The Worst Primary Campaigns

The Worst Primary Campaigns

What was the worst primary campaign? Who missed a big opportunity to score with voters? GoLocalProv asked its MINDSETTERS™—Republicans, Democrats, and independents—for what they thought about a primary as exciting as it was bizarre. Here are some of their comments. …(Click here to see who ran the best campaigns and here to see who ran for the wrong office.)

WORST CAMPAIGNS

Worst of the worst – Bill Lynch

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Wrong strategy: Why run if you aren’t going to try? Strategy of running as an “outsider” was simply stupid. Rightfully got punished by finishing 4th. The Pawtucket dynasty is dead.

The exact opposite of a flawless campaign: The worst primary campaign has to be in the first Congressional district. Vote goes for Lynch. Chairman of the party for 12 years, his campaign manager was the executive director of the party, his paid consultants are well known, and the candidate looks and sounds Congressional. They ran dead last. They didn’t raise enough money, they did a poor job of differentiating themselves (or attacking) the front runner and clearly did not either identify or turn out their voters on Election Day. These are people who SHOULD know how to run a flawless campaign, but they ran the exact opposite!

Anthony Gemma - Messaging insanity, incoherent.

Steven Costantino - Ran an all-air campaign depending on TV - Guess what? That era is dead - The game is won online, through organizing and through direct mail. The era of TV only is dead.

David Segal - Darling of the progressives duped his base. Never really running for Congress. Made them less influential when he was always running for a DC job.

Kerry King - Did he not get the memo that you need to live in the state you are running for office? If he gets elected maybe he will send all the voters one of those big bags of oranges this winter.

Jeremy Kapstein - Why run? Credible candidate who raised no money and spent no personal money. When he did talk to people, they listened, but two or three talk radio appearances alone won’t win an election.

Lou Raptakis - Ever the critic as a legislator, but failed to create a coherent message.

Betsy Dennigan - Spent tons of her own money as a 16-year incumbent state rep, and didn't even get as high a percentage as the totally unknown Brown professor Jen Lawless in 2006.

Leo Blais - Longtime Republican state senator lost a primary to a 19-year old unknown named Nicholas Kettle. No other incumbent state senator lost a primary.