Decades of Experience. One Trusted Advisor.
Bruce Palmer has spent more than three decades at the intersection of strategy, storytelling, and community — and he brings all of it to Bankshot Campaigns.
For 28 years, Bruce led marketing and admissions at NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School), one of the world's most respected outdoor education institutions. He directed a complete rebranding of NOLS — developing messaging, visual identity, and brand architecture — while growing annual enrollment from 2,500 to more than 26,000. He oversaw a $3.8 million budget and led a team of 30 marketing, admissions, and creative professionals.
On the political side, Bruce has managed campaigns from school board to U.S. presidential primary. He served as Wyoming State Director for Mike Bloomberg's 2020 presidential campaign, where he recruited and led a 10-person team and built the Wyoming campaign plan and budget from scratch. He has managed legislative races, served as Vice-Chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party, and chaired the Fremont County Democratic Party — growing it from a handful of activists to a thriving, county-wide organization.
Bruce specializes in the tough races — moderates and progressives running in deep-red territory where every vote has to be earned. In 2022, he managed all aspects of Cale Case's Wyoming Senate campaign against a far-right primary challenger. The decisive move: a ballot chase program with weekly absentee tracking. Case trailed on Election Night — then won 55% when the absentee votes came in. In 2016, he managed Julia Stuble's Wyoming House campaign, outperforming Hillary Clinton in the same district by 400+ votes.
Bruce has also led issue campaigns, including directing Healthy Wyoming — the statewide Medicaid expansion advocacy coalition. Polling showed a winnable ballot initiative, but legal review revealed court challenge risks that led the coalition to stand down. Knowing the full risk picture is sometimes the win.
He is a skilled communicator, experienced media spokesperson, and a tech-savvy operator comfortable with digital tools including VAN/MiniVan, Facebook Business Manager, Mailchimp, WordPress, and Google Suite.
Bruce is the 2013 Wyoming Democratic Party Builder of the Year.
Why Bankshot?
The name comes from a real moment. A candidate came to Bruce convinced they had a shot at winning a race most people had written off. Bruce's response: "Sure, you have a shot. It'll have to be a bankshot."
In basketball, a bankshot uses the backboard — an indirect angle that scores just as cleanly as a straight shot, sometimes more reliably. It takes creativity, precision, and the confidence to trust a path that isn't obvious to everyone else.
That's the kind of work Bankshot Campaigns is built for. Moderates and progressives running in deep-red territory. The tough races, the long-shot races, the races that have to be won with creativity and discipline. The candidates and organizations that need to find a smarter angle — and execute it perfectly.