Causeway Solutions
Success Stories, Issue Advocacy, Politics
June 7, 2023
Case Study: Ohio Ballot Initiative
A ballot initiative in Ohio legalizing marijuana for both recreational and medicinal purposes would consolidate the cultivation of marijuana into just ten farms, creating an oligopoly. Those on the supporting side of this initiative were well funded as they stood to profit greatly should it pass. The opposition side had a shoestring budget with which to cobble together a coalition of voters who might not necessarily be opposed to legalizing marijuana but would be opposed to legalizing it in this way.
Causeway Solutions employed a set of predictive models to identify likely voters who were likely to side against the formation of an oligopoly, regardless of their position on the legalization of marijuana. The narrowed universe allowed the client to focus their limited dollars on the most important voters to educate them on the structure of the ballot initiative and persuade them to vote against it.
The ballot initiative failed to pass, only garnering 36% of the vote, even though a Quinnipiac University poll conducted in October of the same year showed that 53% of Ohioans supported the legalization of marijuana. The education campaign persuading voters to vote against the ballot initiative, even if they supported the overall legalization of marijuana, was a success.
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