At the conclusion of the November 2022 election cycle, WisDems made a final year-end fundraising push to get a head start on April 2023, which included the most expensive state Supreme Court election in national history as well as critical down-ballot races. Bailey showed copywriting and scripting prowess in the months following, teamed up with a graphic designer to launch new merchandise, and spearheaded an online event with the cast of Grease.
Quickly dubbed the most important election of 2023, Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court race had national implications, as the 2024 presidential election will once again be decided by a handful of purple states, Wisconsin included. The issues that turned people out to the polls included the state’s abortion ban, gerrymandered maps, and measures that made early voting more difficult (on which WisGOP has since reversed their stance). The election of Judge Janet Protasiewicz ended the Court’s conservative majority and laid the groundwork to correct course.
Copy Writing: Social Media Ads, Emails, and Writing for Surrogates
Dark money flooded the Wisconsin Supreme Court race early on, largely originating from anti-abortion groups. This posed a major threat to bodily autonomy, fair representation, and democracy itself, so meeting the seriousness of the moment was critical. Bailey often chose a hopeful tone over “worst case scenario” messaging, taking inspiration from positive cultural events such as De La Soul’s music catalogue arriving to streaming services. The variety of angles resonated with a national audience, breaking through post-November exhaustion to keep thousands of grassroots donors and volunteers motivated. Judge Janet Protasiewicz won the election by 11 points.
Bailey wrote plenty of acquisition emails in the last cycle, so expanding capacity to write for the internal email list was a natural next step. Topics ranged from voter registration reminders and volunteer requests to addressing developments as Election Day approached. When news emerged that a survivor of sexual assault had been harassed by the Dan Kelly campaign ahead of her story being used in an attack ad without her consent, Bailey, experienced in DVSA (domestic abuse/sexual assault) advocacy and messaging, was tapped to draft the WisDems response and provide guidance on how the digital team should write on the issue.
Opportunities to draft for influencers and celebrity surrogates came after successfully writing for WisDems chair Ben Wikler. An example of note is a handful of short fundraising scripts Bailey wrote for Emmy-winning actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, which she chose from to revise and post.
While most of Bailey’s work this cycle centered around the state Supreme Court election, she also supported candidates several critical down-ballot races across the state. In the last month leading up to Election Day, Bailey and Digital Ads Director Gordie Murphy worked with the Candidate Services department to launch social media and programmatic ads supporting over a dozen candidates from Eau Claire to Sheboygan. Notable victories include the mayoral contests in Green Bay and Racine, both of which favored Republican Ron Johnson in the U.S. Senate election only five months prior.
Special Projects: Digital Events and Creative Endeavors
Bailey and WisDems Video Producer Susan Holder collaborated on “Forward,” a Powerful Ideas Award-nominated 60-second ad that honored Wisconsin’s labor history and set an uplifting tone for the April election cycle. Despite the timing of its launch (a mere four days after Christmas, during what was supposed to be a post-November slump), “Forward” earned over 1.3 million impressions.
About a month before his departure from WisDems, graphic designer Albert Davis asked: what would a streetwear-inspired merch design look like? After a creative brainstorming session, Bailey constructed the pitch to secure buy-in and wrote the multichannel organic and paid promotional copy package to support Albert’s final WisDems project. The two designs launched in the spring and are still available in the WisDems store here and here.
When the idea of an online fundraising event with the cast of the iconic movie-musical Grease was floated as a possibility, Bailey seized the opportunity. In less than a week, she completed a SWOT analysis, drafted an outline for the entire program with pre-show content, and drafted promotional copy for both organic and paid channels. The event was an overwhelming success: House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi was made an honorary Pink Lady, cast secrets were revealed, and the WisDems team beat its fundraising goal.
Bailey Rose Boyle 