Maren Hesla has done virtually everything there is to do in Democratic politics. She’s currently a partner in leading Democratic direct mail firm Mission Control…but before that she managed campaigns, worked for the DNC, DCCC, and EMILYs List, and spent time as a media consultant and pollster. Maren talks her personal journey as a Minnesota transplant growing up in the Deep South and what she’s learned navigating the political profession. Great episode with both smart political stories and highly actionable advice for pursuing and succeeding in a career in politics.
IN THIS EPISODE…
Maren’s first political memory at a local protest…
Maren’s memories growing up in the Atlanta area during the height of the Civil Rights Era…
Maren’s memories of seeing a fellow Georgian in the White House….
Maren’s first campaign with a local political icon in the Atlanta area…
How a mistake calculating voter IDs played havoc in the Mondale targeting operation…
How Maren built the first statewide voter file in Georgia county by county…
Maren manages the campaign of Ben Jones (“Cooter” from the Dukes of Hazzard)…
The Democratic member who broke Maren’s heart…
Maren talks what a field plan looked like in the 1990s…
Maren’s time in the polling industry learning under Diane Feldman…
Maren remembers Tammy Baldwin’s underdog first race for Congress…
Maren’s unlikely path to EMILY’s List…
Maren’s best practices to running independent-expenditure campaigns…
Maren’s early modeling project at EMILYs List…
Maren talks the talent pipeline produced by EMILYs List…
How Maren joined up with Mission Control and Ed Peavy…
Maren explains Direct Mail 101…
The most common mistakes in direct mail…
Maren talks how smart direct mail aided in the recent elections of Sherrod Brown and Jon Ossoff…
AND…the Analyst Institute, Julian Bond, Sherrod Brown, cutting turf, Rahm Emanuel, Emory University, Jennifer Granholm, Amy Green, Clay Henderson, Allison Jaslow, John Lewis, Ann Liston, Lester Maddox, Hal Malchow, Ellen Malcolm, Manuel Maloof, Martha McKenna, Ellen Moran, Jim Moran, Jerry Nadler, Jon Ossoff, the Peanut Brigade, Mike Podhorzer, psychographic profiles, Jim Quackenbush, Connie Schultz, Doug Sosnik, standard-issue white guys, Pat Swindall, George Wallace, Karen White, Andrew Young, and MORE!