More marketing in local politics

Last Tuesday, June 3, while most of the US was focused on national politics, here in Hoboken the focus was on our local primary, which once again included the race for seats on the Hoboken Democratic Committee.

You might recall last year when I ran for the first time for one of 72 committee seats. I won with 37 votes to represent the 2 block radius around my apartment.

So it is with a bit less fanfare that I announce this year's victory -- less fanfare because the turnout was very, very low (a total of 79 voters in our district) plus, my neighbor, David Tornabene, and I were running as unopposed incumbents for Committeeman and Committeewoman.

From a marketing point of view, I learned the lesson I am constantly teaching my clients: target your market. Last year, we knocked on the door of every Democrat in the district. What we realized is that very few of them actually vote. So this year, we carefully selected the Democrats we thought were more likely to make the effort to vote in a primary. And we focused our efforts on them. 

That's how we got 33 votes each, enough to win but not better than last year.

We'll see what happens next year.

Comments

[Judy Dunn]

Oh, congratulations to you and David, Ilise! I was a precinct committeeperson way back when and actually made it so far as alternate to the Democratic National Convention. It's a very empowering experience, excellent preparation for a career where leadership and communication skills are needed, and it was a single mom's victory as a role model for her daughter.

My daughter got involved for the first time this year and is an Obama delegate. I am so glad to see that people are getting excited about the political process again.

Good for you!

[TurtleBlueBird]

Congratulations, Ilise! Good for you for getting involved. (Not that that surprises me!)