VOTER CONTACT FOR GOP CAMPAIGNS
Republican Voter Outreach for Texas Campaigns: Primaries, Runoffs and November
Your race is often settled before November. Find the Republicans who really vote in primaries, keep them with you through a runoff and bring them back for the general, with email, text and calls from one in-house team.
Galleria 713-703-3030 | Kingwood 281-852-8253
WE ACTUALLY WANT TO WIN
Who votes in a Texas Republican primary?
Republican primaries are won by candidates who know their voters. We stay close to the primary electorate in your district and give honest advice about where to spend, because a close second is not the goal.
Texas does not register voters by party. A voter picks up a party affiliation by casting a ballot in that party’s primary, and an oath at a precinct convention also counts. That affiliation expires on December 31 each year. So a “Republican list” in Texas is really a list built from Republican primary voting history. The file records turnout, never choices. Still, a voter who has pulled a Republican ballot in several recent primaries is telling you where they tend to show up.
We split that group into consistent primary voters and occasional ones. Consistent voters need to hear from you early and often enough to know your name before the booth. Occasional voters need a reason this year is worth the trip, plus a clear reminder of when and where. We pull and clean these universes through our Texas voter data and append service, so the same file feeds every channel. Registrar data is for political use only.
HOW WE SORT YOUR UNIVERSE
How do you target Republican voters in a district?
PRIMARY RUNOFFS
How do you plan for a Republican primary runoff in Texas?
A Texas runoff happens when no candidate wins a majority in the primary. Runoffs are short, the ballot is lighter and many voters do not realize there is a second election at all. One rule shapes the plan: a voter who voted in the Democratic primary that year cannot vote in the Republican runoff. Your runoff universe is built from Republican primary voters first, and anyone who voted in the other party’s primary comes off the list.
- Plan the runoff before primary night. We draft runoff email, text and call scripts while the primary is still underway. If you win outright, the drafts become thank-you notes.
- Rebuild the list from primary history once it is available, and feed every channel the updated file at the same time.
- Restate the choice in plain words. Runoff voters may have backed someone else in round one. We keep the tone respectful toward your opponent, because you may want those voters in November.
- Make the date impossible to miss. Every message leads with the date, the early voting window and where to look up a polling place.
- Close with your most reliable voters: consistent primary voters and volunteers, with calls to landlines, texts to phones and a final email from you.
CHANNEL MIX
Which channels reach Republican voters around Houston?
The counties around Houston are a big part of the Republican primary picture. Montgomery County, Fort Bend County and the suburban parts of Harris County have grown fast, and many newer residents are still learning their local races. Your channel mix has to work for a retiree in Conroe who has voted in primaries for decades and for a young family in Katy that just registered. No single channel reaches both, so we match the channel to the voter and share one opt-out list across all of them. See how the pieces fit on our voter outreach services page.
THE CASE FOR VERTICAL WEB ON REPUBLICAN OUTREACH
One team, one phone number on primary day
ENDORSEMENTS AND VOLUNTEERS
How can a GOP campaign use endorsements, volunteers and texting together?
Primaries are won by the people around you as much as by you. An endorsement from a county official, a local club or a respected business owner means the most when voters actually hear about it. We turn each endorsement into a short text, an email with a quote and photo and, where it fits, a recorded call in the endorser’s own voice. Every piece gets the endorser’s sign-off, and the Texas political advertising disclosure goes into each message for your treasurer or counsel to approve. Our political email marketing team drafts the longer versions.
Your volunteers are the people most likely to answer a text from the campaign. We use political text messaging to confirm block walk shifts, share walk lists and meeting spots and thank people the next day. Before your first send, your texting number needs carrier registration, which our political 10DLC guide explains in plain English.
NOVEMBER
How do you bring your primary base back for the general?
Winning the primary can make a campaign relax. Your primary voters may assume the general takes care of itself. It does not always, especially down the ballot, where some voters leave races blank when they know little about them.
For the general, we go back to your primary voters with a thank-you, a reminder that the race is not over and a clear plan for early voting. Political robocalls reach landline homes, texts reach phones and email carries the longer case. One suppression list keeps anyone who opted out from hearing from you again, and our email and SMS compliance page covers the rest of the rules.
Vertical Web is a nonpartisan business by design. We serve Republican campaigns, and we also run Democrat voter outreach for candidates on the other side. Your lists, messaging and results stay yours, and the team on your race answers to you. If your site needs work before carriers will approve your texting, political campaign website design handles it in the same project.
STRAIGHT ANSWERS
Republican voter outreach questions
Texas has no party registration, so there is no official list of Republicans. Once someone votes in the Republican primary, they are tied to that party through December 31. We build Republican universes from primary voting history, which shows that someone voted, never how.
No. In Texas, a voter who votes in one party’s primary cannot vote in the other party’s runoff that year. We remove those voters from your runoff universe so you are not paying to reach people who cannot vote in your race.
It depends on how the text is sent. An autodialed text to a mobile phone needs prior consent. A text a real person sends by hand, one at a time, does not. That is why most campaign texting we run is peer-to-peer. Anyone can opt out by replying STOP. This is general information, not legal advice.
No. We are a nonpartisan agency with clients from both major parties and we never take policy positions. Every client gets its own lists, scripts and reporting, and none of it is shared with another campaign.
Yes. Recorded calls still reach many landline households, and email works well for voters who like the full story. FCC rules let political robocalls go to landlines without prior consent, up to three calls in any consecutive 30-day period.
Your price comes from the size of your target list, the channels you pick, any appends and how many times you send. We do not publish a price list. Schedule a consultation and we will point out where the money does the most good.
Yes. Your site needs a clear bio, endorsements, events, a volunteer form and a donate path, plus a privacy policy and texting terms before carriers will approve your texting number. We build and host it in the same project.
Spend first where the race is decided. In many Texas districts that is the primary, so most of the budget goes to reaching consistent Republican primary voters with email, text message and calls. Hold back enough resources for a runoff, then rebuild the plan for the general election, especially in a midterm election year when turnout drops and every volunteer and community member who shares your message counts.
Yes, with person to person texting to voters on the registrar file, registered carrier numbers and an opt-out on every message. We keep one shared opt-out list across text, email and calls.
Your primary starts now
The Republicans who decide your primary are already on a list. Let us help you find them, reach them and bring them back for the runoff and November.
Galleria 713-703-3030 | Kingwood 281-852-8253 | info@verticalweb.com