Minnesota State Representative Todd Lippert

The Challenge: Registering Young Voters During the COVID-19 Pandemic. In 2020, Democratic Minnesota State Representative Todd Lippert was running for re-election in a swing district. Much of the district was purple or red. But there were two college campuses located in the district — Carleton College and Northfield College — who, if turnout was high, would result in significant Democratic votes. Due to the pandemic, it was unclear if the students would be invited to the campuses and, if so, for how long they would remain on campus. When the students were informed that registration would begin as normal, we knew it would be crucial to communicate with them as quickly with a saturated message.

Our Solution: Targeting College Campuses with Creative Tailored to Students.Through mail, texting, live volunteer phone calls and digital, we swarmed the campuses with pro-Lippert communications. Specific to digital, we pinned the center of campus and conducted campus-specific Facebook and Instagram advertising within a one-mile radius of the pin for a four week period around the start of early voting.

The Result: Highest Turnout Rate of Any University Campuses in Minnesota by 50%.Saturating these low propensity college student voters with pro-Lippert messaging helped increase turnout significantly. Northfield College and Carleton College had the highest turnout rate of any university campus in Minnesota by 50%. And Lippert won these college campuses with 90% of the vote. Lippert won re-election, and our targeting of college campuses with a comprehensive program that included digital advertising made the difference.