Deliver Strategies is a left-of-center direct mail and communications consulting firm that principally serves Democratic Party candidates, left-leaning political action committees, and labor unions. Clients include notable Democratic Party politicians at all levels of government, and left-leaning organizations and labor unions like the AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood, and the League of Conservation Voters. ¹

Background

The firm is among the biggest left-leaning direct mail firms in the nation and pulled in over $17 million from Democratic campaigns and independent expenditure committees during the 2018 election cycle. ²

People

Deliver Strategies lists twenty-three employees on its website, all of whom have a background in Democratic politics or left-of-center organizing. ³ The firm is led by two senior partners: Kevin Mack, a former executive director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee,⁴ and Dylan Sumner, an experienced Democratic direct-mail operative. ⁵

Criticisms

During the 2018 Georgia Gubernatorial Election, Deliver Strategies was at the center of an error by the Abrams campaign that caused errors in as many as 30,000 absentee ballot request forms. The firm had been contracted to mail pre-filled absentee ballot request forms for voters to send to their local election offices to receive a ballot. The Firm inadvertently added a national democratic database identification number to the forms instead of the state-issued voter identification number that is used by election officials. The firm took responsibility for the mistake, with the Secretary of State and Democratic Party intervening to ensure all requests were processed despite the error. ⁶

In 2019, Amy Pritchard, a senior member of the Deliver Strategies Staff, left the firm after Deliver Strategies agreed to not take on any client who was a challenger to a sitting Democratic U.S. House member. The commitment was made to avoid being blacklisted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the official campaign arm for House Democrats. ⁷

Political Clients

Some Democratic political figures that have been clients of Deliver Strategies include: ⁸⁹

• Stacey Abrams
• Bill Keating
• Dwight Evans
• John Lewis
• Gwen Graham
• Lois Frankel
• Robin Kelly
• Keisha Lance Bottoms
• Barack Obama
• Bob Casey, Jr.
• Tina Smith
• Elizabeth Warren
• Hillary Clinton
• Tom Wolf

Organizations that have been clients of Deliver Strategies include:

• American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) (Labor Union)
• American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) (Labor Union)
• American Federation of Teachers (AFT) (Labor Union)
• California Teachers Association (CTA) (Labor Union)
• Chicago Teachers Union (Labor Union)
• Clinton 2016 Presidential Campaign (Political Party/527)
• Color of Change (Non-profit)
• EMILY’s List (Other Group)
• Florida Education Association (FEA) (Labor Union)
• For Our Future (PAC) (Political Party/527)
• House Majority PAC (Political Party/527)
• International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) (Labor Union)
• League of Conservation Voters (LCV) (Non-profit)
• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (Non-profit)
• National Education Association (NEA) (Labor Union)
• Obama 2012 Presidential Campaign (Political Party/527)
• People for the American Way (PFAW) (Non-profit)
• Planned Parenthood Action Fund (Non-profit)

1. Career Center: Deliver Strategies”. Democratic Gain. Accessed November 21, 2019. https://careercenter.democraticgain.org/profile/deliver-strategies/1258152/
2. “Vendor/Recipient: Deliver Strategies” Open Secrets.org: Center for Responsive Politics. Accessed November 21, 2019. https://www.opensecrets.org/expends/vendor.php?year=2018&vendor=Deliver+Strategies
3. “Our Team” Deliver Strategies. Accessed November 21, 2019. https://www.deliverstrategies.com/team/
4. “Kevin Mack” Deliver Strategies. Accessed November 21, 2019.  https://www.deliverstrategies.com/team/
5. “Dylan Sumner” Deliver Strategies. Accessed November 21, 2019. https://www.deliverstrategies.com/team/
6. Kauffman, Johnny. “Error On Ballot Form Sent By Abrams Campaign Sparks Questions And Response”. WABE. August 13, 2018. Accessed November 21, 2019. https://www.wabe.org/error-on-ballot-form-sent-by-abrams-campaign-sparks-questions-and-response/
7. Steinhauer, Jennifer. “Insurgent Democrats, Many of Them Women, Worry a New Party Policy Will Block Them”. New York Times. June 2, 2019. Accessed November 21, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/02/us/politics/dccc-blacklist-incumbent-policy.html
8. “Vendor/Recipient: Deliver Strategies” Open Secrets.org: Center for Responsive Politics. Accessed November 21, 2019. https://www.opensecrets.org/expends/vendor.php?year=2018&vendor=Deliver+Strategies
9. “About” Deliver Strategies. Accessed November 21, 2019. https://www.deliverstrategies.com/