Winning the Living Room: Why CTV is a Game-Changer for Down-Ballot Candidates

You're running for state legislature, city council, or county commission. Your opponent has name recognition. You have passion, a killer message, and a budget that, let's be honest: would barely cover a week of traditional broadcast TV.

Here's the problem with traditional TV advertising for down-ballot candidates: DMAs (Designated Market Areas) don't match your district boundaries. You're paying to reach thousands: sometimes tens of thousands: of voters who can't even vote for you. It's like buying a billboard in the next county over and hoping your voters drive by.

Connected TV (CTV) changes everything.

What Makes CTV Different from Traditional TV?

Connected TV isn't cable. It's not broadcast. It's the streaming platforms your voters are already watching: Hulu, Roku, Peacock, Amazon Fire TV, and dozens of others. They've cut the cord, ditched expensive cable packages, and moved to streaming. And you can reach them there with the same credibility and impact as a traditional TV ad, but with precision that would make a direct mail consultant jealous.

Here's why CTV is a game-changer for down-ballot races:

1. You Only Pay for Voters Who Matter

With CTV, you can target by city, state, zip code, congressional or state legislative district...or even draw custom boundaries around your exact race geography. No more wasted impressions on voters three counties over. Suppression targeting lets you exclude voters who've already cast their ballots or are registered with the other party. Research shows this improves your effective CPM by 20-30% compared to traditional broadcast.

2. You Reach Cord-Cutters and Younger Voters

A quarter of CTV impressions reach OTT-only audiences: people who will never see your broadcast ad because they don't have cable. For down-ballot candidates trying to reach younger, more diverse voters, this is critical. These voters are engaged, they're streaming, and they're reachable.

3. You Build Credibility Fast

Down-ballot candidates start with near-zero name recognition. Appearing on the same premium platforms where they watch their favorite shows signals legitimacy. It says, "I'm a serious candidate." For low-information voters who aren't following local politics closely, that passive exposure builds awareness that social media alone can't achieve.

How Turn It Blue Ads Makes CTV Accessible

Here's where most ad platforms fall short: they require massive minimums, long-term contracts, or complicated setups that require a media consultant just to get started.

We built our platform differently.

No Minimums. No Contracts. Just Results.

You can launch a CTV campaign with Turn It Blue Ads for as little as $500: no minimums, no contracts, no nickel-and-diming you with setup fees. Our self-serve platform is built for campaigns that need to move fast and spend smart. You can be live in 15-minutes (seriously).

Premium Inventory at Your Fingertips

When we say premium inventory, we mean it. Your ads run on:

• Hulu + ESPN
• Roku
• Peacock
• Paramount+
• Pluto TV
• Tubi
• And dozens of other top-tier streaming platforms

These aren't sketchy websites with questionable viewership. These are the platforms where millions of Americans spend hours every day. Your message runs alongside the same content as national campaigns: but you're only paying for the voters in your district.

Advanced Targeting That Actually Works

This is where CTV gets exciting. Through our partnerships with L2 and Tunnl, you can layer sophisticated voter data directly into your CTV targeting:

• Voter file modeling: Target persuadable voters, frequent voters, or sporadic voters who need that extra push
• Issue-based targeting: Reach voters who care about climate, healthcare, education, or reproductive rights (just to name a few)
• Behavioral data: Target based on streaming habits, content preferences, and engagement patterns
• Custom audiences: Upload your own lists from door-knocking, phone banking, or email outreach

You're not just reaching "women 35-54 in your district." You're reaching persuadable women 35-54 who voted in the last two midterms but skipped the primary, live in swing precincts, and engage with progressive content online.

That's the difference between spray-and-pray and surgical precision.

Outside the Walled Gardens

Let's talk about social media for a second. Facebook and Instagram are powerful tools, but they're walled gardens. You're subject to their algorithms, their content policies, and their ever-changing rules about political advertising. Your reach is throttled. Your targeting options are limited compared to what they used to be. And you're competing with every other campaign, cause, and cat video for attention.

CTV is different. You're reaching voters in a lean-back environment: they're relaxed, focused on content, and not scrolling past your ad in 0.3 seconds. Video completion rates on CTV typically run 90%+ because ads aren't skippable on most premium inventory. They see your message. They hear your voice. They absorb your call to action.

And here's the crucial part: CTV doesn't replace your social strategy: it amplifies it. You're reaching voters across multiple channels, building that essential repetition that drives recall and action. Research shows voters need 6-12 meaningful touches before they act. CTV gives you those touches in a high-impact format.

The Service Team That Has Your Back

Here's something we're genuinely proud of: Turn It Blue Ads won the 2025 Award for 'Best Political Service Team' from Campaigns & Elections Magazine. That's not just a nice plaque for the wall: it reflects our commitment to actually helping campaigns succeed.

When you launch a CTV campaign with us, you're not on your own. Our award-winning team helps you:

• Refine your targeting strategy based on your race dynamics
• Optimize creative so your message hits harder
• Monitor performance and make real-time adjustments
• Troubleshoot issues before they become problems
• Scale what's working and cut what's not

We've worked with hundreds of Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations, and our clients using the ads platform have an 85% win rate. We know what works in down-ballot races because we've been in the trenches with campaigns just like yours.

Real-World Impact: What CTV Does for Down-Ballot Campaigns

Let's get specific about what CTV achieves:

Building Name Recognition: In down-ballot races, many voters walk into the booth having never heard your name. CTV changes that. Repeated exposure on premium streaming platforms builds familiarity and credibility fast.

Reaching Low-Propensity Voters: These voters aren't watching cable news or reading political newsletters. They're streaming Yellowstone reruns on Paramount+ after work. CTV meets them where they are, with messages tailored to issues they care about.

Responding in Real-Time: When your opponent goes negative or a major issue breaks in your district, you can deploy new creative within minutes. That kind of agility is impossible with traditional broadcast buys.

Maximizing Every Dollar: For campaigns with limited resources and unlimited goals, efficiency is everything. CTV's targeting precision means you're not wasting budget on voters who can't or won't vote for you.

Getting Started Is Easier Than You Think

You don't need a media consultant. You don't need a six-figure budget. You don't need to commit to a three-month contract.

Here's what you do need:

1. A clear message about why you're running and what you'll fight for
2. Video creative(we can help with that if you need it)
3. $500 to launch your first CTV campaign
4. Basic targeting parameters; we'll help you refine from there

Our self-serve platform walks you through the setup process step by step. Within minutes, your ads are running on premium inventory, reaching the exact voters you need to persuade.

The Bottom Line

Traditional TV is out of reach for most down-ballot candidates: and even when it's affordable, it's inefficient. You're paying to reach voters who don't matter to your race while missing the cord-cutters and younger voters who do.

CTV gives you the credibility and impact of television with the precision and efficiency of digital. You reach real voters in your district, on premium platforms they trust, with messages tailored to their concerns. And you do it without minimums, contracts, or complexity.

For Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations competing in tough races, CTV isn't just another channel: it's a strategic advantage. The campaigns that figure this out first are the ones winning those nail-biter races by 200 votes.

Don't let your opponent own the living room. Schedule a demo with our award-winning team and see what CTV can do for your campaign: or get started with our self-serve platform today and be live in 48 hours.

Your voters are streaming. Make sure your ads are too!