JesseNet

Jesse Ventura's gubernatorial bid in Minnesota was a watershed moment for use of the internet in a political campaign. Running as a third party candidate, Ventura relied heavily on a younger, anti-establishment demographic to get elected. In the initial stages of the campaign, Ventura did not even have a bricks and mortar campaign office. Instead, he used the internet as an organizing and fundraising tool. His success on the internet allowed him to build up a traditional campaign establishment, and his online presence remained a key element of his strategy once the campaign had solid footing. His online effort buttressed a relative lack of resources by allowing him to reach voters (and his targeted demographic) in an effective and low cost manner.

A classic insurgent campaign, Ventura's message and targeted audience were symbiotic with the people he reached online, and the organizing and fundraising impact of his online strategy was crucial to his election.