¡Bienvenido a Miami! grassroots solutions was recently recognized with eight Pollie Awards during the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) annual conference which took place in Miami, Florida from February 20-22.

The Pollie Awards are the national showcase for political and public affairs achievements. We would like to share this recognition with our clients and partners. 

Below is more information about the winning entries:

Field: Best Volunteer Recruitment Program – Silver
"Camp Evan Bayh Campaign Immersion Program"
All America PAC teamed up with grassroots solutions to develop a volunteer recruitment and development program to assist Democratic candidates in key races. The first step involved developing two introductory campaign trainings held over weekends in Indianapolis and South Bend, and a four-day advanced program that took place in Indianapolis. grassroots solutions created agendas, curricula, and corresponding exercises reflecting the course material and the All America PAC's objectives. Nearly 250 participants attended the Camp Bayh training programs in Indianapolis and South Bend. These introductory trainings provided that foundation for the recruitment of volunteer organizers who would be selected to take part in an advanced campaign development program. From a pool of 600 applicants, grassroots solutions recruited, interviewed, and selected 47 future political organizers to take part in the advanced training program.  Upon completion, these volunteer organizers were deployed to work on a variety of Democratic candidate campaigns at the local, state, and congressional levels in five states in the November mid-term elections.

Field: Candidate Best GOTV Program – Bronze
"Wilson for Congress: Primary Write-In Campaign"
With less than six weeks until primary Election Day, grassroots solutions developed a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) program for State Senator Charlie Wilson's write-in campaign for Congress.  Because Wilson was a strong candidate, grassroots solutions determined that the GOTV operation should concentrate most of its efforts on Democrats who had voted in past primary elections and in four the most populous counties, three of which were located in Charlie Wilson's state senate district.  The assumption was made that most Democrats voting in the primary would cast a vote in favor of Charlie Wilson provided that they knew how to write in the candidate on the new optical and touch screen voting machines. Therefore, the key to winning was not only turning out supporters but educating them on the proper way to write in Charlie Wilson's name.

Field: Initiative/Referendum/Amendment Best Volunteer Recruitment Program - Silver
 "Vote Yes for Better Roads and Transit"
grassroots solutions recruited an organizing staff who conducted a rapid coalition assessment and created an innovative grassroots field and volunteer plan for the Minnesotans for Better Roads and Transit campaign ("Vote Yes") in support of a constitutional amendment dedicating the motor vehicle sales tax to transportation.  Through strategic targeting, coalition outreach, visibility at pre-existing public events, and the largest lawn sign campaign in Minnesota electoral history, grassroots solutions helped energize a large volunteer coalition made up of 1,000 volunteer members, raise awareness around the amendment issue, and build a base of supporters across the state.  Because many coalition members had little to no political campaign experience, the field program was designed to meet members where they were and find easy and accessible volunteer actions that would make a demonstrable impact. 

Field: Initiative/Referendum/Amendment Best GOTV Program – Gold
"Ohio Minimum Wage Campaign"
grassroots solutions worked with the Ohioans for a Fair Minimum Wage (OHMW) committee to leverage existing operations in Ohio to swiftly build a statewide, coordinated campaign targeted at the groups of drop-off, Democratic voters. While the centerpiece of the OHMW campaign was to reach voters at their door, each door contact was part of a "communications sandwich": three contacts, rapidly conducted over a short time period that consist of phone, canvass, and mail. Prior to Get Out the Vote (GOTV), OHMW contracted with ACORN to knock on high-performing urban minority targets.  Additionally, the campaign contracted with the AFL-CIO's associate member program, Working America, to knock on working class Democratic targets twice in targeted congressional districts.

Field: IE Best GOTV Program (joint submission with MacWilliams Robinson & Partners, Mammen Pritchard, NetPolitics Group, Tyson Organization) – Gold
"Coalition for Progress: Get Out the Vote"
The Coalition for Progress (CFP) was founded in the spring of 2006 as an independent voice for Michigan voters. The new organization had an ambitious goal of turning out voters in targeted districts around specific issues to bolster Governor Granholm's reelection bid and to help gain Democratic control of the state legislature. With Granholm struggling in early polls, Democrats gaining control of the legislature would be no small feat. An additional challenge for Democrats and the Governor was Michigan's economy and Granholm's opponent's war chest. CFP's research and polling, however, showed that CFP could capitalize on the fact that the Republican- dominated legislature was perceived to be standing in the way of moving Michigan forward. The polling also suggested that issues such as stem cell research and access to birth control resonated with single women. grassroots solutions and its partners helped translate this information into a well targeted, innovative, and truly integrated Get Out the Vote program.

Field: IE Best GOTV Program – Silver
"Alliance for a Better Minnesota GOTV"
The Alliance for a Better Minnesota (ABM), a state PAC comprised of individuals and progressive organizations, determined that an important segment of voters were potentially being excluded from voter contact programs planned around the state. More specifically, ABM recognized that base Democratic voters in Duluth and the Twin Cities may be neglected. ABM also wanted to determine a way to identify likely Democratic voters in non-base areas and then turn them out based on researched and tested issues on behalf of Democratic candidates running for statewide office. After agreeing that there was a hole that needed to be filled, the next step was to figure out what the voter contact program would look like and how it would be implemented.  grassroots solutions worked with ABM, America Votes, and its allies to plan an integrated GOTV program that would begin five months prior to Election Day and include waves of layered communications with voters through canvass, phone, and mail.  These communications were reinforced by an earned media strategy.

Field: Best Use of Technology (joint submission with MacWilliams Robinson & Partners, Mammen Pritchard, NetPolitics Group, Tyson Organization) - Silver
"Integration of Technology and Tradition in the Field"
grassroots solutions and the Coalition for Progress' consultant team collaborated to design and implement an innovative, fully integrated field operation, utilizing a variety of new and existing technologies. The program was aimed at reaching and turning out a universe consisting of 170,000 (identified and likely) drop-off unmarried, single women voters who lived in targeted legislative districts.  The GOTV program seamlessly integrated a paid canvass, phone program, direct mail, advertising, and new technology to motivate drop-off unmarried, single women to the polls around targeted messages.

Collateral: Yard/Outdoor Signs (joint entry with Himle Horner) – Silver
"Vote Yes for Better Roads and Transit"
Minnesotans for Better Roads and Transit, a coalition of more than 1,000 members, waged a campaign (Vote Yes) in support of a constitutional amendment dedicating the motor vehicle sales tax to transportation.  The campaign needed a creative vehicle to expand awareness of the Vote Yes brand. grassroots solutions' partner, Himle Horner, worked with a team of consultants to design the logo/brand for the campaign's yard and other outdoor signs, which incorporated the easy-to-recognize Minnesota license plate. Usually yard signs are ancillary to a campaign's strategy.  In this case, however, the signs functioned as the candidate. The challenge was how to introduce them to every community across the state of Minnesota. Widespread distribution was essential to the success of the campaign.  grassroots solutions oversaw the distribution of more than 23,500 lawn, window, truck, and 4x8 signs were across the state of Minnesota within a 2-3 week period, making it the largest lawn sign effort in Minnesota history.