Bios | Clients

Candidates

Our list of current and former clients includes:

NATIONAL CANDIDATES

President Bill Clinton

Celinda Lake oversaw all focus group research for the 1992 Clinton/Gore campaign. Those groups tested all advertising for the presidential campaign and were an integral part of message development. Out of initial research for the DNC and the campaign came the now universally recognized slogan “It’s the economy, stupid.”

Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski

We helped the popular incumbent win a fourth term in 2004 by a 65%-34% margin over a well-funded opponent running a negative campaign. Our work for Sen. Mikulski included qualitative and quantitative research to identify issues important to middle class Marylanders in a Presidential year. Our research and strategic guidance helped the campaign win 17 of Maryland's 23 counties and the city of Baltimore. Just two years earlier, the reinvigorated Republican party captured the Governor's mansion and the Democratic nominee won only Baltimore city and two counties statewide.

Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln

In 1998, we helped Lincoln emerge from a tough, four-way primary and an aggressive runoff against the Attorney General to beat a Republican opponent in a Republican leaning state, with an incumbent governor at the top winning by record margins. Lincoln became the first woman from Arkansas elected to the Senate in her own right. Early inoculation and holding seniors were key to her victories. Early on we identified that in that year of the Clinton scandal, it would be critical to win a battle on values. Lincoln won despite being attacked on abortion and gay rights because of early development of ways to talk about Democratic issues in values terms. In a year when Democrats lost seniors nationwide and senior women for the first time, Lincoln won seniors. We did so by developing a separate daytime track on values and seniors issues. We also used phones and mail to beat back a Republican tide at the end. Then in 2004, we helped the Senator ward off a difficult challenge to win a second term in the U.S. Senate.

MIchigan Senator Debbie Stabenow

Her win was the biggest Senate upset in the 2000 election cycle. Stabenow won despite being outspent by 2 ½ to 1 and despite the fact that her opponent went on the air with television ads 8 months before she did. We helped design and implement a strategy that used issues to raise doubts about her opponent’s personal character by turning his slogan -- a “Workhorse for Michigan” -- to her advantage by asking: “Just exactly who is he working for?” Stabenow localized this argument by highlighting the fact that her opponent wouldn’t return calls to average working families in Michigan but did return calls to his contributors who were seeking special favors. Using the candidate’s gender, third party endorsements, and contrasting messages, Stabenow maintained the Democratic issue advantage in areas such as Medicare, Social Security, and education while her Republican opponent was trying to steal these issues using his large spending advantage. We were also Stabenow’s pollster in 1996 when she defeated freshman incumbent Dick Chrysler in one of the most closely watched Congressional races in the country.

Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu

In 1996, Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu won one of the most hotly contested Senate races in the country, despite facing $1.2 million in independent expenditure negative ads from the Republican party - more than the GOP Senate committee spent against any other Democrat. Landrieu faced eight opponents in Louisiana's complicated open primary system (including the sitting Attorney General) but won both the primary and general election by increasing turnout in her base, including African-American voters, by means of carefully targeted radio and mail.

Ambassador (Former Illinois Senator) Carol Moseley-Braun

Braun become the first African American senator in our nation’s history. Braun won a tough primary against an incumbent senator who outspent her by millions of dollars; she then went on to win a general election where her opponent was able to purchase three times the media she had. Message and targeting were key to both wins. While Braun lost her re-election bid in 1998, that race was hard fought and remained close despite the unprecedented effort by the Republican Party to defeat her. In the end, Braun came back from a deficit of nearly 20 points to fall just four points short of re-election.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA-08)

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)

Schakowsky won an upset primary election, despite being outspent by her opponents and running against the Daley machine candidate, by using targeted messages and grassroots efforts.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (CA-46)

Sanchez defeated Republican Bob Dornan in one of the most dramatic upsets of the 1990's, thanks in large part to significant mobilization efforts among Hispanic voters.

