Turning out the Black, Boricua, Immigrant, and Latine Vote in Pennsylvania and GeorgiA
CASA IN ACTION
Turning out the Black, Boricua, Immigrant, and Latine Vote in Pennsylvania and GeorgiA
Partner Overview
By mobilizing Black, Latine, Afro-descendent, Indigenous, and Immigrant voters, CASA in Action, and its 155,000 members, play a powerful role in electing progressive change leaders who can produce the justice our members seek nationwide. CASA in Action endorses candidates that advance its membership’s priorities and facilitates greater engagement of Latinos and voters of color in elections.
Campaign Objective
CASA in Action asked Comms Shop to help make sure national media outlets covering voter mobilization activity in Pennsylvania and Georgia, two battleground states in the 2024 elections, featured CASA in Action’s work in those states to influence the federal elections, including the national presidential race. The goal was to achieve at least 10 national media hits (English and Spanish). We established a list of target outlets and systematically began contacting reporters and producers with story ideas. We also pitched and placed a small number of op-eds and columns.
Strategy and Implementation
This project was a part of the independent expenditure program run by CASA-PAC, an arm of CASA in Action that is wholly separate from the 501(c)(3) organization CASA.
CASA-PAC and Comms Shop worked together to create the strategy, brainstorm content ideas, and schedule media interviews. Comms Shop took the lead in writing and placing certain media materials, such as columns and op-eds, as well as supporting CASA in Action in drafting media advisories, press releases and analyses, pitching their voter engagement events, and pitching their spokespeople for one-on-one interviews.
CASA in Action’s vote mobilization approach in the “Latino Corridor” of Pennsylvania and Atlanta suburbs of Georgia was a layering model that included canvassing, mailers, and digital ads, and earned media.
Results
Electoral powerhouse CASA in Action finalized months of general elections campaigning across Pennsylvania, Georgia, Maryland, and Virginia, reaching 260,472 voters and urging them to support the Harris-Walz presidential ticket as well as Democratic federal and down ballot candidates.. By layering months-long canvassing with different communications contact methods, CASA in Action’s $3 million-plus program influenced these voters through 451,768 voter engagements at the doors, 159,578 texts, 163,819 pieces of mail, 1,113 radio spots, and targeted digital ads with 10,304,753 impressions.
This Comms Shop-CASA in Action media relations partnership resulted in 45 total media hits, with 10 national TV stories, 2 radio stories, 15 articles in traditional print publications (national and local) and 18 stories in digital-first media properties. The complete media report can be found here. The national TV stories largely aired in Spanish outlets like CNN en Espanol, Telemundo, and Vix, while the local TV stories primarily aired in English in the Harrisburg, PA media market.
During this time period, CASA in Action achieved a major media breakthrough, with members featured on CBS “60 Minutes” talking about the fear of mass deportation, immediately prior to the elections. Comms Shop did not play a role in obtaining this media hit.
But we did obtain major national media coverage of CASA in Action’s work, including multiple national Spanish TV hits, a Newsweek op-ed by a first-time Puerto Rican voter who is also a CASA in Action canvasser, an NBC digital story, multiple local media hits in Pennsylvania (including a BBC live blog quoting Luis Gutierrez), and a Washington Blade interview with canvasser Monserrath, an immigrant trans woman from Honduras.
CASA in Action’s work in Pennsylvania was garnering significant media attention, so they asked us to help them expand coverage in Georgia. We secured a Vix TV interview for their Georgia state director, Luis Zaldivar, published an op-ed he wrote on Publiquemoslo, and wrote a blog post article putting their canvassing metric in context with other storylines happening in Georgia. In addition to publishing that article in English and Spanish on Publiquemoslo, it was picked up by a handful of local outlets.
- Partner : CASA in Action
- Categories : Civic Engagement • Electoral • Media Relations • Politics • Puerto Rico • Strategic Communication
More shots
Partner testimonial
Find results from the offboarding partner survey here. As of 11/7/24, the final debriefing meeting had not taken place. The contract ends 11/15/2024.
- Links: The internal working document, with drafts of various pieces of content and information on strategy, is available here. The full list of media mentions is available here.
N.B. There are MANY images and videos available for use with publication of this case study in various links inside the internal working document. Please credit CASA in Action for any images or videos use. - Highlight: This case study highlights how media outreach can be used to complement a layered voter mobilization strategy. It was deliberate and by design. After drilling down to identify their target audiences for voter mobilization in Pennsylvania’s “Latino Corridor” and Georgia’s Atlanta suburbs, CASA in Action created a plan that involved door knocking (canvassing), direct mail, digital ads, and media stories to create a “surround sound” atmosphere.
People need exposure to information multiple times before they start to act on the information they receive. Reaching people through this “surround sound” approach is a strategic tactic for voter engagement because it makes them feel like they are part of a bigger discussion — which they are — and should vote to do their part in protecting our democracy and families.
CASA in Action’s approach was highly strategic in its use of messengers too. They engaged people with compelling personal histories to take part in their canvassing work, who were also trained and willing to do media interviews. For example, Monserrath Aleman is a trans immigrant woman from Honduras. She lives in Maryland, but traveled to Pennsylvania several times to canvass with CASA in Action.
Monserrath told the Washington Blade, “We know that there is a Project 2025 plan that would affect us: The entire immigrant Latino community, the LGBTI community, everyone. So that’s why I’m more motivated to go knocking on doors, to ask for help, for support from everyone who can vote, who can exercise their vote.” About working to defeat Donald Trump, she said, “there is no other option.”
CASA in Action published professional photos and videos featuring Monserrath skipping down a Pennsylvania street with a smile on her face, and engaging with other canvassers, in their organic social strategy.
Jackeline Nazario is another CASA in Action canvasser who worked to engage Pennsylvania voters in the all-important Latino Corridor, her new home. She is, herself, a first-time voter and Puerto Rican who left the Island after Hurricane Maria. In an op-ed published in Newsweek, Jackline wrote, “This election is not just about my daughter and our community; our family and our freedoms. It’s a choice between helping working families climb out of poverty, or more tax breaks and bigger profits for corporations who are only concerned about their bottom line…. As a Puerto Rican now living in the United States, I understand the privilege that it is to have the right to vote. We cannot let those who do not care about our well-being decide our futures.”
