Targeting the Most Unusual Electorate In America
How innovative targeting helped win a record third-term for New York City’s mayor
By Ken Strasma O
n the surface, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg seemed like a shoo- in for reelection in early 2009. He was a popular incumbent with access to an unlimited war chest. (In his first two campaigns for mayor, Bloomberg
spent more than $150 million of his own money.) But despite the structural advan- tages, Bloomberg actually faced a number of formidable obstacles to his bid for a third term, the most serious of which was public anger over his push to extend the city’s term limits law. Strategic Telemetry signed on in early 2009 to head the mayor’s target-
ing effort. From the start, we knew that traditional targeting was not go- ing to work in New York City. In a traditional election, targeting begins with partisanship, but in Bloomberg’s case, party registration was not nearly enough. Nor were other traditional targeting tools like geography and ethnicity. Our task was developing a targeting framework that went beyond partisanship, geography and race, and included voter’s values and attitudes.
The Term Limits Storm New York City voters had passed a referendum limiting their mayors to two terms. In 2008, citing the need for an experienced leader to lead the city out of the wors- ening financial crisis, Bloomberg allies on the city council overturned the term limits law, opening the way for the mayor to seek a third term. The move was not popular. Sixty-one percent of New York City voters called in our initial round of IDs agreed with the following statement: “I am less favorable to Mayor Bloomberg
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80