Greetings from beautiful downtown Dallas, Texas, where the kids and I are attending an AI (artificial intelligence) marketing conference being hosted by our AI guru and coach, Perry Belcher.
But before checking into our hotel room yesterday – which happens to overlook the infamous Dealy Plaza – we paid a visit to the Southfork Ranch, where JR and the Ewing clan wreaked havoc in the 1980’s.
That’s Kristen taking the selfie in the foreground, sister Jenna to her right, my son-in-law Austin behind them, and yours truly, The Campaign Doctor, with the Ewing family home in the background.
And here they are on the balcony above the pool, where Sue Ellen’s sister, Kristen Shepard, “fell” to her death.
They’re standing in the same spot where JR looked down, unsympathetically, at the pool as Cliff Barnes was fishing her out of the water.
Now, what most people don’t know is that all three of my kids have a tie-in to the show. Kristen shares the name with JR’s late sister-in-law, though they spell their names differently.
Jenna was named after Bobby Ewing’s childhood sweetheart, Jenna Wade.
And my son goes by his initials, CJ – short for Charles Joseph – just as JR – short for John Ross – did.
But enough of our working family vacation. Back to business.
* * *
Since the four of us are gonna be locked up in a room with a few hundred other AI marketing students for the rest of the week, there probably won’t be any Nevada News & Views “Daily Digests” until we get back.
But I don’t plan to leave you high and dry.
For the past couple of years, I’ve been working with Assembly District 9 candidate Erica Neely.
She’s a graduate of my Campaign Boot Camp and member of my Winners Circle coaching program.
And when I tell you she’s something special, you better believe it. But word on the street by many of the big institutional donors is she “can’t win.”
Total BS. You can believe she “won’t.” But “can’t”?
Well, that’s the same thing everybody told me in 2018 about Assembly candidate and brothel owner Dennis Hof – who went on to win with 62% of the vote…three weeks after he died.
Now, I won’t lie to you – unlike her opponent, Lyin’ Ryan Hampton – it won’t be easy.
Through the last campaign finance reporting period at the end of June, Erica had raised just under $56,000. Lyin’ Ryan, on the other hand, had raised just under $190,000.
Pretty big gulf, right?
But before writing this race off, consider two things:
1.) Lyin’ Ryan ran for the Assembly in 2024 in a different district. In that race, he raised just over $660,000 … and STILL lost to Lisa Cole.
2.) Erica also ran for the Assembly in 2024. Against the sitting Democrat Assembly Speaker, Steve Yeager. She raised just over $49,000 – compared to Yeager’s $691,000.
And she came within two points of beating him!
So as I teach my students, you don’t have to raise as much money as your opponent.
You just have to raise enough money to communicate your message to the voters – if you have the right message to communicate.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been studying Lyin’ Ryan’s background and history. And if Erica can raise enough money to tell that story to the right voters at the right time in the right media…
She could very well be the next David vs. Goliath success.
So over the next few days, I’ll be telling you all about it in a new series titled: “True Lies: The Real Ryan Hampton Story.”
Buckle up. It’s gonna be one heckuva ride.
P.S. Just a quick note to all the armchair quarterbacks, keyboard warriors, and Karl Rove wannabe’s out there.
Erica and I have developed a detailed, comprehensive, WRITTEN campaign plan for this race.
But as one of my political mentors, Newt Gingrich, taught me some 30 years ago: The planning is easy; the execution is hard.
And as veteran political strategist Roger Stone wrote in his book, Stone’s Rules, three people can keep a secret … if two of them are dead.
So if you ask Erica questions such as, “How many doors have you knocked? or “How much money have you raised so far?” or “Why aren’t you going to this event or that event?” … you won’t get an answer.
That’s for she and I to know. No one else.
And you’ll all know soon enough. So stay tuned, Batfans!
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“I was already practiced at concealing that I was gay. My addiction was another thing to hide…” – Ryan Hampton, “American Fix”