Online campaign mail service company VoterPros, whose founders include Related Companies lobbyist Jude Barry and Ro Khanna campaign advisor John Shallman, sold $10,215 in “office services” to candidate for Santa Clara Police Chief Sgt. Patrick Nikolai. The expenditure was reported on Nikolai’s Oct. 22 campaign donation and spending report.
However, Nikolai’s reports don’t show that his campaign sent any mailers – mailers endorsing him come from the police union PAC. The WEEKLY has asked Nikolai what kind of services VoterPros supplied, but hasn’t received a reply.
Barry is named as a founder on VoterPro’s website.
Less than a year old, VoterPros offers a DIY direct mail service that provides mailer design templates, voter targeting, mailing services, and consulting help to craft pieces. VoterPros has built-in integration to online campaign contact list management service NationBuilder.
The value proposition, according to the company’s website is that it offers “sophisticated techniques” and “quality design” that until now, “was only available to candidates who could afford to hire political consultants.” The company’s target customers are small campaigns with $20,000 to $30,000 to spend – “local folks,” Shallman told the Sacramento Bee last February.