Randy Stevens
Political Consultant | Gravis Marketing
This month, AAPC caught up with Gold Member, Randy Stevens.
For the past 10 years I have excelled as a political consultant at Gravis Marketing by hard work, dedication, and perseverance. Every challenge presented to me is met with confidence and knowledge that I acquired firsthand through the years. I’ve worked with over 3,000 political campaigns and that number continues to rise.
AAPC: Tell me how you first got involved in politics.
Randy: 10 years ago, I started working for Gravis Marketing as a Project Manager. My job was to setup and run Live Call projects and IVR Projects for campaigns that was passed to me by the consultants at Gravis. They worked directly with campaigns and I was in the background setting up and sending reports, which at the time I liked what I was doing because it was straight forward. After 2 years of doing that, one of the owners at Gravis asked me if I would like to go to DC just so I could see what goes on at a political event. I’ve never been to DC and I was curious about where the projects I was setting up came from and how the process works before a project reaches my desk. Of course, I said yes and soon as I got to DC, I was instantly attracted to the political vibe. Little did I know that I would have a conversation with a person at the conference that ended up being my first client which in turn was the start of my political career. After that, Gravis Marketing saw my potential and shifted my role in the company gradually towards a full-time political consultant. Today I remain one of the top consultants at Gravis and love everything about my job.
AAPC: What do you think will change about the political consulting industry over the next five years?
Randy: It’s no secret that technology is on the rise and that consulting firms have to alter their services to keep up with the times. Voter messaging options in which candidates wants, or needs, to use in order to reach certain demographics are changing; The one big change I see already happening is voter targeting/messaging using algorithms. In short, automated campaigning that is programmed to react in a certain way based on variables and instances that are happening with a campaign. This is already being used for fundraising and is slowly making its way into other aspects of campaigns.
AAPC: What has surprised you most about working in politics?
Randy: What surprised me the most is the blind hatred people can have towards others based on what their party affiliation is. I thought there would be more respect but it’s quite the opposite.
AAPC: If you could change one thing about the political consulting industry, what would it be?
Randy: I would completely remove party affiliation where no one is a Democrat, Republican, Non-Partisan, and there would just be voters. This way instead of judging a person based on what party they identify as; voters would have to research and base their decision on a candidate’s beliefs and qualifications instead of just going off of their party affiliation. This is more of a change to politics itself which in turn would change the political consulting industry.
AAPC: What might your colleagues be surprised to know about you?
Randy: I like to go magnet fishing in lakes and rivers looking for various items as well as metal detecting. Found some very interesting items in the past.
AAPC: Why did you join AAPC?
Randy: I joined the AAPC because it’s a powerful tool that can be very beneficial if used correctly. I also like to connect with consultants like myself and to stay up-to-date on events.
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