Winning a Governor’s Race in a Blue State

In 2006, Linda Lingle ran for re-election as Governor of Hawaii. The state of Hawaii is a Democratic state with both U.S. Senator and U.S. Representatives being Democrat and the majority of the legislature controlled by Democrats.

Meridian served as the General Consultant to the campaign. In addition, Meridian ran the direct mail fundraising program that helped raise over $6 million and assured a strong financial advantage by Governor Lingle, which allowed the campaign to communicate with voters through several media—television, radio and direct mail.

Meridian also put in place the largest grassroots get-out-the-vote effort, where 249,000 households were contacted by precinct walkers and callers. Meridian devised an effective strategy that communicated the positive message of moving Hawaii forward to the voters. On Election Day, Linda Lingle was re-elected to her second term by a margin of 27 percent.