Last week, my Propeller advisor, Erik, asked me about getting into politics as a brand strategist.
The money is always good. But money is not a reason. I have to believe in it. If I put my name and my strategy behind a campaign, I have to believe in the person and the work.
Then Jamie Davis lost Tuesday night.
I looked at the numbers. Less than 26,000 votes. A race this close makes you ask what a few smart moves would have done. I kept thinking about how I could have helped if I had been on the PR and marketing team.
I was not in the room. I only know what the public record shows. I also know a campaign like this is built on people who gave everything, and I respect every one of them. But I run a brand strategy firm, and I can't turn off what I see.
It's been two days. The first night was for feeling it. The second day was for the numbers. Now it's time to think.
This is not a post-mortem. A post-mortem is for something dead. This race is alive. Davis lost as the first Black U.S. Senate finalist in Louisiana since Reconstruction. A moment ended Tuesday night. The movement did not.
Here is what I would have done differently.
1. I would have started the story in July. Davis won the nomination in June. The real surge came in the last few weeks. That means most of the summer was quiet. A candidate with a story this strong cannot wait for the news cycle to find him. I would have told the farmer story every week from June forward. Short videos. Local radio. Parish by parish. By October, nobody should have been asking who he was. The question would have been, “Who is Jamie Davis?” By election night everyone in the state would have known who he was and why he was the right man for the job.
2. I would have made the race look real early. Donors move when they see a competitive race. Davis raised about $5 million and nearly erased Letlow's cash edge by the end. The polls tightened late. That proof came too late to buy full momentum. I would have released internal numbers in August. I would have made closeness the headline while there was still time to spend on it.
3. I would have made the DNC believe, or made them explain why not. The week before the election, reporting said the DNC and political donors had not paid much attention to Louisiana. Local consultants were already calling it competitive. Then Davis lost by about 25,000 votes. Money follows belief. It did not follow Davis until the polls forced the issue, and by then the calendar was short. A late buy placed three months earlier changes a race this close. Next time, Louisiana will not wait to be believed. We make the case in August, with numbers, with turnout, and with a candidate nobody can ignore.
4. I would have built the Camp with farmers. A campaign is a team. A movement is a Camp. Davis is a crop farmer, so I would have started in the field. Farmers of every race. Cotton, soybean, rice, cane, cattle, catfish. Black farmers, white farmers, Vietnamese farmers. Folks who share the same bad weather, the same input costs, and the same worry about whether the land makes it to the next generation. Their trucks, their co-ops, their church lots, their feed stores. When a farmer vouches for a farmer, that carries more than any ad. After the farmers, I would add barbershop owners, DJs, pastors, teachers, coaches, and volunteer fire chiefs. Folks people already trust.
5. I would have made the common man the face, and the calm the brand. Davis was not loud. He was not slick. He had a calm about him, and Louisiana needed that calm. He was the cool uncle who never judged, always listened, and gave the best advice. Most campaigns try to fix a candidate like that. I would have built the whole campaign around him.
Put the ordinary person in front. Let farmers, nurses, line cooks, and bus drivers carry the message in their own words. Davis stands beside them, not above them.
Make listening the strategy. Front porch visits. Kitchen tables. Tailgates. Short videos where he asks a question and then stays quiet. Let people see him hear them.
Sell the calm. The other side was louder. Davis was steady. In a tense year, steady is a message. My tagline would have been: the uncle you can trust with the hard conversation.
Skip the polish. Charisma can be coached. Calm cannot. Put him where he is strongest: one on one, in a small room, with a good question.
That is Identity Is Architecture™ in practice. You do not rebuild the candidate. You build the house around who he already is.
6. I would have forced Letlow's hand on the debate. Letlow never debated Davis. She also declined repeated interview requests. A front-runner hides when the stage helps the challenger. Davis was calm, plain-spoken, and good one on one. A debate was his best room. You cannot force a yes. But you can make a no expensive.
Send the invitation in public, early, with a date, a place, and a moderator. Put Davis at a podium beside an empty one on local TV. Count the days every week. Hold the forum anyway, in a co-op or a church hall, with questions from farmers, nurses, and line cooks. Hand every reporter in every parish the same question: why not debate?
A refusal gives us the contrast. The steady farmer who answers questions, against the congresswoman who would not take them.
7. I would have used New Orleans as the engine, not the face. This is the lesson I keep coming back to. A statewide Black candidate cannot run as a New Orleans candidate. So I would have kept the story rooted in the north and the Delta, where Davis lives and farms. Then I would have used New Orleans for what it does best: volunteers, money, culture, and turnout. Send people up the road. Do not bring the story down. New Orleans shadows North Louisiana and the Delta. Shine a light on them. Meet them where they are.
8. I would have measured turnout parish by parish. Early voting showed our strength. Black voters were 34.4% of early voters, against 31.3% of the overall electorate. I would have set clear goals for every parish and tracked them every week. What gets counted gets done.
It's a movement, not a moment
A moment fades by Thursday. A movement keeps working.
Look at the thread. This did not start in November. Black and anti-Landry voters rejected four constitutional amendments the governor backed in the May election. Then they showed up again and nearly flipped a Senate seat. That is not a lucky night. That is a pattern.
The next door is close. The governor and the entire state legislature will be on the ballot in 2027. Davis already put Governor Jeff Landry on notice. So we do not wait for 2028.
Here is the work.
* Keep the lists. Every volunteer, every donor, every parish captain.
* Keep the Camp together. Farmers, barbers, pastors, teachers. Meet this month, not next spring.
* Keep the story going. Tell it every week, not just in October.
* Keep the receipts. Show the numbers early so belief shows up early.
* Make the debate stage part of the plan from day one.
One campaign ends. The work does not. A movement is built before the vote, not after.
Do I want to get into politics? I'm asking the right question now. Do I believe in it? After Tuesday, I believe in this.
We still here. We still building. We got work to do.
