Montana Republicans went into the 2024 campaign with major advantages: an increasingly conservative electorate in the state, a favorable national climate, and a history of only minimal Democratic independent expenditures supporting state legislative candidates. Our goal through Big Sky Values PAC was to fill that gap. The mission of BSV, founded by former Gov. Steve Bullock, is to help Democrats win races in rural and other red-leaning areas.
We served as both the sole fundraising source and the sole media firm for BSV. Over a two-year period, we raised nearly $200,000 for the PAC from 6,500 online donors. Then we used that money to run a fully digital media program targeting six key State House and Senate districts.
In each of our six target districts, we delivered a message that 1) was fully positive, 2) was laser-focused on voters’ economic frustrations, 3) established our candidate as an outsider fighting against the Helena establishment, and 4) was tailored to our candidates’ unique biographical strengths. Every piece of creative for this program tapped into what voters were sick of (tax breaks for wealthy out-of-staters while their own property taxes were rising) to position our candidates as fighting for their community.
In order to maximize frequency and brand awareness for candidates most voters didn’t know much about — during an election season in which voters were deluged with political content — we relied solely on 15s videos, 6s videos, and display ads, deployed through YouTube, CTV, and programmatic channels.
Despite Republicans romping to victory all across Montana, we won four of our six targeted seats, helping Democrats gain enough seats in both chambers to end the GOP legislative supermajority.
