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Happy 5th Birthday to Convergence!

Today, we’re five! That means we can tie our shoes unassisted, stand on one foot for more than nine seconds, and flip seats from coast to coast. It’s been a fun five years of learning, growing, and helping some truly stellar candidates make this country a better place.

The next five years for Convergence will be even more exciting than the first. As the political communications landscape continues to evolve, we’re ready to make the changes necessary to keep the progressive victories rolling in. Our talented team is using the off-season to learn some new skills that will make us even more of an asset to our clients.

Thank you to everyone whose stood with us these past five years—we couldn’t have done this without you.

Chris

PS: For those of you who we’ll see in Austin next week at the Reed Awards, we prefer tacos to cupcakes 😉

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Restoring Balance to the Force- 2018 Success Stories

Convergence clients were big winners in a night that was filled with lots to celebrate. All in all, it was a great election for the cause of political reform, which is one of our guiding lights here at Convergence.

We’re very proud of the work we did for our clients alongside some great consultants and managers. That work included:

  • Helping Beverly Powell flip one of the two Texas State Senate seats that changed hands, reclaiming Wendy Davis’ old seat for the Democrats
  • Helping elect Greg Stanton to Congress (AZ-09), outperforming the previous incumbent’s 2016 margin of victory and getting 60% of the vote against a candidate who benefited from $1M+ of outside spending 
  • Working with our longtime friend and client Kate Gallego, who will take an 18-point lead into a March runoff election for Phoenix, AZ Mayor  
  • Working with the Maine House Democratic Caucus IE to flip five seats from Republican to Democratic control, expanding the Democratic margin in the State House
  • Helping elect Steuart Pittman as County Executive and Anne Colt Leitess asState’s Attorney in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, unseating two Republican incumbents who won their 2014 elections by double digits, even as Republican Gov. Larry Hogan won the county by a 70-30 margin

As we set our sights to 2020, the team at Convergence is ready to continue putting in the work to ensure that our country works for everyone. 

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CTC Client Congressman Ruben Gallego wins primary

In the Democratic Primary, voters in Arizona’s seventh congressional district came out in historic numbers to renominate Rep. Ruben Gallego for re-election. Congressman Gallego has always been a strong, progressive voice for his district in Washington, standing up against Trump while fighting for the rights of immigrants and working families in AZ-07. Convergence is proud to count him as our client and our friend. Congratulations, Congressman Gallego!

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CTC Client Congressman David Price wins primary

Last night, voters in North Carolina’s fourth congressional district overwhelmingly renominated Rep. David Price for re-election in the Democratic Primary. Congressman Price is an exemplary public servant and a longtime friend of Convergence. As always, the entire campaign team was a pleasure to work with. Congratulations, Congressman Price!

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So Lim becomes the first Asian American woman elected to the Fairfax City Council

Last night, voters in Fairfax City, VA elected six members of their City Council, including So Lim, who becomes the first Asian American woman to serve on that body. Convergence was proud to work in partnership with the Lim campaign to produce four pieces of direct mail targeted at city voters, helping seal a narrow victory in a “pick-six” election with many candidates.

Previously, Convergence worked to elect Fairfax Mayor David Meyer, who was re-elected to a second term last night without opposition.

So was a tireless campaigner, who’s victory demonstrates the power of grassroots campaigning, especially in local elections. A big congratulations to So and her entire campaign team!

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In Nashville, Convergence Brings Home Two Pollies

Last week, the American Association of Political Consultants hosted their annual conference and awards show, the Pollies. Convergence is proud to have been awarded twice.

“People,” our barrel-folding novelty piece for Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley, won the Gold Pollie for Mayoral mail, after winning a corresponding Reed Award earlier this year.  You can see the piece unfold below:

We also won a bittersweet Silver Pollie for our work on the state legislative special election of Hillary Shields. The piece in question educated Democratic and progressive-minded Independent voters on the true partisanship of a supposed Independent candidate in a three-way election for the State Senate, using a short fold and a circus elephant to make our point. Unfortunately, our campaign fell short of victory — but we were very proud to work alongside the rest of the Shields campaign team, and Hillary herself, and we’re proud to be recognized for our work.

Convergence’s award-winning work from every year since our founding can be seen here.

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The Conversation You Need To Have With Your Campaign Manager

This post by Nick Mildebrath originally ran as a column at Campaigns & Elections.

As a candidate, hiring a campaign manager will be one of the most important decisions you make. It can make the difference between a successful campaign and one that languishes, and, ultimately, loses. When considering a prospective manager, many candidates focus on technical qualifications or professional reputation, but by doing this, they’re missing a key element of a successful candidate/manager relationship.

Again and again, we’ve worked with candidates who are frustrated that their managers are “too demanding” or “not proactive enough,” when in fact, their managers don’t clearly understand their candidate’s expectations. This disconnect doesn’t just lead to personal frustration — it leads to budgeting and scheduling mistakes, embarrassing messaging missteps, and bogged-down processes that will affect your campaign’s smooth operation and eat up your valuable time.

The most frustrating aspect of this phenomenon is that it’s completely avoidable. There are many different models for a successful relationship between a candidate, a manager, and a consulting team, but the common ingredient in all of them is a clearly defined, mutually agreed-upon definition of the manager’s role, and the right time to clarify the role of the campaign manager is before you hire them. Continue reading “The Conversation You Need To Have With Your Campaign Manager”

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CTC client Kwame Raoul wins tough Illinois primary

Major congratulations are in order this morning for the newly-minted Democratic nominee for Illinois Attorney, along with his entire campaign team. Kwame Raoul won last night’s hard-fought, wide-open primary to become his party’s nominee for Attorney General, defeating a former Governor and six other challengers. Convergence helped the Raoul campaign communicate with primary voters in downstate Illinois as part of a successful effort to bolster his support across the entire state. We were proud to be a part of this winning team!