Guest Testimonial by Scott Crise, VE client and member of the Springfield Public School Board
I decided to run for Springfield Public School Board because I love Springfield, MO and am proud to have raised my daughters in this community with my wife Martha. I was always involved in their education, and I have a passion for public education. Since my daughters have graduated from Springfield Public Schools and my job has recently changed, requiring much less travel than before, I had the time to dedicate to improving our schools to help make them even better than they currently are.
A good friend of mine highly recommended Victory Enterprises after using their services for his successful city council campaign. I did research on Victory and found they could provide me with comprehensive campaign management, which I needed because I had never campaigned for an office before. Victory was very professional and enthusiastic about the race, and had a plan for me to win the election.
The onboarding went very smoothly. After reviewing the comprehensive campaign strategy developed by my consultant for my unique campaign needs and budgets, we got started very quickly. This included the development of a Facebook site for my campaign, mail pieces, yard signs, campaign letters and palm cards to hand out when I walked door to door.
The election field included people from a variety of backgrounds, including two people in higher education, a doctor, an attorney, real estate developer, a grant administrator and me, a technical services manager for an electric cooperative. There were 7 people running for three spots, so to win, I needed to be in the top three after the votes were counted. There were many controversies along the way that distracted from the real issues of the campaign, but my consultant helped navigate the complicated decisions with ease.
Everything that was developed by Victory was approved by me before it went any further. Victory’s experience of when and who to send mail pieces to was so precise. I think it made the difference in getting elected. From my experience and talking to other candidates, I believe I had the best campaign strategies because of the work of my consultant and those behind the scenes at Victory.
Election night was a roller coaster of emotions. Some wonderful friends volunteered to host a watch party for me. It was fun and exciting when the first results came in, which was a very small percentage of the votes. At that time, I was excited because I was in second place, but that excitement didn’t last long. A few minutes after the first numbers came in, new numbers came in with 50% of the votes reported and I had dropped to fourth place. It was about 8:30 at that point and a lot of my friends started leaving.
Those who stayed encouraged me that there were a lot of votes still outstanding. I started packing my computer that I tried to update every 15 seconds for updated results as I thought the election was over. I’ll never forget my wife, Martha, calling out to me that I was in second place with 94% of the votes counted. Then my phone blew up with congratulatory calls from the News-Leader, the SPS Superintendent, the school board president, other candidates, as well as my consultant at Victory Enterprises. It was an amazing feeling and experience that couldn’t have happened without their help.
I would highly recommend Victory Enterprises, just as my friend did to me. Victory’s experience and knowledge of how to run a campaign made the difference in getting elected. They have a proven process that works and will lead to a Victory on election night.