CASE STUDIES .

Background

In 2018, Golden made history becoming the first challenger to defeat an incumbent in this district in over 100 years. A veteran, he won a hard-fought race in a district that went for Trump by 10 points and voted for the Republican House incumbent in the previous cycle by the same margin.  In 2020, Golden faced a daunting challenge in this rural conservative district: re-election in a presidential year. He prevailed again, beating the odds and winning by 6 points while Trump won by 6 points.

In 2022, Golden was again at the top of Republican’s target list, with Republicans ultimately spending $15 million to try and unseat him.

The Research-Based Strategy

Our research showed Golden’s well-earned independent brand connected with voters. We leaned into that brand, reinforcing Golden’s commitment to service and to putting Mainers above party while drawing a stark contrast against Bruce Poliquin and his record of cutting Social Security and Medicare.

Our tracking program identified early on that third party voters were disproportionately ranking Golden as their second choice above Poliquin – so while other polls showed Golden in a weaker position (using only the first-choice vote), our polling showed the reality.

Results

With a focused strategy, Golden again withstood an onslaught of Republican attacks and prevailed in this rural, conservative district by 6 points.