Deep Dive: Jeff Jackson’s winning two-track communications playbook
Jackson ran two campaigns at once: a traditional paid ad blitz and a long-term trust-building strategy. It took both to beat one of the GOP’s biggest stars.
For close to a decade, Attorney General Jeff Jackson has been the best political communicator in North Carolina. Heck, he might be the best of all time, at least in our state.
Sheerly through the power of his messaging, he’s risen from an obscure assistant district attorney handling traffic cases to the top law enforcement officer in North Carolina, with a clear track to the governorship or U.S. Senate.
In this first installment of our new “Deep Dive” series for Longleaf Politics subscribers, we’ll break down how Jackson’s communications playbook works and learn lessons that you can apply to your own campaigns.
The key takeaway is this. Jeff Jackson isn’t just running for office — he’s building a brand. Then during election season, he runs two very different campaigns at the same time: A traditional targeted fundraise-and-attack campaign, and an earned-media brand-building one.
🔓 Inside this exclusive deep dive:
The two-track strategy Jeff Jackson used to run separate organic and paid campaigns — and why that gave him a massive edge.
An exact breakdown of his Facebook ad targeting: which voters he focused on, what messages worked, and where he spent the most.
Why his TV ads were boring by design — and how that worked in tandem with his more aggressive digital content.
A data-driven look at his fundraising: small-dollar vs. large-dollar donors, in-state vs. out-of-state.
Side-by-side comparison of organic vs. paid content: tone, tactics, and what each one was designed to achieve.
Lessons future candidates can steal from Jackson’s comms playbook — especially if you’re running in a swing state or down-ballot race.
Let’s dive in.