Three Essays on Electoral Dynamics and Campaign Strategy

I explore three distinct strategies in this dissertation: “redboxing”, B-Roll or image provision, and the use of so-called "common vendors" such as political consultants. Redboxing refers to efforts by candidates and parties to bypass laws prohibiting them from coordinating campaign advertising with outside spending groups such as super PACs. This coordination takes place in plain sight – on official campaign websites and party “microsites” – with campaigns instructing outside groups, via a distinctive, red-bordered text box, as to their preferred message, medium, and target group for “independent” external advertising. Complementing this strategy, B-Roll or image provision refers to efforts by campaigns to ensure that external advertising utilizes the footage or images of the candidate expected to be most appealing to voters. The use of common vendors, meanwhile, entails the simultaneous employment of political consultants by a candidate and outside interest for the purposes of information transmission. This dissertation finds that these strategies are far more widespread than previously understood, with hundreds of congressional races from 2012-2022 featuring their use. I further show that these strategies are broadly effective in prompting super PAC advertising that closely mirrors the candidate or party’s specific instructions, or that employs the visual resources provided by these actors.