THE CHALLENGE
Travis Stovall, a Black entrepreneur and community advocate, was running in a crowded field to replace the outgoing Mayor of Gresham, one of Oregon’s largest cities.
Stovall was one of two viable candidates running for the seat, and he was up against a young, progressive, and well-funded Latino Councilman who entered the race with establishment support and the backing of local activists. In the non-partisan contest, where the two strongest candidates were both people of color, it was critical to keep communications positive and distinguish Travis on his merits as a leader and his record of success in both the public and private sectors.
Highlighting Travis’ record of success, humble upbringing, and vision for the city was key in building support from a fast-growing and increasingly young and diverse electorate.
THE LANDSCAPE
The Mayoral seat had opened up for the first time in nearly two decades, as the longtime incumbent stepped aside after holding the post for 18 years. Travis was backed by the outgoing incumbent, but his opponent had broad establishment support and strong outside spending in his favor; Travis was outspent 2:1 by his opponent and outside groups.
Direct mail was the primary communications medium, with little digital spending on Travis’ behalf and no broadcast television. Travis needed to break through the noise of the 2020 presidential election and the ongoing pandemic with his people-first agenda and his focus on uniting the community towards its common goals. Though COVID brought changes to the voting process for much of the country in 2020, Oregonians had already been voting in all-mail elections for nearly 20 years. This meant that little voter education was required for the vote-by-mail processes, and the communications could remain strictly focused on Travis’ compelling story and his positive vision for the city.
THE EXECUTION
1. Drive a positive message to demonstrate Travis’ intentions to be a positive leader for all residents and work effectively with his opponent who would remain on the City Council should Travis win.
2. Grab attention with creative design with compelling visuals to cut through a noisy media environment, highlighting Travis’ record of success in the private and public sectors and framing him as the right leader to navigate the city through the pandemic and beyond.
3. Get out ahead of mail ballots by beginning communications in Week 5, three weeks before voters were to receive their ballots.
4. Target broadly and mobilize new registrants by casting a wide net of likely voters and communicating to newly registered voters.
THE VICTORY
After the initial tally of votes, a razor-thin margin in the five-way race triggered a hand recount of all ballots. Nearly a month later, the election was called in early December, with Travis Stovall finishing with 36.71% of the vote to the second-place finisher ’s 36.68% — a margin of only .03%. Stovall won by just 13 votes, and upon election certification, Travis Stovall broke barriers as both the first Black mayor of Gresham and first Black mayor of any large town or city in the Portland metro region.
