Main Street not only has a proven record of winning the most hotly contested races, we have the best record among media firms in the Democratic Party helping our clients win contested open seat races for Congress.
--- In 2022, Dave had one of his best years. U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), a top Republican target, won re-election by the largest margin of any Democrat to win in a district Trump carried in 2020 (+13.5). She also had the largest percentage of the vote above President Biden’s 2020 vote share of any Member of Congress! In addition, U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), another top Republican target, won by double-digits in a tossup district and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) won by 19 points despite facing his stiffest challenge in years.
--- In 2018, 2016, 2014, 2012, and 2010, Dave helped re-elect six incumbent Members of Congress, including Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), who consistently won re-election in a R+12 district—a district so red that in 2016 Hillary Clinton garnered less than 31% of the vote! From 2014-2021, Collin represented the single reddest district in the country to be held by a Democrat.
--- In 2016, Dave helped Maryland State Sen. Catherine Pugh come from 12 points down despite being outspent become Mayor of Baltimore. In the process, she defeated the former mayor in a race in which The Baltimore Sun said Pugh had the best ads in the city.
--- In 2014, Dave again helped re-elect Rep. Peterson, who won by 9 points despite being outspent on the Independent Expenditure side by more than $1 million.
--- In 2012, Dave’s clients won nine out of 10 congressional races. The biggest win belonged to Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.), who won the closest House race in the entire country (by 551 votes in a R+13 district!). McIntyre was the only Democrat in the country to win in a district in which President Obama garnered less than 39% of the vote. No successful Democrat was outspent by a wider margin on the air than Congressman McIntyre. In 2012, Dave also helped Rep. Alan Grayson (FL-9), who lost with another media consultant in 2010 by 19 points, come back to win a seat in 2012 by a whopping 24 points! His 43-point turnaround is, according to the House historian, the biggest electoral swing in the history of the U.S. House.
--- In 2010, the worst year for Democrats in nearly five decades, Dave’s clients won four out of five “toss-up” races for Congress and won both hotly contested county-wide races (each in counties larger than a congressional district). We also helped re-elect two of the only three Southern “Blue Dogs” to win re-election despite being heavily targeted by the GOP, U.S. Reps. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) and Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.). Dave also helped Rep. Joe Donnelly (Ind.) become the only targeted Democrat in a four-state region (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin) to win re-election – 14 of 15 Democratic incumbents lost, but Joe won (in a R+6 district) – despite his being outspent on TV!
The common denominators in each of the aforementioned races were a smartly conceived, unconventional and well executed strategy and creative, attention-grabbing TV and radio ads.
STUART ROTHENBERG, ROTHENBERG POLITICAL REPORT, ON REP. MIKE MCINTYRE'S 2012 RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN (NC-7)
We have had particular success helping elect minorities to Congress. Recent redistrictings have created a number of new seats with a plurality of minority voters, and we have helped our clients win repeatedly in these racially diverse districts. All told, Dave Heller has helped elect and re-elect more African-Americans toCongress (10) than any media consultant in the country, including U.S. Reps.Frank Ballance (NC-1), Sanford Bishop (GA-2), Corrine Brown (FL-3), John Conyers (MI-13), Elijah E. Cummings (MD-7), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL-2), John Lewis (GA-5), David Scott (GA-13), Maxine Waters (CA-43) and Albert Wynn (MD-4). Heller also helped elect and re-elect Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ-7) in a majority-Hispanic district.
At Main Street, we have great experience helping our clients win crowded Democratic primaries. These primaries tend to be among the most challenging, since they feature many unique dynamics: uncertain turnout, overlapping bases of support, shifting electoral coalitions, limited financial resources, and a cross-pressured electorate. Yet my clients have repeatedly succeeded in these arenas. U.S. Reps. Mike McIntyre and Frank Ballance (North Carolina), Sanford Bishop (Georgia), Allen Boyd (Tallahassee), Corrine Brown (Jacksonville), Steve Cohen (Memphis), Elijah Cummings, Raul Grijalva (Tucson), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (Chicago), Marcia Fudge and Dennis Kucinich (Cleveland), Marcy Kaptur (Toledo), Ken Lucas (northern Kentucky), David Phelps (southern Illinois), David Scott (suburban Atlanta), Albert Wynn (Prince George’s & Montgomery Counties)and John Yarmuth (Louisville) are all people I have helped win hard-fought multi-candidate primaries for Congress – often despite being outspent. They won these races because we know how to message in crowded markets, and we know how to make our clients find a unique lane and stand out from the pack.
In addition to helping candidates win elections, we have helped corporations change public perceptions and organizations advance ideas and philosophies. In Cleveland, we helped a coalition of pro sports teams, including the Browns, Indians, and Cavaliers, win a referendum campaign to pass a tax increase that would pay for improvements and repairs to their stadium, ballpark, and arenas.
In New York State, our work for the Greater New York Hospital Association and Service Employees International Union 1199 helping save hospital jobs and valuable health care programs prompted the New York legislature to raise taxes and override the governor’s veto more than 100 times!
With a strong record of success and a lengthy list of satisfied clients, we are prepared to serve those looking for creative and effective ways to achieve their objectives through strategic communications.