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The Challenge
When State Senator Guy Reschenthaler jumped into the Republican primary for the congressional seat in PA-14, he was down 50.8 points against Republican Rick Saccone in our initial poll. The problem? We had only seven weeks to make up the difference.
IF THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARY ELECTION FOR US CONGRESS WAS HELD TODAY, AND THE CANDIDATES WERE RICK SACCONE OR GUY RESCHENTHALER FOR WHOM WOULD YOU VOTE?
The Solution
The poll numbers were daunting, but they also revealed something important. When we asked voters an open-ended question about whom they would support in the upcoming primary, only 36.8% said Rick Saccone. Our 50.8-point deficit shrunk to a 32.8-point deficit.
IN THE UPCOMING REPUBLICAN PRIMARY ELECTION FOR CONGRESS FOR WHOM WOULD YOU VOTE?
This told us that Rick Saccone’s lead was driven by name ID from the recent special election. The battle plan became clear. We needed to use the next seven weeks to introduce voters to Guy Reschenthaler as the conservative standard-bearer and make Rick Saccone an unappealing option.
We launched our first TV ad immediately on broadcast television, painting Guy as a conservative fighter, a JAG officer who prosecuted terrorists in Iraq, and a lifelong Pennsylvanian.
Our second and final ad portrayed a stark contrast. We painted Rick Saccone as an insider politician who enjoyed taxpayer-funded perks, raised taxes and couldn’t even win a safe Republican seat. In contrast, Guy fought against tax hikes and rejected taxpayer-funded perks as a state senator. We even used Saccone’s relationship with President Trump against him, highlighting the president’s disgust with Saccone’s defeat.
"The odds were not in our favor, but ColdSpark drafted a strategic plan that took our campaign from 50 points down in the polls to a 10-point victory. We couldn’t have done it without the ColdSpark team.”
Congressman Guy Reschenthaler
The Result
On election night, our hard-hitting approach paid off. Guy Reschenthaler went from being down 51 points to winning by more than 10 points.
Reschenthaler gives Saccone a second election loss in two months
Our campaign benefitted from two other factors. One, a pro-Guy super PAC amplified our message on television and in mail boxes. Two, Rick Saccone ran an astonishingly terrible campaign, ignoring Guy’s surge until the final two weeks.
Thanks to Saccone’s ineffective campaign, our clear, effective message and the campaign’s discipline throughout the seven-week sprint, Guy Reschenthaler is a congressman today.