2015 Campaign Excellence Winners

The Campaign Excellence Awards are a longstanding tradition of the AAPC and recognize those individuals who have significantly contributed to the success of a candidate or public affairs campaign and whose conduct has been consistent with the professional code of ethics of the AAPC. In 2015, we received 108 nominations in 8 categories from the AAPC membership and political consulting community at large. Each nomination was vetted by an Independent Panel of Judges and recommendations were voted upon and confirmed by the AAPC Board of Directors. AAPC congratulates the 2015 Campaign Excellence Award winners!

Ballot Measure Campaign of the Year

Holly Robichaud, Steve Aylward and Geoff Diehl
TanktheGasTax.org – Yes on 1

Holly, Steve and Geoff built a huge grassroots team with over 1,500 active volunteers and as a result won the ballot question with 53% of the vote while being outspent 31 to 1.

Campaign Manager of the Year – Democrat

Mike Firestone
Maura Healey for Attorney General

Given little chance of becoming Attorney General of Massachusetts, Healey surprised observers by
winning the support of 48% of the Democratic Convention delegates and winning 346 of the state’s 351 municipalities in what was called “the biggest surprise of this political year.”

Campaign Manager of the Year – Republican

Jon Kohan
Joni Ernst for Iowa

Jon Kohan successfully managed Joni Ernst’s historic 8.34% General Election victory helping to elect Iowa’s first-ever female federal officeholder and the first female combat veteran in United States Senate history.

Campaign Strategist of the Year – Republican

David Polyansky
Joni Ernst for Iowa

David Polyansky built the Ernst for U.S. Senate campaign from the ground up. Ernst ultimately ended up raising almost 13 million dollars and outraised the other high profile GOP senate races in the 3rd quarter of 2014. Ernst won all 4 Iowa Congressional districts and 75 out of Iowa’s 99 counties, demonstrating her statewide appeal.

Local Campaign Manager of the Year – Democrat

Walker Mattox
Mayor Jim Gray’s Re-Election Campaign, General Election 2014

Walker Mattox built and managed a campaign infrastructure that was able to raise over $400,000 in less than 3 months. The result was a 30% margin of victory, exceeding pre-election expectations based on internal polling.

Local Campaign Manager of the Year – Republican

Jordanne Anderson
2014 Massachusetts State Senate Race

Through the development and implementation of a sophisticated field operation and direct-mail program, Jordanne took over a campaign that started as a 6.5-point underdog and saw a 20.5-point swing in favor of the Fattman Campaign.

MVP of the Year – Republican

Ward Baker
National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC)

As leader of Republican candidate recruitment nationwide, Ward was very instrumental in expanding the 2014 playing field for Republicans, putting more seats in play and increasing the chances for picking up the number of seats necessary to take control of the Senate.

Pollster of the Year – Democrat

Jefrey Pollock

In 2014, Jefrey Pollock served as pollster and strategist for three of only five Democrats to win in Congressional districts won by Mitt Romney in 2012: Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, and Brad Ashford of Nebraska. In addition, he helped guide the re-election campaigns of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy and was part of the DGA’s independent expenditure team in Hawaii.

Pollster of the Year – Republican

The Tarrance Group

The Tarrance Group played a key role in Congressional, Senate and gubernatorial contests throughout 2014, including defending targeted seats in Colorado and Michigan, winning tough Democratic-held districts in Illinois and West Virginia, while helping the Republicans secure a takeover of the Senate in key IE campaigns in North Carolina and Alaska. In addition, the Tarrance Group played a pivotal role in defending three targeted Midwestern Republican governors in Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan.

Public Affairs Campaign of the Year

Joe Slade White & Company
Defeat David Beckham’s Soccer Stadium at Port Miami

Facing incredible odds, Joe Slade White & Company leveraged new technologies and launched innovative targeting to defeat David Beckham by carefully targeting each core message to commissioners and moving them one vote at a time.

International Consultant of the Year

Jonathan Snowling
Juan Carlos Varela for President of the Republic of Panama 2014

As the on-the-ground Campaign Director/Manager, Jonathan R. Snowling successfully steered an upset victory in the face of being outspent, out-of-government, and underrepresented in questionable media sponsored polls.

Best Use of New Technology

Advantage, Inc.

In the 2014 election, the Advantage Mobile App played a crucial role in Republican campaigns in 34 states. Available on iTunes and Android, the app made 17 million contacts at doors and public events and collected three million surveys. The app had over 19 thousand users over the course of the 2014 campaign.

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