Day, and a wave of harsh editorials endorsing his opponent from the vast majority of newspapers across the state, the GOP saw their best opportunity for a statewide win and many on both sides of the aisle assumed that DiNapoli's political career was over.
That's when he brought in Red Horse Strategies to take over as General Consultants, in a last-ditch effort to revive the campaign. RHS quickly did an operational audit of the campaign, identified a number of key changes and began executing quickly. With financial resources limited, RHS was able to maximize the involvement of supportive labor unions, set up field offices throughout the state and begin some long overdue campaign operations that had simply not been happening through the Summer and early Fall.
At the same time, RHS was able to do a fast, highly targeted mail campaign building up DiNapoli and effectively challenging his opponent, a Wall Street millionaire who was promising to bring his investment expertise to the job.
On Election Day, with the Governor's race a foregone conclusion, all eyes were on the Comptroller to see if he would survive the most challenging political test of his career. Early returns were discouraging, but as the night wore on DiNapoli clawed his way back up, eventually winning by a healthy margin and shocking new York's political establishment.