The Page County Democratic Committee (VA) will mount a public messaging campaign in Fall 2025 aimed at persuading moderate Republican and Independent voters to register their disagreement with the White House by voting for Abigail Spanberger for Governor. The goal of this effort is to improve Democratic performance in Page County. Achieving incremental improvements in rural counties is essential to Democratic hopes of winning statewide elections in the future. PCDC’s campaign will consist of purchasing billboards, installing lawn signs, and running radio spots. PCDC engaged Victory Margins LLC, a firm specializing in persuading independent, working-class, and rural voters, to create the content for this campaign.
As in many rural areas throughout Virginia, Republicans receive strong support in Page County. But to win in many important elections, Democrats do not need to win in Page County, they only need to lose less badly. Incremental performance improvements in Page and throughout the Commonwealth’s rural counties will add up to decisive margins of victory in races for Governor, Attorney General, U.S. Senate, and, to an extent, congressional and state senate races.
The messaging of PCDC’s persuasion campaign centers on economic issues relevant to Page County residents. For instance, one message will read, “How Does Cutting Rural Health Care Make America Great?” Eye-catching colors and graphics will accompany that and other messages. Other billboards will focus on tariffs paid by farmers and the rise in prices of consumer goods. Lawn signs will carry those and other similar messages. Visually, they will resemble the billboards and have similar color schemes.
This billboard went up on 211, east of Luray:
A planned radio ad running from October through election day will drive home this messaging with a catchy, humorous premise that will attract and hold listeners’ attention.
Targeted voters will react to these messages by saying to themselves, “Yes, I agree with that, and I’m angry.” “That’s not what I voted for.” They will see those messages repeated over and over. The lawn signs will reinforce the billboards and contribute to a desired psychological effect: “I’m not the only one thinking this way.”
The messaging in the radio spots will lead voters to the desired action: “Send a message to Washington: Vote Spanberger.” Historically, the Virginia governor’s race is considered to be a referendum on the White House’s first year of performance. PCDC’s campaign will encourage voters to cast their votes as a protest, without naming him, against President Trump, whose economic policies are unpopular, even among people who voted for Trump.
PCDC members will also canvass residents. Canvassing creates the opportunity for both 1) obtaining property-owner permission for lawn sign placements, and 2) collecting data to aid in the post-election performance evaluation. For instance, canvassers might follow a simple script along these lines:
Compared to a year ago, are you better off, worse off, or about the same today?
Will you allow us to put a lawn sign on your property?