Team,

You’ve heard me say before just how important early money is when running a successful campaign. Today, I thought I’d share a case study to emphasize just how effective it can be.

I’ve never had an easy race, but we knew my last election was going to be especially tough. At the beginning of 2022, it was already predicted to be the most competitive House race in Michigan and one of the ten most competitive in the country. Furthermore, because of redistricting, I had three entirely new counties I needed to introduce myself to.

So, we got started early – and the first thing on our list was fundraising. I know, I know, it’s everyone’s least favorite part of politics (especially mine) – but it was effective. 

Because we started early, we went into the summer with around $5 million in the bank, while my opponent had less than $200,000. We were able to use this advantage to get ads on TV and online months before my opponent was able to – a critical part of introducing myself to the new area of the district. AND we were able to keep those ads on TV when pricing skyrocketed in the months leading up to the election.

The proof is in the pudding. As the election grew closer, I couldn’t go anywhere without folks recognizing me from one of my ads. I even had kids coming up to me to tell me they’d seen my ads on Youtube. We ended up winning by 5% – our biggest-ever win margin – and over-performing in many of the new areas, including my opponent’s home county, which we actually flipped from red to blue.

I don’t know what next election season will look like, but I do know that repeating last year’s successes will be critical. That’s why I’m asking if you’ll chip in below to help us get an early start!