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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Emmanuel Theodorou
(312) 616-4413
et@bivings.com

Illinois Candidates Not Effectively Using the Internet
Democrats lack numbers, Republicans lack functionality

(June 5, 2002) - Washington, D.C. - Almost half of Illinois candidates for state and national office have no web presence, according to a report by the Bivings Group, a non-partisan, Washington DC-based internet communications agency. The study also showed that while Illinois Republican candidates were more likely to have some sort of online presence, sites for Illinois Democratic candidates tended to be more interactive, providing event information as well as accepting donations and volunteers online.

"We have seen that in Illinois neither party seems to get it right," said Gary Bivings, President of The Bivings Group. "Republican candidates have done a better job of getting their campaigns online, however the sites they build do little. Democrats, on the other hand, have not been as effective at getting sites built, but the sites that they do build do more".

Other key findings include:

  • 48 percent of IL candidates in the 2002 election have no live web site presence.

  • The campaign committees for Republican incumbents are 45 percent more likely to have some form of campaign web site presence than that of Democratic incumbents.

  • Democratic incumbents with campaign web sites are over 30 percent more likely to accept online donations than Republican incumbents.

  • Democratic challengers with campaign web sites are over 20 percent more likely to provide volunteer information online than Republican challengers.

  • Over 65 percent of Republican incumbents do not provide campaign event information on their web sites.

  • Over 85 percent of campaign committees of candidates in the IL 2002 election do not have a bilingual web site.

"With so many Americans regularly using the Internet at home, work and school, it seems unusual that most campaigns haven't created deeper, more robust Web sites to reach their constituents," said Bivings. "Smart politicians who understand the Internet will have a real edge over their competition."

The Illinois study was third in a The Bivings Group 2002 Internet and Politics Report series. The next report will focus on identifying and evaluating the most successful campaign websites of this year. Web sites will be judged according to their design, effectiveness and ease-of-use. This study can be downloaded at http://www.bivings.com/studies/studies/chicago_campaign_study.PDF

The Bivings Group is a Washington, DC-based Internet strategies firm with globally tested and recognized expertise in public relations, issues management and marketing. TBG has developed for web-based solutions for clients in the chemical, biotechnology, financial, food, consumer products and telecommunications industries.

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The Bivings Group