The cost of a permanent campaign

Jeff Jackson’s new digital push isn’t groundbreaking — but it shows exactly what the off-cycle permanent campaign looks like, down to the dollar.

Attorney General Jeff Jackson sent out an email yesterday that caught my eye.

He’s launching something called The Lighthouse Fund, which sounds lofty but is actually a pretty simple campaign tactic.

The idea is to run a targeted video ad across YouTube and Instagram to about 1 million unaffiliated voters across the state once a month between now and the next election cycle. The price tag: $9,500 per month.

This isn’t novel. Elected officials pay to promote their social posts all the time — they just don’t usually advertise it. What’s different here is the transparency and structure.

That’s what makes this interesting on two levels.

First, it puts a hard dollar figure on the cost of a meaningful, sustained digital presence. We’re so used to vague chatter about “cutting through the noise” that it’s unusual to see a specific plan, with a monthly price tag and clear goal: stay relevant with independents across the state.

A million-person reach for under $10K is pretty efficient — especially co…