I usually try to group states together from the same region, but it doesn’t always work out. We had anticipated to start knocking on doors in Michigan, but we didn’t see the weather forecast getting to our 65° threshold in the two areas for which we had planned canvasses.
The one thing we really noticed this week was how the issue of the debt ceiling just exploded into responses to our Issues Questionnaire. We had the topic pop up here and there before, and (combined with other responses) had acknowledged that by labelling it in the Credit Crunch category or as Economy Uncertainty, but last Saturday voters were much more clear what they meant. They are talking (and telling our Volunteers) about their concerns over the Debt Ceiling negotiations. In almost every state, voters were responding and reacting to that.
Hope Springs from Field PAC had to postpone canvassing in Pennsylvania the previous week due to the rain forecast in all the areas where volunteers would be canvassing. Thankfully, that didn’t happen again — and we even had volunteers start communicating with organizers early to make sure it wouldn’t happen again. Kind of weird to think there are Democrats and progressives who want to be talking — perhaps the word is demanding to talk — to voters in light of the trouble some campaigns have had in getting people to turn out to knock on doors. But that’s why i try to post something about what we are doing every week to give volunteers, donors and supporters an idea about what we are doing out here and why.
205 volunteers came out to knock on doors in 8 canvasses around Philadelphia last Saturday. The grey Congressional Districts represent most of where we are targeting, but we also had two canvasses in minority neighborhoods Philadelphia as well. Boosting minority turnout to more Obama-like levels is a key goal for this cycle. Hope Springs volunteers knocked on 14,883 doors last Saturday and talked to 1,269 voters. 784 of those voters answered questions to at least part of the Issues Survey.
Rising Gas Prices was the most frequent response to our question about voter’s top concern on Saturday. This follows (when we last canvassed) the question, “Why haven’t gas prices fallen more?” in Pennsylvania. But one volunteer came back and said, ”voters really want to see gas prices come down more — all prices, really.” Housing costs or availability was the second more frequent response this week, a response that continues to confuse me because all the voters we talk to obviously have housing. The Debt Ceiling was third.
Biden Approval among the Pennsylvanians we talked to was at 55% last Saturday and 8% expressed some measure of Disapproval. 60% of the voters who responded Approved of the job Sen. Casey was doing while 8% expressed Disapproval. 55% of the voters we talked to thought Gov. Shapiro was doing a good job, 5% said they Disapproved. All three Democrats improved their job approval number this week, which is notable indeed!
6 voters asked questions that will be forwarded to the candidate’s campaign (we walk with Q(uestion)-slips that are filled out if the voter asked the volunteer a question; these are then forwarded to the appropriate campaign, freeing volunteers to answer questions that they may or may not know the answer to). We also walk with Observation Forms that volunteer canvassers can fill out if they notice something they think will be helpful to other canvassers. We always record these observational notes in VAN, so that the Democratic campaigns that follow have access to volunteer observations.
73 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. We send completed CSRs to Democratic elected officials responsible for the requested functions, but if the appropriate office is held by a Republican, we still send it along. For Democrats, though, we encourage them to reach out immediately to the voter who filled out the Constituent Service Request forms and let them know they are working on the issue. This credit-taking is enormously valuable to the Democratic office-holder.
Volunteers registered 6 new voters in Pennsylvania and re-registered 35 voters in compliance with Federal (HAVA) law. 2 voters filled out Incident Reports about issues they witnessed in prior elections.
Hope Springs from Field PAC has been knocking on doors since March in a grassroots-led effort to prepare the Electoral Battleground in what has been called the First and Second Rounds of a traditional Five Round Canvass. We are taking those efforts to the doors of Democrats and unaffiliated voters with a systematic approach that reminds them not only that Democrats care, but Democrats are determined to deliver the best government possible to all Americans.
Obviously, we rely on grassroots support, so if you support field/grassroots organizing, voter registration (and follow-up) and our efforts to protect our voters, we would certainly appreciate your support:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/fistfulofsteel
Hope Springs from Field PAC understands that volunteer to voter personal interactions are critical. We are returning to the old school basics: repeated contacts, repeated efforts to remind them of protocols, meeting them were they are, helping voters to understand the importance of super-compliance with these new voting restrictions that Republicans keep enacting. Mentoring those who need it (like first time and newly registered voters). Reminding, reminding, reminding, and then chasing down those voters whose ballots need to be (and can be) cured (in states that allow it).
