Sonya Fischer for Clackamas
Threading a Messaging Needle on Broadcast and Digital to Defeat a MAGA Republican
The Challenge
A nonpartisan race for Clackamas County Commissioner. A popular Republican incumbent in one of Oregon’s most swingy counties. And our Democratic candidate working hard to fundraise but still being outspent 2:1. With a limited budget, we needed to consolidate our Democratic base and quickly litigate the case against the incumbent, without turning off the Independent and Republican voters we’d need to win.
The Strategy
We wrote and produced one 30-second spot that exposed Clackamas County Commissioner Ben West’s corruption and reintroduced Sonya to Clackamas County voters, without once mentioning either candidate's party affiliation. The ad was persuasive because it leaned into existing news coverage, but it was the media buys we placed that ensured it could break through and do its job. Outspent 2:1, we managed surgically timed and targeted buys across Broadcast, YouTube, CTV, social media, paid texts, and search.
The Outcome
In the end, Sonya won the race by 4 points. Our work helped a Democrat win a seat in a county that Republicans had carried by nearly 5 points in the most recent gubernatorial election.
5%
Republicans carried the county by 5% in the prior gubernatorial election.
2:1
We were outspent 2:1 by the incumbent opposition.
51.9%
By winning a majority of the vote, our candidate defeated the incumbent outright, avoiding a November runoff.
Living large on your dime.
In contrast to the sitting Commissioner, our candidate, Sonya Fischer, was the only candidate voters could trust to restore integrity in Clackamas County.
“Empirical is great…they captured and executed a winning message that led me to victory.”
— Sonya Fischer, Clackamas County Commissioner Elect