CASE STUDY: Jensen and Smith Campaigns

In 2009, Oregon’s Legislative Session was dominated by gaps in the state budget caused by the 2008 collapse of the financial system. Despite pressure from within their own political party to not compromise with Democrats on a budget balancing deal, both Representative Bob Jenson (R – Pendleton) and Representative Greg Smith (R – Heppner) rejected the ideological pressures permeating from a faction of their party rigidly opposed to compromise. As a result, Representatives Smith and Jenson were targeted for removal from office by their own party leadership who desired to replace them with Republicans that would tow the party line more consistently. Two tea party candidates were selected by leadership to run against them in the 2010 Republican primaries.

Pac/West heavily consulted on the re-election bids of Representative Jenson and Representative Smith, developing and operating successful campaign plans and managing the direct mail programs and earned media. In an election season dominated with Tea Party litmus tests, our goal was to help each Representative win their respective primaries against two fierce competitors willing to say anything to get elected.

In order to achieve our goal, Pac/West provided a wide range of effective tools. Together with the candidates, we developed a strategic plan to defeat their well financed challengers. We developed a platform specific to each candidate. We set clear, focused goals and created a ‘Checklist to Re-election’ for each campaign.

Our New Media team created modern websites and eye-catching brochures for each candidate. We used these brochures in an aggressive direct mail campaign in order to connect each Representative with their constituents and gain the support of key local leaders. We reached out to local media outlets and created earned media that clearly and effectively delivered the messages of each campaign to its target audience.

Finally, we put boots on the ground and organized door-to-door outreach, creating direct relationships with voters and further increasing the name and issue recognition of each candidate.

We are proud to report that we successfully reached our goal: Representative Smith and Representative Jenson each defeated their Tea Party challengers to win their primaries, earning 63 percent and 52 percent of the vote, respectively. In the general election, both carried their campaigns forward to win re-election to the Legislature.