It’s been eight weeks since Election Day. The data is in and there is no denying that 2010 was a year like no other in recent history. There were dozens of well-prepared, well-qualified candidates running throughout the United States. There were very serious conversations happening about an education overhaul, bringing work back to America, our global position, skyrocketing debt, Constitutional boundaries, and war.
In so many ways, it was a wonderful time to be a candidate. I will cherish my conversations with you. I will forever be grateful for the ways the in which my beliefs were challenged. I will always be proud of how, together, we took a stand against educational malpractice, veteran neglect and misuse of taxpayer dollars. I hope you have been pleased with your investment in this campaign.
As an investor, I know you need numbers too. So we have crunched the numbers in the ways that best compares “apples to apples” and, as an investor in the campaign, we wanted you to know how we really did on November 2nd.
To that end, we compared our numbers to other campaigns across the nation. First, we measured our performance to other military veterans (11 races) and other women (13 races) running as challengers on the Democratic ticket. Then we compared ourselves to other Democratic challengers in Florida (9 races).
We decided that votes earned and cost per vote were the two most valuable measures of how we did with your time, talent and treasure. Here’s how we did in vote getting.
Beaven for Congress earned 82,999 votes. The average veteran challenger earned 85,704 votes while the average female challenger earned 93,110 votes and the average Floridian challenger earned just 65,008.
We out-performed other Floridians by a significant margin. We stayed on pace with other Veterans while we slightly under-performed other female candidates. The other category we thought was meaningful is cost per vote. As the steward of your money, it was incumbent on me to make sure our resources were used in the most effective manner. As you know from our Transparency in Campaigning e-blasts, our campaign budget was used for voter outreach (phone banking, signs, television, internet) and staffing (operations, fundraising and FEC compliance and field work). Here is how much we spent per vote.
Beaven for Congress spent $2.87 for each vote cast for us. The average veteran candidate spent $9.92 per vote and the average female candidate spent $15.90 per vote. The average Floridian candidate spent $3.75 per vote.
You kept that per vote amount so low. You helped early and often through your investment and your time. Every time you forwarded our e-blast, you saved us money. Every time you made sure that bumper sticker actually got on your bumper, you saved us money. Every time you took my phone call, you saved us money. But just as importantly, every time you showed up to an event, sent me an email or took my call – you made my day!
Even though it was a year full of strife, you have made the Country better by engaging in the conversation. I thank you deeply for sharing your life with me over the last eighteen months.
- Heather
P.S. As this is the final e-blast from Beaven for Congress 2010, indulge me for one last moment of “campaigning.” Turn-out was too low. Many will say that Democrats didn’t do a good job “getting out the vote.” In a time of two wars, a great recession, talk of succession, the educational death spiral our children are facing and the desperate unemployment of so many of our neighbors…voting is an American’s highest form of patriotism…why should anyone have to be convinced to vote?
In the end, America will be better when “get out the vote” turns into “you can’t stop me from voting.”