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Press release announcing launch

New Concerned American Voters Super PAC Launches to Support Rand Paul Presidential Bid

Super PAC launches with millions pledged, 40 full-time staff in Iowa

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Concerned American Voters, a political action committee supporting Sen. Rand Paul's campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, launched today with millions of dollars committed and 40 full-time field staff in the key primary state of Iowa, President Jeff Frazee and Senior Advisor Matt Kibbe announced.

"Once in a while, you discover a presidential candidate who has the potential to change the political conversation, to elevate key issues in voters' minds, and disrupt and transform a tired Republican brand," said Kibbe. "Once in a lifetime, maybe, you will have an opportunity to support a transformative candidate who can do all of these things, and win. Rand Paul is that candidate."

Kibbe is the former president and founder of FreedomWorks, a national community-building and grassroots advocacy organization of more than 6 million Americans who are passionate about promoting free markets and individual liberty. Frazee is executive director of Young Americans for Liberty and previously served as the national youth coordinator for Ron Paul's 2008 presidential campaign committee.

Concerned American Voters launches with millions of dollars in funding pledged so far.

Concerned American Voters is building campaign infrastructure by organizing Rand Paul supporters nationwide and in key primary states, including Iowa, where it has 40 full-time field staffers and has already knocked on the doors of more than 60,000 voters. The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Rand Paul tied for the lead among Republican voters nationwide. Polls consistently show he is the Republican most competitive against Hillary Clinton, with independents breaking 45 percent to 37 percent for Rand in a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

"Our strategy to elect Rand Paul will maximize the potential of the new rules of politics, which are shifting power away from political insiders and establishment favorites, towards more authentic candidates willing to reach directly to voters," said Frazee, Concerned American Voters campaign director. "By focusing on grassroots organization, e-marketing and proven Get Out The Vote tactics, Concerned American Voters will give Rand the edge he needs to win the Republican nomination and the general election."

Frazee added, "The Internet cuts out middlemen, party bosses, lobbyists and bundlers looking for a quid pro quo. This is the dynamic that allowed then-Senate candidate Rand Paul to beat Mitch McConnell's hand-picked successor in Kentucky in 2010. It's why Senator Mike Lee was able to defeat 18-year incumbent Republican Senator Robert Bennett in Utah that same year. And it's how Rand Paul will win the White House in 2016."

Concerned American Voters has recruited a proven team of professionals who have successfully organized grassroots activists for both the ideas of, and the candidates for, liberty – on the ground and through sophisticated social media targeting online – for years. In addition to Frazee and Kibbe, Concerned American Voters' leadership group includes Senior Development Advisor Terry Kibbe, who brings 18 years of experiences as a fundraiser for various nonprofit and political causes; Chief Operating Officer Edward King, the former national youth director for Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign; Senior Tech Advisor Steve Oskoui, the founder of Austin-based Internet advertising network Smiley Media; Senior Data Architect Mike Topalovich, the founder of cloud-focused technical and business process expert collective Delivered Innovation; and Senior Tech Strategist Martin Avila, the co-founder of political technology firm Terra Eclipse.

For more information on Concerned American Voters, visit concernedamericanvoters.com.


Aug. 10, 2017 update
Ed King, who was COO of Concerned American Voters, provided these notes on their accomplishments:


We were laser-focused on talking directly to registered and likely Republican caucus voters in the state... We held no public events, and everything we did was directly targeted to someone we modeled would participate in the caucuses.

Here are some numbers from our work in Iowa:

Field staff details:
Total field representatives: 48 (total number—not every person worked the entire time)

Phone calls:
Phone calls made: 603,846
Phone call surveys completed: 86,867
Phone call survey percent: 14.39%

Door knocks:
Doors knocked: 504,001
Doors knocked and surveys completed: 149,758
Door knock survey percent: 29.71%

Combined totals (phones and doors):
Combined total calls and doors: 1,107,847
Combined surveys from calls and doors : 236,625
Combined survey percent: 21.36%

Based on our verified voter IDs from calls and in-person discussions, we ran a targeted online ad program to reinforce and persuade "likely" and "possible" Rand voters.

While Rand fell short on caucus day, I'm confident we maximized the potential support he had in the state, and I'm extremely proud of the contributions made by our entire team.