Opposition marketing.
Our opponent couldn’t run on his record. So we decided to.
As our campaign closed in on Election Day, Georgia suffered another school shooting—at Apalachee High School, about an hour outside Atlanta. It was the 48th school shootings in Georgia since our State Senate opponent John Albers had became chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee.
As the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, our response was to purchase senatorjohnalbers.com and turn it into a detailed takedown of our opponent's record on gun violence in our schools.
Some folks assumed we launched this website in response to Albers' attacks on my family. And while those dishonest attacks have caused my kids and me a lot of pain, I wasn’t interested in trading personal jabs. I don't think it's helpful to the debate and I don't believe it shows the kind of mature leadership we're looking for from our legislators.
I preferred to stay the “high road” and focus on this issues. Issues like Albers’ support for permissive gun laws. Issues like his inability to communicate with constituents. And, in turn, my promise to do better for our kids and for our community.
The initial launch of this website proved so popular, we expanded it to include our opponent’s record on abortion and his deplorable habit of alternately ignoring or harassing his constituents. A partner organization even translated our content into a targeted issue ad.
The website also moved our opponent in unexpected ways. Our single $12 domain registration cost—plus some web-design hours—forced our opponent to spend over $10,000 in response, reprinting signs. and our $200/day social media campaign triggered over $42,000 in opposition spending. That strategy allowed me to cut my own fundraising time by 80% while still earning coverage in regional and national media.
Checkout out our opponent's honest website at: senatorjohnalbers.com. And if you're as horrified by his record as I am, I hope you'll share it.
