How Big John Cornyn made history

Senator John Cornyn’s re-election campaign was a huge success, not only because we won by a sizeable margin, but because we achieved our other important campaign goals. Senator Cornyn received more votes (2.85 million, 62{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}) than any other candidate on the ballot Tuesday night. In addition, he helped a number of down-ballot candidates flip seats from Democrat to Republican control, and he made important inroads in expanding the Republican Party’s base of voters.

According to CNN exit polling, Senator Cornyn made history by carrying the Hispanic vote, out-performing every previous Republican statewide candidate in the modern era of Texas politics. The campaign’s sophisticated approach to voter targeting, digital marketing, field work, earned media and paid media led to a huge win on Election Night.

Here are a few key takeaways from Tuesday night’s election:

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2.8 Million Votes—62{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}

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Senator Cornyn earned 2.85 million total votes, accounting for 62{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}. His opponent David Alameel only received 1.59 million total votes, or 34{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the vote – fewer than every other Democrat statewide candidate. Our strategy against Alameel was essentially to ignore him and focus our efforts on building up Senator Cornyn, introducing him to voters who did not yet have an opinion of him.

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Won the Hispanic Vote

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Senator Cornyn won a historic 48{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the Hispanic vote in Texas, with his opponent receiving 47{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the Hispanic vote. No other Texas Republican statewide candidate in the modern era has actually carried the Hispanic vote in Texas. Senator Cornyn did particularly well (54{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}) among Hispanic men. At the beginning of the campaign, about half of Hispanic voters did not have an opinion of Senator Cornyn. The campaign was aware of this and worked hard to introduce him to these Hispanic voters, in order to increase his favorability early on.

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Won Young Voters

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Senator Cornyn’s hard work reaching out to young voters paid off. He won voters in the following age groups: 25-29 and 40-49 — and held it close with voters aged 30-39. Much of this success was due to the campaign’s tremendous growth and engagement on Facebook over the past year and a half. The campaign made a conscious effort to host events with young people, and to subsequently target voters in the same demographic with event photos online. We took advantage of the popularity of the “selfie” by encouraging young voters to snap photos with Senator Cornyn and post them to their own Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media accounts.

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Won 64{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of Independents

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Senator Cornyn dominated among conservative voters, but he also dominated among independents, winning those voters 64{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} to 27{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}. The campaign’s message in the general election – focused on fiscal issues, solving problems and representing all Texans – was the right message for these key swing voters. Senator Cornyn knew that most voters were frustrated with Washington, and that voters in Texas were looking for their elected officials to apply conservative principles to solve our nation’s problems.

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Keep It Red Project

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The campaign’s Keep it Red project was a huge success as well. Our joint block walking and phone banking efforts with down-ballot candidates helped Republican Will Hurd flip Congressional District 23, Konni Burton flip Texas Senate District 10 in Tarrant County, and Wayne Faircloth flip Texas House District 23 in Galveston County. The Cornyn campaign assisted these and other candidates throughout the election cycle with fundraising, grassroots, media, social media, and strategic advice.

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450,000 New Facebook Fans in One Year

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The campaign employed a cutting-edge, effective and efficient digital strategy. We microtargeted voters and spliced up audiences to deliver specific messages that we knew would resonate with them. 2nd Amendment voters received digital ads focused on gun rights, fiscal conservatives received digital ads focused on balancing the budget, and veterans received digital ads that focused on Senator Cornyn’s work to fight for veterans and fix the problems at the VA. Our digital team spent money early on building our Facebook community from 25,000 to 475,000 in just over a year. We utilized this community of supporters as an effective – and inexpensive – force multiplier for our messages, delivering more than 200 million ad impressions to our targeted audiences on Facebook.

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Reached 1 in 4 Voters Directly

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The campaign’s field efforts were an essential part of our Get Out the Vote success in this election. Our field team attended more than 1,000 events around the state, delivered 40,000 yard signs, and recruited hundreds of surrogates and volunteers in local communities to deliver our messages directly to voters. In joint efforts with the Republican Party of Texas, as well as other statewide and local campaigns, Republicans made more than one million phone calls and knocked on more than 750,000 doors, reaching approximately 1 in 4 voters directly. This could not have been accomplished without coordinated efforts at the state and local level.

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A New Model for Asian Voter Outreach

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The campaign’s Asian voter outreach efforts could become the model for the Republican Party across the nation. We created websites in Vietnamese, Chinese and Hindi, and reached out to Asian community newspapers, radio stations and TV stations around the state. We ran ads in Vietnamese on both TV and radio in Houston and Dallas. Our field staff and volunteers handed out thousands of pamphlets in Vietnamese, attended dozens of community events and spoke at a human rights rally for Vietnamese dissidents. We charted a new course with Asian voter outreach in the state, and earned the respect of Asian communities in Texas for our willingness to show up consistently, listen, and show respect for their cultures.

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Conclusion

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From the beginning of Senator Cornyn’s campaign, his goals included a significant win in the primary and the general election, helping to elect new Republicans to Congress and the Texas Legislature, and earning a sizeable amount of support from Hispanic and Asian voters in Texas. We achieved all of these strategic goals and did it in a cost-effective manner, combining our digital and field efforts into one strategic, sophisticated, and targeted approach. Our campaign clearly shows a return on investment, and our supporters can rest assured that their investments have laid the groundwork for future advancement in the Republican Party’s digital and field programs in Texas and around the country.