GQR, with James Carville, Shrum-Devine-Donilon, and GCS Helps Elect Bolivian President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada

August 6, 2002. Washington, DC. Former Bolivian president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada pulled off a remarkable electoral comeback by finishing first in Bolivia’s presidential elections on June 30. He took office on August 6. Sanchez de Lozada, who served as president from 1993 to 1997, trailed by more than 10 points in the 11-candidate field with less than one month to go in the campaign, according to public polls.

Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research served as Sanchez de Lozada’s consultant on polling and strategy, and helped develop Sanchez de Lozada’s winning campaign message, which stressed solving Bolivia’s economic crisis by creating public works and jobs.

Sanchez de Lozada finished first in the general election with 22.4 percent of the vote, followed by former Cochabamba mayor Manfred Reyes Villa with 20.9 percent. Bolivia’s Constitution requires a second round vote within the new Congress between the top two finishers if no candidate receives a majority of the popular vote. On August 4, Sanchez de Lozada received congressional backing, defeating Reyes Villa in the presidential run-off.

GQR worked for Sanchez de Lozada, or Goni as he is called, as part of the GCS consortium of campaign consultants. GCS includes political strategist James Carville; the media firm Shrum, Devine, Donilon; and GCS, whose CEO, Tal Silberstein, provided campaign management advice and services. In 1999, the four companies established the consortium to give political candidates and other international clients access a full range of consulting services through a single entity.