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Campaign Crawlers

Last fall, Ron Crews ran for Congress in Massachusetts against four-time incumbent James McGovern of the Third District. Crews brought significant experience, credentials, and resources to the campaign. He had served in the state senate in Georgia. He had headed the Massachusetts Family Institute for four years (a position he resigned to campaign), where he became the go-to guy for conservative comment on family issues not only in the state, but nationwide. He had reasonably good name and face recognition (if you watch cable news, you've seen Crews). An experienced speaker and leader, Crews is nationally known as a lifelong Army chaplain (he is still a Colonel in the Guard) and an ordained Presbyterian minister.

He lost, pulling only 30 percent of the vote. I interviewed Crews last week, concentrating on the mechanics of the run, rather than on the issues Crews had raised. (Crews raised them anyway. He's a preacher. It's what he does.)

LH: What was it like running for Congress?

RC: It was a good experience. We met wonderful people along the way. I was particularly blessed to have so many evangelical Protestants and Catholics working together (for me), many for the first time in the political arena. At my party on election night there were about 80 people there. I asked how many were working for the first time for a political candidate. About 75 percent raised their hands. I was touched. There were many who had made friends, many of them Catholics and Protestants who might never have met.

LH: What about the results?

RC: I got 30 percent of the vote. I had certainly wanted to win and had hoped to do better. But when I look at the fact that I spent about $150,000 on the race, the incumbent spent $1.25 million, I don't feel so bad about the vote I got.

LH: Some years ago, I heard that the minimum cost for a Congressional run is about $400,000. Is that true?

RC: Yes, yes. I had hoped to be able to raise far more than we raised. A couple of factors impacted that. Governor (Mitt) Romney had done an excellent job recruiting candidates. (Statewide), we had over 100 Republicans running. So there were a lot of people going after the same dollars. Second, I was disappointed in not being able to raise more money from people of like values either in state or around the country. There were a few people who gave to the maximum, and I'm grateful. But I received no funding help from the state or national parties, and that was a disappointment.

LH: Funding is the ultimate endorsement.

RC: It is. That was very difficult. I don't understand, particularly here in the state, why the Republican establishment did not back any of the Congressional candidates in the state -- there were six of us. Part of that I know. The Governor was interested in the state legislature. So he raised and spent $3 million on state legislative candidates -- to no avail. But so far as I know, no funds were given to any of the Congressional candidates. That was a disappointment and a surprise.

LH: Suppose you had had the supposed minimum of $400,000. What other things would you have done?

RC: I did no polling, because I had no funds for that. I did very little advertising. I ran some radio ads in Worcester and Fall River. If I had had sufficient funds, I would have done radio and TV ads and some mail pieces. My opponent ran six or seven mail pieces. One mail piece is about a $60,000 or $70,000 item. So if I had had the funds to be able to do some direct mailing, particularly in Worcester area, that would have helped for name recognition.

LH: What about name recognition? Do you figure you had some, but not the right kind?

RC: I am probably known more in Boston than in Worcester, particularly in the media. Our campaign probably generated more publicity than the other Congressional races. Mr. McGovern did agree to debate me, and we had four debates. Unfortunately, the debates were held in low media markets, and Worcester, the big market, didn't cover them. That was probably Mr. McGovern's intention.

LH: How does a challenger build name recognition?