CHALLENGE When President Barack Obama appointed Georgia State Senator David Adelman as Ambassador to Singapore, a special election was called to fill his seat in the 42nd district. Nominated in December, Adelman did not vacate the seat until his appointment was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in late March. The uncertainty made budgeting, scheduling direct mail and other campaign activities nearly impossible to plan. Further complicating matters, our projections estimated that fewer than 10,000 voters would turn out for a mid-spring special election. Carter's leading opponent was a well-known community leader who had garnered almost 10,000 votes in the district running against an incumbent judge just 18 months prior. Coupled with a ready-made grassroots network and willingness to self-fund, the competitor was within striking distance of victory before the election had even been set. SOLUTION Influence Factory applied a balanced attack that included both paid communications to voters and grassroots outreach. We organized and held more than 20 “meet-and-greets” and house parties across the district (most of those in the six-week lead-up – minimum allowable by state law – to the election), recruiting friends and neighbors to open their homes and invite voters to get to know Carter in an informal setting. We also coordinated an online and print advertising blitz in hyper-local news outlets during the final three weeks of the campaign. RESULTS The May 11th special election attracted 8500 voters – fewer than 10 percent of those registered. The campaign impressed many political onlookers with exhaustive outreach and impressive fundraising – nearly $300,000. Carter also won the endorsements of several locally elected officials, Georgia Equality, Georgia Conservation Voters and others. We leveraged their outreach networks to maximum effect in a four-way race, winning all 42 precincts and nearly 66 percent of the total votes cast. Jason Carter Wins Special Election http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/11/jason_carter