PRSA Award Spotlight
Leveraging Women of Color Voters and the Care Agenda to Historic Wins
Virginia’s 2023 General Assembly election was a bellwether for the 2024 federal elections. Care in Action, the policy and advocacy home for two million domestic workers, seized the opportunity to mobilize women of color voters to elect 22 care champions to the statehouse. Using a targeted PR strategy on key competitive districts, and leveraging the personal story of the state director, the organization would help elect the largest class of Black and Brown women voted to the House of Delegates and State Senate – a 66% increase. The campaign proved that investing in women of color voters is a winning strategy.
Strategic Approach:
Our PR strategy targeted key competitive districts for endorsed candidates in Richmond, Petersburg, and Prince William. We intentionally pitched Spanish media outlets to leverage Latino voters in Northern Virginia and Virginia State Director Yanet Limon-Amado’s ability to speak Spanish.
We developed messaging in three phases to show that women of color voters, and a care agenda, is a winning strategy:
Setting the stage for the June Primary (Apr - Jun): Care in Action’s endorsed candidates will fight for workers and expand access to care for women and families. (Messaging that polled well with voters.)
Domestic workers turn out voters in General Election (Aug - Oct): Yanet is a DACA recipient and the daughter of a domestic worker. While she cannot vote, she has dedicated her career to uplifting voters of color, especially Latinos.
Post-election analysis (Nov - Dec): Virginia’s domestic workers win big as 22 Care in Action-backed candidates are elected to the General Assembly, the largest class of women of color voted to the House of Delegates and State Senate – a 66% increase.
Additionally, we positioned Care in Action as the new Emily’s List to help reporters easily understand the organization’s objectives. As a result, we landed media hits during every stage of the election campaign:
Care in Action Announces 18 VA Senate, House of Delegates Endorsements as Part of $1 Million Electoral Program. Blue Virginia
Yanet Limon-Amado: Uplifting Voters Of Color. Latino News Network
Virginia Democrats celebrate legislative ‘blue wall’ built from Election Day victories. RVA Hub
“The policies that affect the families, will also affect the voters.” PW Perspective
Women of Color are Ascendant in Virginia Politics. Virginian-Pilot
Three weeks before the election, a Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter joined a canvassing team to interview voters. That yielded an enterprise article – “Virginia sees more women candidates of color for legislature” – featuring Yanet and the organization’s sizeable impact in Virginia politics. Yanet also delivered post-election interviews with Telemundo and Public News Service.
Virginia sees more women candidates of color for legislature
A Winning Formula for the Future
Care in Action’s successful PR campaign in Virginia demonstrated the power of focusing on women of color voters and the care agenda. The historic wins didn’t just impact the 2023 election, but also set an example for future campaigns across the country. It proved that making this group a priority is key to successful electoral strategy.