Putnam Partners Gives Gillum for Governor (and Others Dems) A Fighting Chance

In the political arena, there’s a Washington, DC firm that understands brand storytelling. Thankfully, more and more candidates are turning to Putnam Partners for strategic guidance and video production.

The firm has helped elect 10 U.S. senators, 10 U.S. governors and 46 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The former Mayor of Tallahassee, Andrew Gillum, who is now running for Governor of Florida against a tough primary field, is the latest Putnam client to benefit from the firm’s storytelling prowess.

Will it be enough to elevate Gillum to victory? In the volatile five-candidate race, 27 percent of registered voters say they back former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, with 18 percent supporting former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine. Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene was a late entrant but after airing millions in ads, he is in third at 12 percent. Gillum trails the pack at just 10 percent with Winter Park businessman Chris King locking up 7 percent.

The good news for Gillum is a quarter of Democratic primary voters in Florida remain undecided.

I am honored to have just received the endorsement of Virginia Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax. He is a bold leader who helped to pass Medicaid Expansion in VA, which is exactly what one of my priorities would be as Governor of Florida. I look forward to campaigning with him in FL next month. Let’s #BringItHome!!! “More than ever, this country needs bold leaders to tackle the most pressing problems in our society: a lack of affordable health care, wages that remain too low, a public school system that is under attack, and a gun violence epidemic. In the Sunshine State, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum has the vision, track record, and personal history to take on these problems as Florida’s next Governor. I’m proud to endorse him in his campaign, and look forward to campaigning with him soon.” — Virginia Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax @lgjustinfairfax

A post shared by Andrew D. Gillum (@andrewgillum) on Jul 19, 2018 at 8:36am PDT

The Gillum campaign purchased a $60,000 ad buy on statewide cable for one week including CNN and MSNBC beginning Wednesday morning. The campaign plans to purchase a six-figure buy in Tampa, Orlando, and West Palm Beach starting the week of July 30.

The ad was shot by Mark Putnam. Putnam, 54, is known best for his work for red-state Democrats and his half-hour prime-time special for Barack Obama in 2008. A native of Anchorage, Alaska, Putnam graduated from Brown University with a degree in biology. He got his start in politics as an aide to Joe Biden’s 1988 presidential campaign.

MJ Hegar, a Democrat running in Texas and Amy McGrath, a Democrat running in Kentucky are also Putnam Partners clients.

McGrath’s commercial raised more than $340,000 in the 72 hours after it first aired and put McGrath on course to win the Democratic nomination for her state’s Sixth Congressional District seat. Hegar’s ad helped her raise $1.1 million in the quarter that ended in June, with $750,000 of that arriving in the ten days after the ad aired.

Video works wonders, especially when it’s endowed with a classic narrative arc, allowing viewers the ability to relate to the central character and why his or her struggle matters.