2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court Program
Decisive Results from Friend-to-Friend Social Influencing
16 Million Organic Social Media Impressions
1.7 Million Relational Conversations
2.3 Million total votes cast
Empower Project’s 2024 program proved our relational model is scalable. In 2025, our Wisconsin Supreme Court program demonstrated that it can also decisively shape outcomes in one of the most competitive election environments in the country.
This was one of the largest direct voter contact programs in Wisconsin Supreme Court election history. With 6,300 Community Mobilizers, we reached 600,000 people and generated 1.7 million relational conversations. These conversations covered voter registration, vote planning, social sharing, and storytelling — actions chosen by participants themselves, ensuring authentic engagement.
The results were clear: turnout increased, delivering a net 150,000 votes for Susan Crawford. Support shifted at extraordinary levels — 24.3% for Crawford and 23.3% for Jill Underly — validating that repeated, trusted contact not only mobilizes but also persuades. When voters heard from people they know, their perceptions shifted and their likelihood to participate grew.
Friend-to-Friend Social Influencing
Our Community Mobilizers also amplified their impact beyond personal conversations by sharing election content on social platforms. In partnership with A Better Wisconsin Together Political Fund, we added a coordinated digital layer that generated:
21,201 shares on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok and more.
16 million impressions
8,261 clicks
By encouraging everyday people to share and create content for their average-sized followings, we proved that cumulative reach could be massive. These ripple effects weren’t incidental; they represented a scalable opportunity to amplify impact through authentic, peer-driven communication.
The Wisconsin success built on lessons learned in 2024, when Empower piloted its first Nano-Influencer program. We recognized that Community Mobilizers could extend their influence beyond doorsteps and phone calls — they could also become powerful online messengers.
We asked Community Mobilizers to record short video testimonials about the Trump Administration’s economic record. Their words were raw and powerful:
“Donald Trump is trying to bring back slavery.”
“I have to choose between gas and food.”
“President Trump made some big promises, but he has set us up for failure.”
These testimonials not only provided authentic content for social media and ads, but also gave us valuable insight into how voters frame Trump’s performance. Mobilizers were also eager to share Trump/Musk accountability content on their own platforms, further amplifying the message.
Groundbreaking Iteration: Transforming Organic Digital Tracking for Friend-to-Friend Social Influencing
A breakthrough in 2025 came from matching Community Mobilizers’ networks to voter data. We discovered that:
Some mobilizers consistently engaged low-propensity voters, resonating with people who are hardest to turn out.
Others were more effective with persuadable, high-propensity voters, making them critical during early persuasion phases.
A third group showed balanced results, but still exhibited tendencies that can guide smarter deployment.
This means we can now assign mobilizers to mobilization or persuasion tracks based on their unique strengths, compounding campaign impact. Mobilizers who are persuasive in-person and trusted online bridge relational organizing with digital strategy.
Why It Matters
The 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court program shows how Empower is redefining what’s possible in voter engagement.
Relational organizing moves people because it is high-touch, personal, and trusted. Nano-influencing extends that relational trust into the digital space, creating ripple effects at scale. With new targeting capabilities, we can now combine the cost-effectiveness and authenticity of organic sharing with the precision once reserved for paid digital ads.
In short: we can have our cake and eat it too — shifting hearts, minds, and turnout through a model that is authentic, scalable, and transformative for the future of campaigns.
