First Quarter: Advocating for Clients, Creating Coalitions

• Category: Government Relations, International Affairs, State Affairs
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• April 8th

During the first quarter of 2011, 3 Click Solutions has been busy in a variety of policy and political arenas. Below are some highlights of what we have accomplished. Patrick Murphy and the federal team have been very involved in assessing the impact of the budget cuts and the possible government shut could have on 3 Click clients.

Patrick has also hosted multiple events this spring, for Rep. Adam Smith; Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Claire McCaskill. At his Capitol Hill townhouse he recently hosted several not-for-profit events attended by Leader Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Martin Heinrich, Rep. Dave Loebsack, Rep. Jackie Speir and film notables Ed Harris, Amy Madigan and David Eigenberg. Sen. Jon Tester attended the Murphy Indian Boxing Scholarship event honoring Patrick’s late father, Emmett Murphy. The scholarship was created to help Montana Native American youth attend community colleges or universities.

On the international affairs front, Paul Frazer has been actively engaged in the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars following his appointment as American Co-Chair of the Canada Institute at the Center. For a second consecutive year, Paul gathered individuals from various policy and government backgrounds to demonstrate to visiting Canadian officials “How Washington Really Works” – both the theme and title of the two-day seminar. He was also recently in Toronto meeting with a number of constituencies to discuss the current political environment in Washington, DC and how it affects their business and trade relationships on a bi-lateral basis.

Kymberly Messersmith and her team have been busy with legislation as thousands of state bills impacting various client business models were analyzed during the extremely busy state legislature sessions. On the RFP and RFI front, MMIS and HIE related materials already are being issued for 2012. Messersmith has been on the road to Austin, Sacramento, Springfield, Tallahassee, and Trenton with more state capitals to come. Budgets are consuming more time that usual with particular focus on revamping Medicaid delivery. The state team has also attended DC based meetings and briefings  including the “Medicaid Innovations Forum”, the Republican Attorneys General Association Winter Meeting, and The eHealth Initiative.  Kymber recently was named to the Board of Directors for the Calvary Women’s Services in Washington, DC.

Midterm elections will echo for decade

• Category: State Affairs
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• December 10th

The Republican Party collected a huge number of seats in November’s midterm elections – more than 670 – but another number ensures the landslide victory will shape the nation’s politics for years to come: 10.

Because these elections coincide with the United States’ decennial census, to the victors go extraordinary spoils. The GOP will have a sizable advantage in the redistricting that follows each nationwide headcount and will be able to carve out an electoral advantage for the next 10 years.

Redistricting occurs at the state level, and every change there favored Republicans. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the GOP holds majorities in the full legislatures of 25 states, which includes 13 that flipped control in this election.

The state group’s website lists a number of notable facts that illustrate the scope of these changes:

“This is the first time in Alabama that Republicans have controlled the legislature since reconstruction. The North Carolina Senate has not been Republican since 1870. And Republicans have reportedly taken over 100 seats in the New Hampshire House. For the first time in history, the Minnesota Senate will be controlled by the GOP.”

The NCSL maintains several informative tools that break down the balance of power at http://www.ncsl.org/tabid/21253/default.aspx.

Redistricting will begin in 2011 after the census numbers are finalized and Congress’ 435 seats are reapportioned. Reapportionment? That’s best explained through animation:

Gains in state races give GOP edge in redistricting

• Category: State Affairs
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• November 8th

With the national spotlight fixed on a GOP takeover of the U.S. House, many important state legislative races flew below the election-debate radar.

Those officials elected to serve in the state capitals will determine redistricting of U.S. Congressional seat maps for the next decade. U.S. Census figures will be released early in 2011, and the redistricting maps will be completed in time for the 2012 primary elections. Now, Republicans occupy the majority of legislative bodies in 26 states.

“The map is certain to favor the GOP going forward,” said Kymber Messersmith, a senior adviser at 3 Click Solutions and former vice president of state government affairs for American Express. “This will lead to major gains in control of U.S. Congress.”

Republicans took control of many additional legislatures – with estimated pick-ups of 14, bringing the total to 27 – and 11 gubernatorial seats, bringing the total to 29 with too-close-to-call results in three states, all leaning Democratic, according to POLITICO.

GOP candidates were well positioned and won in states that have long held Democratic majorities, including Alabama, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. Colorado is still too close to call in elections results.  Texas represents a major redistricting win for the GOP as the Lone Star State should gain four new congressional districts based on the recent census numbers.  Border states to Canada that now host a GOP majority include Indiana, Michigan, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Democratic seats flipped to red in Iowa, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming. All states bordering Canada except New Hampshire, Washington and Vermont will host GOP majorities in the state executive and legislative offices.

Constituents can reasonably expect the newly elected GOP leaders to have a laser focus on solving challenges such as healthcare, energy and economic policies.

3 Click Media releases new app for Election Day

• Category: Government Relations, State Affairs
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• October 28th

While national election news on Tuesday will be practically inescapable, there’s only one way to get up-to-the-second news on state Republican races: 3 Click Media’s Republican State Leadership Committee iPhone App.

The RSLC App aggregates a huge amount of information focusing on state Republican politics because this year, Republicans are very interested in finding out what happens not only on a national level but also on a state level. The app is available now on the App Store.

“We think this is a very innovative way of putting political news into the hands of the people who are most interested,” said Emmett Murphy, new media strategist at 3 Click Media.

Murphy’s new media group is coordinating with RSLC on Nov. 2 for a full day of news streaming into the app. RSLC will also be launching a 24-hour push notification campaign that will hit all RSLC App users with an iPhone Notification Message the moment news breaks.

“I won’t need to be near a television all Tuesday evening,” said Kymber Messersmith, director of state affairs for 3 Click Solutions, a sister company of 3 Click Media. “I’m very excited about working with the RSLC to create an iPhone app that automatically pushes information on state elections nationwide to me.”

The app includes Facebook and Twitter feeds as well as aggregated news about the 31 attorney general, 12 lieutenant governor, 26 secretary of state and 88 state legislator races. Users can also keep up live with the REDMAP (REDistricting MAjority Project) program, a grassroots project to win state legislative seats that will have critical impact on 2011’s congressional redistricting.

The RSLC is a national group that provides strategic and financial support dedicated to electing Republicans as attorneys general, lieutenant governors, secretaries of state and legislators.

3 Click Media is a respected, Washington-based new media design firm that specializes in political app development as part of targeted online and mobile campaigns. The RSLC App is the latest in a series developed for the iPhone.

You can download the RSLC App now in the iTunes App Store.