Lessons Learned from Councilman-Elect Brian Byrd!
Dr. Brian Byrd is a My Campaign Coach Alumni and will be Fort Worth’s Newest Councilman!
A lot of people run for public off every year but there are only so many seats at the table. I get to work with some great folks who want to server their communities but Dr. Brian Byrd has impressed me far more than most.
From Coaching with Brian last year to providing significant voter contact resources and software, I got to spend a lot of time with Dr. Byrd and see from up close the passion and dedication he has brought to the table.
Yesterday I shot a short Facebook Live video saying congrats and talking about how Dr. Byrd won the race:
Learn from Brian Byrd’s Race
Dr. Byrd’s election was just 3 days ago so none of us have really caught up on sleep, let alone done a detailed writeup on all happened during the race. We’ll be writing several blogs and have at least one interview with Dr. Byrd to discuss his race in the near future though.
The whole thing was as close to a text-book campaign effort as I can imagine…and it ran so well because Dr. Byrd was prepared and worked hard, not because everything went according to the original plan.
Preparing to Run
Fire, Ready, Aim. That’s how most municipal candidates kick off their campaign…and most of them lose, for obvious reasons…
Dr. Byrd knew that he was going up a 12-year incumbent that was well funded and had strong name-ID. Additionally, the voter turnout was likely to be record-breaking (it was!). He sought out the best candidate preparation coaching and brought in the strategic help he would need for a tough race.
Throughout the Candidate Coaching, Brian was heavily engaged. Asking questions, submitting homework and building out the systems we emphasized through the class. Well before the campaign was underway, Dr. Byrd was building an actionable plan to make victory possible.
Setting the Tone
The candidate sets the tone and tempo for the entire campaign. From work ethic to civility, everyone else that surrounds your campaign will look to you for the example of how they should conduct themselves and how heavily they should invest in your campaign.
Once a gain, Dr. Byrd nailed it. There were so many people who poured their hearts and sweat equity into this race…but nobody worked harder than the candidate himself.
Brian knocked nearly 5000 doors himself, secured donations from over 250 individuals, attended more meetings and forums than we could count and called/texted an incredible number of folks. Every contact was intentional and the feeling that voters were left with when Brian left their door was that they knew him. Not just that they’d MET him, but that they KNEW him.
His genuine love for his home town and desire to serve his community came through clearly in those conversations with voters.
Nothing Left on the Table
You never want to cross the finish with an ounce left in the tank. We didn’t.
From Brian on down through the ranks of paid help and volunteers, I can say with confidence that we left it all out there. Win or lose, when the polls closed, we knew that we’d done or best and that the results were out of our hands. Our efforts were blessed just a few minutes after poll closing with early vote totals that showed us up by 10% (a margin that held as election day results came in)!
What Other Lessons Did He Learn?
Like Dr. Byrd, I’m still recovering from this election as well. My teams and I knocked 3000 doors and lit-dropped 1500, in addition to standing polls and providing their voter contact software.
So, having left it all on the field, I’m trying to regather my faculties! I’ll continue to synthesize the lessons we learned and interview Dr. Byrd and his wife, Stephanie very soon.