We have had to really step up our efforts in North Carolina this month. Unfortunately, the changes in the composition of the North Carolina Supreme Court have left Democrats behind the 8 ball, so to speak. North Carolina’s Congressional delegation is currently split 7-7 but the state Supreme Court overturned prior court rulings on April 27th that could dramatically effect fair elections in general and the composition of the state’s Congressional delegation. Republicans hope that these rulings will lead to 11 Republican-leaning districts and three Democratic-leaning ones, a significant boost for Republicans’ hopes of keeping the U.S. House in 2024.
Thus Hope Springs from Field has expanded our door to door efforts in North Carolina, as well, focusing on NC-01, NC-06 and NC-14. We have been canvassing in NC-13 for the last two years already. (We had also been knocking on doors in the counties identified by Jhacova Williams as historically significant voter suppression because of their higher level of lynchings, which formed the basis for our canvass expansion.)
212 volunteers knocked on doors in 9 canvasses in seven North Carolina counties on Saturday. They knocked on 15,200 doors and talked to 1,360 voters. 854 of these voters answered at least some of our questions on the Issues Survey.
The Top 3 Issues canvassers found in North Carolina were first, Reproductive Rights, secondly Prices and third, Crime.
Biden’s Approval number among the Democratic and unaffiliated voters we talked to was 51%; remember, we don’t include Republican households in our walk lists (which our volunteers really, really appreciate). Disapproval was 15%. More than 40% of the voters we talked to on Saturday had no idea who their senators were or had any kind of impression of them (while we are asking about voter approval of senators not on the ballot, we aren’t really tracking these numbers).
Democratic Governor Roy Cooper does better among these voters. 58% of the voters we talked to on Saturday approved of the job Cooper is doing; 13% expressed disapproval.
Volunteers registered 12 new voters and re-registered 42 voters. 88 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms and 3 voters completed an Incident Report. These are passed along to Democratic office holders, when possible, but to the appropriate office, if not..
We are also asking North Carolina voters whether they have the (now) required photo ID they will have to present to vote. The Holmes v. Moore ruling means that North Carolina county boards of elections will now be issuing voter photo id’s (just like in Georgia): “The county board of elections shall, in accordance with this section, issue without charge voter photo identification cards upon request to registered voters.”
In Georgia, Hope Springs from Field conducted 56 Voter ID days from June 12th, 2021 to October 2022 and helped 18,478 voters get the photo ID cards they needed to vote. For the most part, we knew who these voters were, especially those who were mobilized through the Black Churches. While 18,478 voters got their photo IDs according to the Registrar’s offices in 21 counties, we came away with a list of 13,168 names that we could match to voter history after the November 2022 election. Just to be clear, our efforts amounted to 13,168 voters who turned out to vote in November, voters who would otherwise have been turned away.
We endeavor to do the same in North Carolina. In the places where we have asked county boards, they have told us they are either not ready yet to print voter photo IDs or they have yet to receive funding to start the process. This is something we are watching very carefully.
One of the concerns we are hearing from volunteers and activists, though, is the “hint” that Republican poll watchers will start pushing for poll workers to reject photo IDs of (especially) minorities because voters don’t look like their picture. This is something else we will have to watch, but reinforces our commitment to finding poll watchers and placing observation tables outside of polls next year (as we did in 2022).
We knock on the doors of Democratic and Independent voters. At every door, we leave a piece of “show the flag” lit, something that tells them we were there and hopefully reinforces the Democratic brand. The lit focuses on the things voters told us were important to them last fall, aiming to appeal to every voter.
But the main focus of our canvassing right now is the Issues Survey, asking voters for their input and concerns. Voter responses to the questionnaire are entered into VAN and made available to all Democratic candidates who use VAN in the state after the primary. Creating this kind of data isn’t done with a specific goal in mind but has the purpose of engaging voters and creating a dataset that any Democratic candidate can use in opposition to a Republican.
Hope Springs has targeted states that have competitive Senate races and/or the Electoral College in 2024, as well as Congressional Districts that are remapped in ways that offer opportunities or vulnerabilities for Democrats next year (specifically those where a Republican won a Congressional District that voted for Biden in 2022). There is a lot of work to be done! Especially since we have had to expand the map this year.
By starting early, and aiming towards super-compliance with these really, really onerous provisions, Hope Springs from Field PAC seeks to undermine that strategy, while informing voters about the new laws and regulations aimed at them.
If you are able to support our efforts to protect Democratic voters, especially in minority communities, expand the electorate, and believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection, please help:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/fistfulofsteel
Thank you for your support. This work depends upon you!