Nebraska’s Lancaster County Democratic Party

The Challenge: Distinct Population Profiles.  In 2023, we ran a digital slate campaign for the Lancaster County Democratic Party in Lincoln, Nebraska. The primary phase of the campaign was a fairly simple voter turnout effort that targeted Democrats city-wide. The general election phase of our work stratified areas based on the overlap of city council and public school districts. Unique display ad sets for each of these areas were created and targeted to their respective geographic area, ensuring that we only delivered relevant information to our intended audience.

In the final weeks before the election, the Chair secured an additional $500 for digital. We discussed this newfound opportunity and decided to take a calculated risk. County party insiders confirmed that LGBTQ+ groups tend to be the most disenfranchised voting population in the county, so we focused there.

Our Solution: Looking For Voters in All The Right Places. We placed an additional experimental buy that targeted young LGBTQ+ individuals in both physical and digital spaces. With the insight of members of the LGBTQ+ community working with the party, we placed a geofence around areas within Lincoln that had a high LGBTQ+ residential and/or business population. We narrowed down our delivery platforms to only gay dating apps.

The Result: A Turnout Surge Delivers Victory. This risk paid off. Comparing data from 2021 to 2023, voter turnout in the primary election increased over 8.5% (from 24.86% of registered voters in 2021 to 33.38% in 2023). Voter turnout in the general elections increased almost 17%, from 29.34% of registered voters turning out in 2021 to 46.22% in 2023. For the Democrats, this meant victory for 3 out of 4 city council seats and the re-election of Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, despite her conservative opponent receiving the endorsement of Governor Jim Pillen and a flood of cash and in-kind donations from the “mega donor” Peed family.