When the South Dakota Republican Party announced it would not be sending out candidate slate mailers this year, the South Dakota Federation of Republican Women (SDFRW) sprang into action. Thanks to record-setting fundraising throughout the year, we decided -- for the first time ever -- to send a mailer ourselves.
We couldn't tell the candidates about it because it would then become a coordinated communication, which triggers different campaign finance laws, so we just surprised everyone. We tracked down photos of all the candidates and designed a mailer tailored to each of South Dakota's 35 districts. We pulled together a mailing list using data analysis to optimize the impact our mailer would make, and we worked with the printer to get the mailer on its way to voters just as quickly as possible.
Special shout-out to Campaigns Chair Val Higgins and Campaigns Committee member Kari Shanard-Koenders who took on the monumental task of finding candidate photos, as well as proofreaders Penny Sattgast, Lauri Davis, and Laci Sosa.
When the mailers started hitting mailboxes, the response was overwhelming. Here are just some of the comments we have received.
"I understand you SDFRW Rockstars pulled together the slate mailers across the state given the void of state party action. THANK YOU!!! You have demonstrated true leadership in a time of need. I am beyond impressed. I've long said the SDFRW members are the secret to our success as a party. This effort proves it!" - Chris Nelson, PUC Commissioner
"I ABSOLUTELY MUST comment on this elite professional political mailer we received yesterday! Two weeks ago, the South Dakota Federation of Republican Women learned that the SD Republican Party was not doing their normal election slate cards. [SDFRW] did an amazing last-minute job donating an abundance of their time pulling these mailers together across the state! As they’ve never done mailers, this included setting up meetings to ensure they had adequate funding, working with different teams to identify all of the statewide candidates and the legislators from all 35 districts, designing the graphics, finding photos of all of the candidates, editing the photos to fit the mailer, checking all the facts for correct names/spelling and districts, the positions the candidates are running for, and getting them mailed --- all before the election!! Thank you ladies; well done; well done indeed!!!" - Betty Otten, Lincoln County GOP Chair and Republican Nominee for Lincoln County Commissioner
"Received mine yesterday and I agree very well done! Stood out in the pack of postcards I received and that’s not easy to do." - Lucas Peterson, Professional Political Consultant + Son of D13 Representative Sue Peterson
"I agree. The one received here in District 31 was well done also. Thank you for all your hard work!" - Scott Odenbach, Representative from District 31
"Great job!! Very much appreciated!!" - Jessica Bahmuller, Representative from District 19
"Well done and thank you! It was a nice surprise to receive it this week!" - Tony Venhuizen, Representative from District 13
"You ladies Rock, so classy too." - Leslee Unruh, Chair of No on G Ballot Measure Committee
"We got ours in today’s mail. They look great! Thank you for your hard work and dedication South Dakota Federation of Republican Women." - Jim Mehlhaff, Senator from District 24
"Arch and I appreciate it immensely" - Pam Sharping, Wife of D12 Senator Arch Beal
"They turned out great! Thank you South Dakota Federation of Republican Women!" - Sydney Davis, Senator from District 17
"Thanks, ladies!" - Brad Lindwurm, Candidate for District 15 House
NOTE: The SDGOP (and therefore SDFRW) took a stance on two ballot measures: "No" on Constitutional Amendments G and H. G would legalize abortion up through the day of birth; H would eliminate party primaries and move South Dakota to a jungle primary system. We created a mnemonic to help people remember how to vote: "H is Horrid and G is Ghastly! Vote No on G & H!"
The back of the mailer also includes a link and QR code to the special election page we set up on the SDFRW website that brings together a number of hard-to-find election resources. Thanks to the convenience offered by our one-stop-shopping elections webpage, the traffic of our SDFRW website has seen a huge surge in activity.