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What Merrill Stillwell’s City Council Win Means for Local Candidates Everywhere
Last year, with smart local campaign strategy, Merrill Stillwell won his race for City Council District 1 in Littleton, Colorado. Earning 64% of the vote to his opponent Darren Lemorande’s 36%, Stillwell outperformed other winning candidates in Littleton by up to 7 points.
That 28-point margin was the result of deliberate, data-driven outreach.
A Win Worth Watching
Stillwell’s district posted 6% higher voter turnout than the other winning races in the city, signaling that his campaign was both reaching existing voters and engaging new ones. Expanding the voting population in local races is one of the most difficult challenges facing down-ballot candidates, and Stillwell did it! But how?
His team built their strategy around data and used RunningMate to inform major decisions at every stage of the race. When local candidates treat data as a core part of their operation rather than an afterthought, it shows up in the vote count. Stillwell’s campaign proved that!
A Local Win, By the Numbers
The impact of Stillwell’s campaign strategy becomes even clearer when you look at the data over time. Comparing Littleton’s 2021 and 2025 election results, District 1 voter turnout grew by 34.28% (well above the citywide increase). Across Littleton, turnout in the mayoral race grew by 21.73% from 2021 to 2025. When you strip out the surge in District 1 participation (sparked by Stillwell’s campaign), that citywide growth drops to just 18.40%. Nearly a quarter of Littleton’s overall turnout increase can be traced directly to the district where Stillwell ran his data-driven campaign with RunningMate.
That’s what it looks like when a local candidates use data-driven campaign strategy with the right tools to find and engage voters who otherwise might have stayed home.
Leveling The Playing Field in Down-Ballot Races
Think about what it really means to run a local campaign. All the risk of entering the political sphere, and all the passion to drive change, but no guarantee you’ll be able to break through with the little resources you have.
Down-ballot races often lack the attention or funding they need to run competitive races. Without major backing, most local campaigns are planning their strategy with little access to full-time consultants, voter data, or major tools like NGPVan. Instead, they’re operating with skeleton crews of family, friends, a small team of volunteers, and a district full of unengaged voters that have never heard their name.
With limited access to the resources and tools needed to succeed, down-ballot candidates are left with more obstacles than advantages. Their smaller teams translate to a need for more individual time dedicated to the campaign, and unlike national campaigns who rely on traditional media to attract voters, they must rely on direct, hands-on strategies to engage with their communities.
RunningMate was built to support organizers at every level, especially down-ballot campaigns. It gives independent and local campaigns access to the same quality of data and strategic tooling that larger, more established campaigns use, without the same barriers to entry.
“RunningMate was easy for the team to use for planning and outreach, and we saw the effects on election day.”
Audrey Kline
Kline Company
How Does RunningMate Support Political Organizers?
RunningMate provides organizers the data and tools to run their programs seriously. On the platform, users have access to features like:
- The Executive Dashboard
- Helping visualize their district to guide organizing strategy, planning, and field operations.
- Interactive Maps
- Using filters to target supporters, maximizing impact and resources.
- Drilling down from the state or district to household level, targeting outreach based on key demographics.
- Data Aggregation and Integration
- Seamlessly combining data from various sources, creating comprehensive views with custom lists.
- Goal Tracking
- Monitoring their campaign’s progress with metrics tracking progress and engagement.
- Canvassing and Phone Banking
- Running your voter outreach efforts directly through RunningMate.
- Running your voter outreach efforts directly through RunningMate.
Merrill Stillwell’s campaign shows what’s possible when a local candidate commits to using the right tools, consistently and strategically. At every level of political organizing, the fundamentals are the same: you need to know your district, know your voters, and make every resource count. RunningMate gives you the infrastructure to do exactly that.
If you’re running for office or supporting someone who is, and you want to compete like your program depends on it (because it does), sign up for RunningMate today.