After a year of not being able to do door to door voter contact due to COVID-19, it felt great to be back out talking to people to get them motivated to vote in the VIrginia primary June 8, 2021. I retired last year, so I had the time to do it. Getting vaccinated, and other people being vaccinated was like getting my superpower restored. I’ve canvassed since 2017, and enjoy doing it. I still wore a mask, and stepped back from the door, and informed people of my vaccination status, so they felt more comfortable talking.
I decided strategically where I wanted to volunteer. The Lieutenant Governor race had six candidates running, and most people were focusing on the Governor’s race. With 6 candidates running, I thought voters would need information, and I figured it was the race where we had the best chance of a diverse, qualified woman winning, so I volunteered on Hala Ayala’s campaign. I contacted their website and found virtual trainings, so signed up for one and off I went!
Staff was very friendly and I connected in with other local Dems. There were events/people knocking in eastern Henrico County, but I didn’t see any in western Henrico where I live. The list allowed me knock anywhere I wanted- it would give you a list 48-50 houses wherever you downloaded the list. Off I went knocking my home precinct. I got decent contact rate, after 4 years of knocking their doors, most of them open their doors because they know who I am and I’m not selling something. One neighbor said they missed me last year because of COVID!
Once establishing myself as a reliable, regular canvasser for the campaign, they started dropping off lit/signs at my doorstep to keep me supplied! Based on my canvassing experience before, I started tackling other nearby precincts that I hadn’t knocked for awhile. Most people were undecided and I was the only person from a campaign that knocked on their door. Although we were targeting Dems, I did run into two Republican husbands that answered the door and refused to pass the lit on to their wives. One said, “Democrats have betrayed us”, another said he would throw the lit out before giving it to his wife. Best to quickly disengage and move on to more doors. With most people you get only like 20 seconds to get your candidate elevator speech out, but some came outside and we had a longer conversation. I stated what inspired me to be out there, and that most people hadn’t paid attention to the Lieutenant Governor’s race, and with six people running- it was confusing and overwhelming for most voters. I focused on Hala’s cybersecurity experience, and emphasizing that the recent gas shortage due to Colonial Pipeline ransomware, they nodded their head responding to that.
Most people were very nice and were happy I stopped by. A given canvassing is humid, 90 degree days. I had a few people give me ice cold seltzer water so I could keep going when i really needed it. I had a cooler in my car, but I appreciated it. I even knocked on the door of Blakely Lockhart, who is running for Delegate in the 56th this November. We talked for awhile, and I said I would help her out when I canvass this fall. I also let people know that she would be running in the fall, so to be on the lookout for her on the ballot. (She had no primary challenger). One door I knocked, her Republican opponent was already out knocking that day. Their targeting must be off because she was a Democrat, but she was happy I stopped by. I sent the information off to her campaign.
My favorite doors: the person had moved, but Dems had moved in also. In one case, I told some people that had recently moved in from San Francisco, California, that since they had changed their driver license, they most likely were registered to vote. I told them their polling location. They said they were excited to be in Virginia where their vote could potentially help win a race. We have many razor thin races here in Henrico and Virginia. I helped two women that had applied for absentee ballots by mail, but none had arrived. I instructed them on coming into the registrar to sign papers, and be able to vote.
Similarities to past years of canvassing:
- Anecdotal, but it always seemed my target doors are on 2nd or 3rd floors of apartment buildings. Good exercise!
- Anecdotal, but it seemed like my target houses were at the very end of a cul-de-sac or had the steepest driveways.
- Towards the end I was doing 18,000+ steps!
- Setting door count goals: This year I knocked on 1,004 doors. Had to push the night before the election with 118 doors, several hours on my feet.
Election Results:
My candidate Hala Ayala won election night with 37.55% statewide performance. I looked up the precincts I had mostly canvassed and found winning percentages between 41-46%. I found the precinct with the highest win, was the one I had heavily covered the day before the election and had good contact rates. Many people were still undecided a day before the election, and I think it helped them that I had stopped by. A few precincts that Hala lost that I had done some canvassing was < 10 votes! Many people didn’t realize about early voting, or didn’t realize the primary was coming up.
Canvassing my local area year after year pays a dividend in turnout, keeping my voters informed, and helping them with any election questions. We can’t rest, and can’t take anything for granted. I always emphasize how important their vote is.
Donation link:
Link to donate to Hala Ayala’s campaign.