Fight Back New York

RACE #2 FIGHT BACK NEW YORK TARGETS BILL STACHOWSKI

For the September primary election, Fight Back NY identified conservative Democrat Bill Stachowksi as the best opportunity to take out another anti-equality incumbent. Similar to Monserrate’s district, we learned that Stachowski’s constituents were fed up with Albany and decades of dysfunction. Armed with extensive research on Stachowski’s votes, his financial dealings, and his record of over 30 years in office, we went into his district with hard-hitting and ultimately effective messages.

We sent 137,648 pieces of mail (see below) to more than 22,000 prime Democratic voters in the district. One anti-Stachowski mailer played on a definition of "insanity," as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” which leveraged the anti-incumbent mood of the district. Another very poignantly demonstrated his pork barrel spending. We also went on the radio in Buffalo to drive home Stachowski’s negatives. The radio spot, titled “The Big Stachowski,” ran for two critical weeks of the race and reinforced that he collected pay from the state when he wasn’t working (listen below). Feeling the pressure of our campaign, Stachowski produced an automated message to voters that referenced Fight Back NY, saying that our sole purpose was to elect senators who would vote for marriage equality. He was absolutely right—and his tactic failed miserably. On September 13, Fight Back NY notched a second overwhelming victory – Stachowski lost to pro-marriage candidate Tim Kennedy by a 37-point margin.

We learned that hard-hitting tactics, combined with sufficient and effectively used resources, can produce the electoral wins needed to bring equality to New York. With this, we entered the general election.

Fight Back New York's direct voter contact in Stachowski's district:

Listen to the radio ad:

Mailer #1:

Mailer #2:



Mailer #3:



Mailer #4:



Mailer #5:



Mailer #6:


Mailer #7: