Summary
Good digital strategy and a clear message can capture voters’ attention. Lucas County’s down-ballot victories in 2024 prove it works at every level.
Down-ballot candidates faced an impossible challenge in 2024. Four local Democratic candidates in Lucas County, Ohio were battling for voters’ attention and donor dollars in one of the nation’s most competitive political environments: a tight congressional district, Ohio’s most contested Senate race in recent memory, and the noise of a presidential cycle.
Two first-time judicial candidates and two newly appointed city council members needed to cut through that chaos with budgets that typically limit campaigns to boosted social media posts. Instead, they proved that sophisticated digital strategy can level the playing field when the right tools meet smart execution.
The result? A newcomer judicial candidate defeated an incumbent by 40,000 votes. All four Democratic candidates in Lucas County claimed victory. And the Lucas County Democratic Party (LCDP) set a new benchmark for what county parties can achieve when strategy beats spending.
The Strategic Challenge: Presidential Cycles Drown Local Voices
Presidential years create a perfect storm for down-ballot campaigns. Voter attention fragments across multiple high-profile races. Media coverage focuses on the top of the ticket, and digital advertising costs skyrocket as campaigns compete for the same inventory.
LCDP’s new leadership recognized this challenge and made a strategic decision: rather than fighting for scraps of attention, they would coordinate a slate campaign that amplified all candidates while preventing voter drop-off down the ticket.
But executing that vision required digital capabilities typically reserved for big-budget campaigns. That’s where Advocate, our self-serve programmatic platform, proved its value for local politics.
Strategy: Precision Targeting Meets Coordinated Messaging
Working with the LCDP team, we developed a dual-audience strategy designed to maximize efficiency and results within realistic budget constraints.
Mobilize the Democratic Base
In a high-turnout presidential year, our primary focus was mobilizing Democratic voters to complete their entire ballot, not just vote candidates flooding broadcast stations.
We used Advocate’s precise targeting capabilities to identify high-propensity Democratic voters within Lucas County, expanding to medium-propensity voters in the crucial four weeks before Election Day. The campaign mobilized these segments via programmatic video, display, and YouTube ads, using geographic targeting to concentrate efforts in the highest voter-turnout zip codes.
Persuade Split-Ticket Voters
Lucas County presents a strategic opportunity: while largely Democratic, it includes significant numbers of independent voters and “soft” Republicans. In the final month, we expanded targeting beyond the Democratic base to reach Republicans and Independents who might vote for Trump but could be persuaded to support local Democratic candidates.
We increased the number of display creatives for judicial candidates and the broader slate, targeting Lucas County voters with display and YouTube ads focused on the highest turnout areas.
Results That Speak to Strategic Impact
The numbers demonstrate what happens when smart strategy meets the right technology:
- Over 2 million impressions with strong engagement metrics and video completion rates above 70% for base mobilization
Over 500,000 video completions and 2,600 clicks from persuasion targeting
What This Means for Local Politics
The Lucas County results prove that down-ballot candidates don’t have to accept digital disadvantage in presidential cycles. LCDP is quickly becoming a benchmark for county parties across Ohio, demonstrating that sophisticated digital strategy isn’t just for congressional campaigns and above. With the right approach, local candidates can achieve the precision targeting and strategic messaging that drives real electoral impact.
This campaign shows that good digital strategy, grounded in local coordination, smart delivery, and strategic use of programmatic advertising, works whether you’re running for president or county judge. The tools that elect presidents can also elect local leaders, when strategy guides the execution.
Ready to prove that local campaigns can compete at any level? Schedule your Advocate Demo today.
Campaign Spotlight: Down-Ballot Candidates in a Presidential Cycle
Down-ballot candidates faced an uphill battle in 2024. Municipal and county candidates competed with the top of the ticket for voters’ attention and needed to make substantial impact to earn their seats. By leveraging Advocate as their programmatic ads platform, the local County Democratic Party candidates cut through the noise in Lucas County and precisely targeted their voters.
For local candidates operating on smaller budgets, digital advertising often feels out of reach beyond boosted posts on social media. Advocate, our digital targeting self-serve tool, powers campaigns up and down the ticket. Advocate opens up digital advertising inventory typically reserved for high spend candidates.
In Lucas County, Ohio, four candidates were running in down-ballot races. Two first-time county judicial candidates and two newly appointed city council members were on the ballot. These four candidates were battling for voters’ attention (and donor dollars) in a highly competitive congressional district and with one of the tightest races for senate in Ohio’s recent history.
The Challenge – Cutting through the Noise with Small Budgets
New leadership in the Lucas County Democratic Party (LCDP) capitalized on the enthusiasm of 2024 and focused their fundraising efforts on a slate campaign for the judicial candidates and a larger slate to discourage voter drop-off.
LCDP reached out to collaborate on a strategy to help the party amplify candidates’ messages in the weeks leading up to election day. LCDP committed to raising funds on behalf of the candidates and running their own digital program. Because we were already running each candidate’s digital campaign on Advocate, we were able to strategically target candidates’ audiences and increase LCDP’s impact.
Strategy
We worked with the LCDP team to develop a strategy tailored to key voter segments and designed to maximize efficiency and results:
1. Mobilize the Voter Base
Planning for a high-turnout presidential year, our focus was to mobilize the Democratic voting base to vote all the way down the ticket, preventing drop-off.
- Used Advocate’s precise targeting capabilities to identify high-propensity Democratic voters within the county, expanding to medium-propensity voters in the four weeks before Election Day.
- Mobilized these groups via Programmatic Video, Programmatic Display, and YouTube Ads to maximize our reach. Used geographic targeting to place ads in the highest voter-turnout zip codes in Lucas County.
- Result: Over 2 million impressions with strong engagement metrics and video completion rates above 70%
2. Persuade Split-Ticket Voters
Lucas County, Ohio, while largely democratic, includes a high percentage of independent voters and “soft” Republicans. In the four weeks leading up to Election Day, we expanded targeting outside the Democratic base to persuade Republicans and Independents who vote for Trump, but can be persuaded to support local Democratic candidates.
- Increased number of display creatives for judicial candidates and regular slate.
- Targeted Lucas County voters with display creatives and highest voter-turnout zip codes on YouTube.
- Result: Over 500,000 video completions and 2,600 clicks
The Advocate Advantage
Advocate’s cost-efficiency appeals to smaller-budget candidates and organizations, while being powerful enough to run omni-channel, strategic, and adaptive digital campaigns. With Advocate and LCDP, we were able to outperform traditional social media advertising and engage both the democratic base and persuadable audiences to achieve success.
The Results
LCDP is quickly becoming a benchmark for county parties across the state: their digital strategy ensured victory for their judicial candidates, with a newcomer candidate defeating an incumbent by 40,000 votes. All but one Democratic candidate in Lucas County claimed victory on Election Day. This result marked not only a significant win for LCDP, but also demonstrated the power of combining smart strategy with cutting-edge technology.
With LCDP and Advocate, we not only made an impact for local candidates in 2024, but we set a precedent for what can be achieved by local parties across the state. We are proud to advance bold, innovative strategies through Advocate to target audiences with precision and drive impact.
