What We Do
Diagnostic-first strategy. Operational execution.
Cato delivers strategy and execution under one roof. Below: how an engagement actually works, and the four practice areas we lead with — anchored by the discipline we're known for, advance mail ballot and ballot-chase programs.
Our Process
What hiring Cato actually looks like.
Strategy call
A 60-minute working session. We listen to the race, share an initial read, and outline what a diagnostic engagement would look like. No fee, no commitment.
Diagnostic phase (30 days)
Voter-file pull, universe construction, opposition assessment, statutory and calendar review. Output: a tactical memo with a full program, vendor recommendations with rate cards, and a high/medium/low budget.
Execution
Cato signs the vendors, owns the data, runs the program, manages the chase, and delivers weekly KPI reporting against universe coverage, application conversion, and ballot-return rate.
Post-election report
Conversion rates by tier, cost-per-vote by channel, learnings carried forward to the next cycle.
Our Specialty
Advance Mail Ballot & Ballot-Chase Programs
The GOTV discipline Democrats spent two decades perfecting. Most conservative campaigns still underinvest in it. We don't. Cato has built mail and chase programs at every tier — from a $450M ballot initiative defeated by 319 votes to a 650,000-voter field operation across Georgia for the Trump campaign's allied super PAC.
What's Included
- Voter file procurement and modeled-universe construction
- Low-propensity targeting and propensity scoring
- Unsolicited absentee-ballot application drops, multi-wave
- Postage-paid return architecture and SoS-form compliance
- Multi-channel chase: mail, P2P SMS, digital, volunteer phones
- BOE ballot-tracking integration and KPI reporting
- Deadline-aware calendar design (post-2024 statutory environment)
- Final-week messaging flip to in-person delivery
- PAC architecture and 3rd-party committee setup
- Coordination across full ticket where applicable
Mail demand didn't disappear. Programmatic infrastructure did.
Practice Area
Strategy & Campaign Management
A campaign isn't a tactic stack. It's a strategic argument made at scale, executed under deadline pressure, and measured against an opponent. Cato builds and runs the full operation — diagnostic, strategy, paid media, polling, modeling, debate prep, candidate coaching, scheduling, fundraising support, and field — for candidates and committees who want a single accountable team rather than a vendor stack they have to manage themselves.
What's Included
- Polling, modeling, and voter targeting
- Paid media: mail, digital, CTV, radio, television
- Earned media and message development
- Debate preparation and candidate coaching
- Fundraising strategy and finance plan
- Scheduling, advance, and event logistics
- Volunteer recruitment, training, and field management
Practice Area
PAC Formation & Ballot Initiatives
We've founded our own PACs and won the races other consultants called impossible. Cato stands up PACs in 90 days, designs the legal and tax architecture, builds the donor program, and runs the campaign through certification. For ballot initiatives — bonds, constitutional amendments, citizen petitions — we bring coalition-building, message testing, and the same diagnostic-first methodology we apply to candidate races.
What's Included
- PAC formation and FEC / state compliance setup
- 3rd-party committee and Super PAC architecture
- Ballot-initiative coalition-building
- Petition drives and signature validation
- Donor program development
- Coordinated and independent expenditure strategy
Practice Area
Brand, Image & Design
Lauren Davis leads our brand and image practice — a marketing degree, a decade of styling experience as a licensed cosmetologist, and an eye for what makes a candidate look like a winner. Every Cato engagement that needs design support — logos, websites, candidate photography, event presence — is delivered in-house, built around the same strategic thesis as the rest of the program.
What's Included
- Logo and identity design
- Website design and build
- Candidate headshots and photography direction
- Wardrobe consulting for headshots, debates, and events
- Event styling and presence coaching
- Print and digital collateral
Start the Conversation
Tell us about the race.
Every engagement starts with a strategy call. Bring the race; we'll bring the read.
Schedule a Strategy Call