Case Study: Amplifying Democrats

Beating the Odds (and the Republicans) in 2022

In the 2022 midterm election, pundits predicted a red wave. It didn’t happen. Instead, against the odds and historical norms, Democrats held on to the Senate and did much better in the House than expected.

Here’s how Amplify kept Democrats in the fight.

What Everyone Predicted2022 was supposed to be a disaster for Democrats

Picture of Washington Examiner article titled, "Majority Rules: Republicans predicted to have huge House win in new forecast"

Picture of The Hill article titled, "Coming: Totally predictable, utterly normal Republican midterm sweep

Amplify helped beat the narrative

In 2022, Amplify worked in dozens of battleground races across America, arming Democratic campaigns with critical insights and real-time information, actionable advice and counsel on messaging and targeting and best-in-class media bang-for-the-buck and provided the most accurate and comprehensive competitive data in Democratic politics.

$ 0 B

in total spending tracked in Big AL’s database in 2022

political campaigns tracked, with more than 21,000 total buys

unique pieces of creative tracked, all available for review and comparison

What Really HappenedDemocrats defied history and expanded majorities

Picture of NBC News article with photo of US Capitol titled, "Democrats make big gains in state legislatures after beating expectations. Democrats took control of the Michigan state Senate for the first time in nearly 40 years. They're on track to flip other legislative chambers when all the votes are counted."

Picture of Intelligencer article titled, "The Red Wave That Wasn't: Updates - Biden said Wednesday that voters had proven that "democracy is who we are."

Picture of CNN Politics articled titled, "How Joe Biden and the Democratic Party defied midterm history"

Amplifying Democrats With Hard Work and Smart Spending

People Power

Amplify doesn’t rely on public reports or unsophisticated bots — we rely on people and relationships. In 2022, we had the largest team of competitive analysts in the country pulling public files, reaching out directly to TV stations, and working with cable reps to gather spending information in real-time, giving our clients a real edge.

Buying Power

In 2022, we worked with American Bridge at the Presidential, Senate, and Gubernatorial levels. As part of the DCCC IE and House Majority PAC’s consultant teams, Amplify impacted every Congressional battlefield. We bought for the Environmental Defense Fund in multiple markets, executed last-minute strategic investments for the North Carolina House Democratic Caucus, and helped Democrats to one of the most successful midterms for an in-power party, ever.

Battlefield Awareness

Working with the DCCC, Amplify was able to track changes to cost per point (CPP) using industry data and publicly available sources. As part of the House Majority PAC team, Amplify flagged when the CPP had changed, painting a more accurate picture of how much media was being purchased.

Case Study:Which Race in New Hampshire?

House Majority PAC and the DCCC were both separately monitoring the Boston media market, where TV stations reach into both New Hampshire congressional districts. Each district was potentially competitive. Would Republicans go after Rep. Chris Pappas in NH-01 or Rep. Annie Kuster in NH-02? Democrats had to be ready to respond. Amplify was in constant contact with the TV stations, reporting back quickly through our platform, Big AL. As soon as we saw the NRCC combine their points to attack Rep. Pappas, each of our clients were able to quickly respond.

Photo of Chris Pappas smiling at podium after win

Picture of Boston.com story titled, "New Hampshire Democrats Pappas, Kuster reelected to Congress. Pappas defeated Karoline Leavitt, who worked in the White House press office under former President Donald Trump, and Kuster beat Robert Burns, who runs a pharmaceutical quality control business."

Picture of Joe Biden shaking hands with military members. Captioned "Joe Biden. Working for Pennsylvania"

Image of Pennsylvania Capital Star story titled, "In W.Pa's 17th Congressional District, a nail-biting race goes down to the wire. Republicans are looking for a referendum. They might not get it"

Case Study:Clarifying Costs in Pittsburgh

Early in the 2022 cycle, as we were making buys on behalf of American Bridge, we realized that the cost per point (CPP) in the Pittsburgh media market was highly variable, so we made a point to keep constant tabs on it. In the PA-17 race, it was tough to determine what the true CPP was and how much reach each side was actually getting. Amplify staff were able to provide our clients with the most current rates, even as they fluctuated, because we knew our buyers had been working closely with Pittsburgh TV reps for weeks. This gave each client a clear picture of how much the good guys and bad guys were spending so we could determine how best to respond.

Case Study:Overlapping Races? We’re on it.

When late major funding came through for the North Carolina House Democratic Caucus in the last month of the campaign, we had to quickly adapt. Amplify updated all the media plans and shared with the NC team not just what other messaging was on air, at the legislative level, but also the spending and messaging in the Senate and Congressional races that overlapped with their districts.

Photo of Representative Robert Reives smiling at podium

Image of ABC13 News story titled "NC GOP falls 1 seat shy of supermajority, leaving Gov. Cooper's veto power intact"

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