Every year the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) holds the premier bipartisan awards competition for the political advertising industry: the Pollie Awards. Esquire Magainze dubbed the Pollies, “The Oscars of Political Advertising.” In 2023, Strother Nuckels Strategies won 10 Pollie Award along with a Campaigns & Elections “Reed Award” for our work. Watch our award-winning ads below.
🏆 Best Dem TV Ad for Governor
Tony Evers for Governor of Wisconsin
We won two Pollie Awards for “Best Dem TV Ad” in the 2022 cycle – both for Tony Evers for Governor. “Twelve” won the Gold Award while the 60-second “Tony” took home Pollies Bronze. Both are below:
🏆 Best Ad for PAC/SuperPac
United Association IE for Josh Shapiro for Governor
Our Independent Expenditure ad to help elect Josh Shapiro for Governor of Pennsylvania shows the power of synthesizing a good story into 30 seconds.
🏆 Best IE for U.S. Senate &
🏆 Best Use of Humor
United Association – Defeat Kelly Tshibaka for Senate in Alaska
There is nothing more devastating in politics than when you can get voters to laugh at your opponent. We were hired to help defeat MAGA extremist Kelly Tshibaka in the 2022 Alaska U.S. Senate race (Alaska’s unique run off system allows the top 4 vote getters, regardless of partisan affiliation, to advance to the General Election). Polling showed it would be an extremely tight race with little room for error. Our IE effort was specifically dedicated to undercutting Tshibaka’s core argument for her candidacy that she would protect taxpayer dollars. In fact, Tshibaka’s own ads and MAGA-infused website stated, “I’ve spent my career holding government insiders accountable and exposing waste, fraud, and abuse in federal agencies.” There was just one little problem…. a federal investigation found Kelly Tshibaka over-billed taxpayers for five hundred and ninety-six hours as a government employee.
🏆 Overall Best in Show
Tony Evers for Governor
Our efforts to help re-elect Governor Tony Evers of Wisconsin won a Pollie Award in the “Overall” division for a collection of our ads from the campaign. In all campaigns we seek to tell a narrative over time to establish the lens through which all information is viewed. Below are a few ads from the campaign (two others listed in “Best TV Ad” above).
“The guv didn’t just win reelection, he defied history. The first candidate in 32 years to win the guv’s office when his party was in power in the White House. The first Dem to do that in 60 years. The first Dem to ever win a guv race while his party’s nominee lost the U.S. Senate campaign.”– WisPolitics Post Election Analysis
🏆 Best Television for Democratic State Legislative Campaign – West
Angelique Ashby for California State Senate
The race for California State Senate District 8 featured Sacramento City Council Member Angelique Ashby running against California’s former Insurance Commissioner. Polling showed a very close race. We knew we needed something memorable to cut through the clutter…
🏆 Best 15-Second TV Ad (Campaigns & Elections Reed Award)
Raúl Torrez for Attorney General of New Mexico
It was nearly an impossible task for Raúl Torrez in the Democratic primary for Attorney General in New Mexico in 2022. Raúl’s opponent was a statewide officeholder who had twice the cash, nearly every endorsement from every corner of the state, and polling that showed that after the informed ballot Raul was losing by a whopping 27 points. To illustrate the uphill climb Raúl faced, his opponent won the non-binding pre-primary convention 62% to 38%. Our strategy was to utilize a series of sharp, 15-second ads on TV (half the price of a 30-second ad); go up early, and define the terms of the race from the opening salvo as a contrast between a prosecutor and a career politician. On Election Day, despite a 2-to-1 cash deficit, Raúl Torrez won the highly competitive primary for New Mexico’s Attorney General by an amazing 7%. See more from this campaign here.
🏆 Overall Best Radio Campaign & 🏆 Best Radio for Governor
Evers for Governor and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin
Radio advertising can be a very effective tool to reach specific audiences. We know to whom we are speaking and we do it effectively and efficiently. Writing for traditional or digital radio can be more difficult than writing for video. One must paint a picture with words and hold the listeners attention. In some cases radio can be a conversation with the listener – striking a responsive chord. Below are a handful of the radio spots we created to help re-elect Tony Evers governor of Wisconsin:
Bicycle (Best Radio Category for Governor)
Roads
Esquela
School Quality
Small Business
Roberto
Obama Mobilization
If you like these ad you can find out more about the campaigns and watch spots from previous cycles by clicking here.