The Case: After many years of public service as Mayor of Braddock and Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, John Fetterman announced he was running for U.S. Senate. After a competitive Democratic primary race, the Fetterman campaign knew they needed to earn votes from communities of color across the state to get them across the finish line on Election Day.

Our Role: Potomac Waves Media was brought on to the Fetterman campaign as the multicultural consultant ahead of the May primary. During the primary, PWM created radio and print ads reaching the African-American community and in Spanish reaching the Latino community in Pennsylvania. After winning the primary, the campaign continued to invest in multicultural paid media which led to additional radio, print and TV advertisements. Many of these ads included validators like Gisele Barreto Fetterman who recorded in Spanish and Oprah Winfrey which we placed on General Market radio in addition to African American radio stations. The campaign knew that diverse communities would win or lose an election so they also invested in print outlets reaching Chinese and Vietnamese voters. Overall, the messaging focused on John Fetterman as not just a community leader, but as husband and father with the same values diverse communities also hold dear. This provided a stark contrast to the Republican opponent Mehmet Oz, who was seen as out of touch with everyday Pennsylvanians. 

The Results: Democrat John Fetterman declared a victory against Republican Mehmet Oz, 51.2% to 46.3%. Fetterman earned 91% of the African American vote and 68% of the Latino vote.