Casey Putsch and James Fishback built national followings almost entirely online. Both lost their respective Republican gubernatorial primaries by wide margins. The results warrant closer attention than a routine underdog defeat, because both campaigns were built on an identical and identifiably flawed theory of how digital attention converts into votes. 

Putsch never had a realistic path to the Ohio nomination against Vivek Ramaswamy, who carried President Donald Trump’s endorsement and a national profile into the race. Fishback faced comparable odds in Florida against Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), also Trump-backed and the more conventional candidate by any measure. Neither loss is surprising on its own. What is instructive is that both campaigns substituted online reach for the organizational work a statewide primary requires, and both were penalized for it decisively rather than marginally.