Larry Hogan’s campaign to become Maryland’s Governor faced major challenges, not least of which was that Democrats hold a 2 to 1 voter registration in the state. In the end, the Hogan campaign was outspent by a 3 to 1 margin, with outside groups pouring in millions of dollars attacking Hogan on social issues, abortion and gun control. No one thought this race was winnable by a Republican, in fact Nate Silver’s fivethirtyeight.com said the Democrat candidate would win by 9.7 points.
Before even taking on our Democratic challenger, Red Maverick had to get Jen Kiggans through a tough contested primary. Jen was the final candidate to announce and had less than a week to get her signatures together to get on the ballot. Red Maverick jumped on board and led the charge to get Jen across the finish line as a first time candidate running against the establishment choice with significantly more campaign funds.
Red Maverick Media was then proud to quarterback the strategy and messaging for Jen Kiggans’ general election
campaign as well. As the general consultant and mail vendor, our firm played a critical role in ensuring our strategy would overcome the national sentiment against Republicans and the fact that we were almost outspent 2 to 1.
Red Maverick Media not only ran the campaign side of things but served as the liaison between the Republican State Legislative Committee (RSLC), Republican Senate Caucus, outside groups like the NRA, NFIB and others who were putting time, money and resources into getting Jen elected.
Larry Hogan won the Maryland Governor’s race by 5 percentage points. The Washington Post called Hogan’s win a “stunning upset,” Politico called it both an “historic” and “shocking” upset, and the National Review called it “the biggest upset of the cycle.”
How? Larry Hogan stayed on his message of fiscal discipline, job creation, and lower taxes. He talked about the 40 new taxes imposed by the previous administration everywhere he went. Hogan was never drawn into debates on social issues, staying focused on what mattered to voters. He also had a strong social media presence, boasting 120,000 Facebook followers vs. his Democrat opponent’s 17,000.
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