Rep. Steve Rothman (NJ-09)

Rep. Bill Luther (MN-06)

Rep. Louise Slaughter (NY-28)

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30)

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)

Former Rep. Geraldine Ferarro

Former Rep. Pat Schroeder

Former Rep. Jill Long Thompson

Former Rep. Tom Andrews

Former Rep. Elizabeth Furse

Former Rep. Dan Hamburg

Former Rep. Larry LaRocco

Former Rep. Jolene Unsoeld

Former Rep. Pat Williams

STATEWIDE CANDIDATES

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano

In the face of national Republican momentum and in an election year when Democratic gubernatorial candidates often underperformed, we aided Napolitano’s successful effort in a highly competitive election in November. In Republican-leaning Arizona, we helped establish Napolitano as the candidate most qualified to clean up the state’s budget mess and manage state finances, while at the same time protecting Democratic priorities for education and the economy. Positioning Napolitano as an effective reformer and skilled manager, in contrast to Arizona’s sitting governor and Napolitano’s Republican opponent, allowed the campaign to transcend the usual ideological labels and propel Napolitano to a close victory in a politically challenging state.

West Virginia Governor Bob Wise

Wise was the only candidate to defeat an incumbent Governor in 2000, winning in a state that George W. Bush carried in the Presidential election. Wise won by emphasizing “bread and butter” economic issues. We helped the campaign develop a message emphasizing the fact that he had an economic plan for moving the state forward. Wise pushed back and neutralized a relentless attack on values issues such as gay rights, partial-birth abortion, and gun issues targeting senior voters who make up a disproportionate part of the state.

Washington Governor Gary Locke

In 2000, we steered Locke to a landslide victory in his re-election bid. In 1996, he was an upset winner in the Democratic primary and went on to become the first Asian-American Governor in the continental United States. This race also included coming from behind in a tough primary against an African-American popular mayor from Seattle. Again, careful targeting and powerful messages were the key. We found that an Asian-American candidate was particularly believable on education and crime and we ran powerful personal stories on both issues targeted to older voters and to the eastern Washington media market. Early consolidation and creation of a base outside liberal Seattle won the day.

Former Washington Governor Mike Lowry

Alaska Lt. Governor Fran Ulmer

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan

Kentucky Auditor General Crit Luallen

Connecticut State Controller Nancy Wyman

Missouri Auditor General Claire McCaskill

Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath

Montana Auditor General John Morrison

New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid

In 1998, we were the pollster for Madrid in her successful campaign. She is the first Hispanic woman to ever be elected to that office. A combination of careful identification and targeting of swing voters were the key to her victory. We were also her pollsters in her successful re-election campaign last year.

North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson

Pennsylvania State Representative Dwight Evans

Common Cause President and CEO (Former Maine Senate Majority Leader) Chellie Pingree

Former California Treasurer Kathleen Brown

Former California Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin

Former Colorado Lieutenant Governor Gail Schoettler

Former Idaho Attorney General Larry Echohawk

Former Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Nancy Keenan

Former Montana State Auditor Mark O'Keefe

Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Education Sandy Garrett

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich

LOCAL CANDIDATES

Detroit, MI Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Our candidate was a 31-year old Democratic Party Leader in the State House, running against a 69-year old city councilor who began the campaign with a slogan implying the contrast between the two: “Experience Counts.” Early polling showed us trailing by a 3 to 1 ratio. However, we found that when we altered the dynamic of the race, making it a contest about leadership, effectiveness, results, and change, we were the stronger candidate. People were looking for someone to take the city in a new direction. By shifting the terrain to effectiveness and leadership, we were able to meet a minimum experience threshold for voters, overcoming concerns about age. We were successful in shifting the campaign focus through a series of commercials with the candidate speaking directly about his vision for the future of the city. The campaign effectively utilized a slogan to illustrate that Kilpatrick was the candidate best equipped to lead the city into the 21st Century: “Our Future. Right Here. Right Now.” This shift of the terrain was made even more important in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11th. Voters became more risk averse, and older, better-known candidates were thought to be safer bets for uncertain times. But Kilpatrick had established himself and was able to win based on a message of hope for the future and taking care of basic city services.

Atlanta, GA Mayor Shirley Franklin

We were the pollster in Franklin's successful bid, helping her come from 30-points behind to defeat incumbent City Council President Robb Pitts with over 50 percent to avoid a runoff.

Albany, NY Mayor Jerry Jennings

Cleveland, OH Mayor Jane Campbell

Former Las Vegas, NV Mayor Jan Laverty Jones

Former Albuquerque, NM Mayor Jim Baca

Cincinnati, OH City Councilman David Pepper

Dane County (WI) Executive Kathleen Falk

Fairfax County (VA) Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly

Former Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger

San Diego City Councilman Michael Zucchet

Ballot Initiatives

Political Organizations and 527s