One DC trip and 3 Reed Awards later…

Dashing back to the Marriott after meeting tweeps Lovisa Williams and Dr. Mark Drapeau to catch up with Larry before heading to the awards dinner, I realized I was more excited for this event than any Christmas or New Year’s Eve… it was almost better than election night!

You know the saying that in West Virginia everyone knows everyone? Well who should be sitting to my right during the awards dinner but none other than John Perdue’s campaign media strategist, Ben Chao. Beside Ben sat Tom Rossmeissl from Trippi & Associates who was up for a Reed against Struble Eichenbaum Communications for Senator Joe Manchin’s “Dead Aim” TV spot.

Rainmaker won three Reed Awards from Campaigns and Elections Magazine: Toughest Newspaper Ad, Toughest Radio Ad, and Best Direct Mail- Democratic County, Local, and Judicial Candidate. To see all Rainmaker’s 2010 political work, click here.

To see all the Reed Award winners, click here.

Just a little FYI...Trippi & Associates TV spot for Jerry Brown’s campaign beat “Dead Aim.” In fact, the spot won two Reed Awards!

But the evening got more interesting…

Whether or not Secretary of State Natalie Tennant can raise money for her gubernatorial campaign this year has been a topic of discussion for over a week now. Several mentioned that Emily’s List, a fundraising group for female gubernatorial and congressional candidates, could raise her several hundreds of thousands of dollars. After investigating a little, it appears this is not the case. Last year, Emily’s List only contributed approximately $65,000 for their top targeted House race. Their fundraising power is not what it has been in the past, so where will Tennant turn for funds?

I find it odd that most national political consulting firms only specialize in one type of campaign effort: e.g. direct mail, website design, media, etc… My favorite thing about Rainmaker is we are a full-service political consulting firm, doing everything from logos and social media to direct mail and TV and radio spots. Our clients choose what services they want us to do. Chao told my boss and me that in order to branch out into other states, we should distinguish ourselves in one category. If you know me at all, I like to have my stilettos and wear them too, so sticking to one category is not something I’ll be doing. Chao will be in Charleston on Monday, February 7^th.

Kicking through the political glass ceiling, one stiletto at a time

With the official announcement of Betty Ireland running for governor in the 2011 special gubernatorial election just moments ago and with Secretary of State Natalie Tennant’s hat already in the ring, it seems only appropriate to discuss how female candidates will fair in upcoming West Virginia elections.

Yesterday, The Economist posted an article that piqued my interest, “The glass elevator in American politics.” Long has the belief been held that in the American political arena, women continually keep hitting their hair-sprayed heads against a glass ceiling, however, I’m happy to report that with the help of the spikes on our stilettos, we’re breaking through now more than ever.

Ronni Marie Abney of the University of California and Rolfe Daus Peterson of Mercyhurst College, studied down-ticket races in California and found “that voters are, if anything, biased in favor of women.”

“In the Democratic races, women fared much better than men. This might be expected, because voters seem to associate women with more 'liberal' issues…and Democratic primary voters tend to be liberal.” Regarding Republican primaries, voters tended to be more focused on issues like law and order and defense, which seem a little more “manly.” Even this did not put female candidates at any sort of disadvantage. According to the study, “A male name carried no advantage.”

That being said, we have two females running for West Virginia governor in 2011. One was the first female Secretary of State, and one is the current Secretary of State. How do you think both will fair against their male opposition and possibly against each other?

3 Years, 3 Elections, 3 Governors?

This afternoon the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals denies petitioners arguments (which some claim is unconstitutional) and ordered Acting Governor Tomblin to set a date for the special election, stating "the period of time in which the duties of the governor shall be performed by [an acting governor] shall not exceed one year." Tomblin must set a special election by November 15^th.

So we’re going to have another special election, and I think we all knew this would happen. Thus far, 2011 candidates include: Betty Ireland, Treasurer John Purdue, Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, Speaker of the House Rick Thompson, and Senate President Pro Tem Brooks McCabe, to name a few.

While several other names have been floating around, it seems both parties are searching for a dark horse to enter this race. Mike Stuart said he won’t run. Justice Robin Davis… thoughts anyone? (Although I hear she’s still on the fence.)

West Virginia’s biggest problems are economic/financial. So someone who is in one of those sectors could have some meat on the bones of a gubernatorial campaign. Other thoughts are someone with money. Who in West Virginia could fund a campaign or has enough ties to pull off a multi-million dollar campaign at the last minute? Thoughts anyone?

Special Election, State of the State, and Stilettos

Today at 2pm, the State Supreme Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in favor of and opposing a special gubernatorial election in 2011. It’s no secret that Acting Governor Tomblin believes that current laws “clearly provide” that the election to replace Manchin as governor should be in 2012, according to an article in the West Virginia Record. Tomblin also stated his position at his most recent press conference last week, where he called for a Lt. Governor position. Speaker Thompson, who would run against potential gubernatorial candidate Tomblin, believes that waiting until 2012 to elect Manchin’s successor is too late. Tomblin, Thompson, and Secretary of State (and potential gubernatorial candidate) Natalie Tennant have all filed election briefs.

Interestingly enough, Robin Davis recused herself from this case. Rumors are running wild that she may run against Manchin if he decides to run for re-election for United States Senate, or would run for governor. However, I’m hearing she most likely will not run for governor.

So what will the Supreme Court do? I bet they throw the case back down to the legislature, where the House will send an elections bill over to the Senate. If the Senate does not pass the bill, it’s also rumored that the House will not pass any other bills until a special gubernatorial election bill is passed and signed off on by the Acting Governor.

Needless to say, tomorrow’s State of the State will be nothing short of intensely interesting… and I’ve got a stellar pair of stilettos for the occasion.

Wild, Wonderful West Virginia with a Woman Governor

“Women are not single-issue voters. Women, like me, have a wide variety of views. ...all of us are worried about our children’s futures,” stated Carly Fiorina.

Females continue climbing the political ladder in the United States, and right here at home. We’ve had two females in the Secretary of State’s Office, Natalie Tennant (@NatalieTennant) and Betty Ireland (@bettyireland). Carrie Webster (@judgewebster) as the first female to serve as the House of Delegates Judiciary Chair. And that’s not even the beginning!

But one thing we haven’t seen is a female governor. When Charlotte Pritt ran in 1996, I distinctly remember my Mom saying on the way home from voting, “Well, win or lose I voted for the first female governor.”

Now, 14 years later, the possibility looks better than ever. R.L. Repass and Partners recently conducted polling and the results show that the two top contenders for West Virginia Governor are women! Natalie Tennant is 3 points shy of Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (@Capito4Congress), but neither have declared their intentions to run.

Another female being mentioned in the 2012 fight to keep the White House is Hilary Clinton

as Vice President.

Whatever the outcome, one thing is crystal clear, the glass ceiling is without a doubt breaking in the world of politics.