Background

Our client, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire, was facing intense attacks from her Republican opponent, Dino Rossi. Rossi had twisted Gregoire’s record to suggest that the Governor had been lax on sex offenders and was building a media campaign to reinforce these charges. The attacks were gaining traction and it became clear that the Governor could not afford to ignore these spurious charges.

We needed to quickly counter Rossi’s attacks to bolster Governor Gregoire’s standing.

We recruited four easily recognizable law enforcement officials (a sheriff, a deputy sheriff, and two prosecutors) to record messages for their respective districts, refuting the attacks on Gregoire’s law enforcement record. We reasoned that a series of male law enforcement “toughs” would add credence to the argument and counter any subliminal male bias that might have otherwise benefitted Rossi.

The messages from the law officials boosted the public’s confidence in her crime policy and Gregoire was re-elected with 53% of the vote.

Because of the quick response of Gregoire’s team to put a trusted voice in the ears of the voters, Rossi’s claims made little impact.