Voting & Elections Assignment

This spring, the Republican and Democratic parties will choose nominees to represent their parties in the November election. If the real election isn't until November, why are the party primaries so important?

Because most elections are held in districts or precincts, which are drawn by politicians, most of them are predetermined to be represented by one of the two parties. In an overwhelmingly Democratic district, the real choice is made by voters in the Democratic Primary.

Few districts are party-competitive - meaning there are only a few districts that can be realistically won by either a Republican or a Democrat. One such district is Texas House of Representatives District 134.

Candidates for the Republican nomination include incumbent Representative Sarah Davis and challenger David Louis Palmer.

Assignment Instructions:

You're going to become a phantom campaign manager. Choose one of these four candidates and design a campaign to win the election. Write this assignment as a 4 - 5 page memorandum (but with cited sources) from you, the campaign manager, to your candidate. Outline the race for them, how much money you think they need to raise, how you will raise it for them, what you propose to spend it on, what issues they should talk about, how you want to deliver their message, etc.

Note: This assignment is a memorandum(with cited sources) and not an essay.

Some things to keep in mind and consider in your writing:

·  The current State Representative, Sarah Davis, is seeking reelection.

·  Sarah Davis is considered a moderate, not a conservative. She was the only Republican to vote against last session's package of abortion restrictions. That could help or hurt, depending on the voter you're trying to persuade.

·  Your candidate is running in a specific district (see the map in the attachment). Any money you spend delivering your message to people who don't live inside the orange line is wasted money. How do you target the right voters?

·  Some people who live in the district can't vote because they're under 18 years old, or they're not U.S. citizens.

·  Not all voters are Republicans, and even those who consider themselves Republicans don't vote in primary elections. How do you identify your likely voters?

·  What sorts of people live in your candidate's district? What motivates them?

·  What is your candidate's background and experience? What will be his or her key issues?

·  How much money will you need? How will you raise it? How will you spend it?

This can be a challenging assignment, but it can also be a lot of fun. Keep in mind that campaigning is more art than science and that there are few absolutely right or wrong answers. If I asked five campaign professionals to do this assignment for the same candidate, I would probably get five totally different campaign strategies (and they'd charge me a lot of money).

Submit in Word. Cite your sources.