Now on to overtime. We can probably all agree that the only way for president felon’s MAGA coalition in the House not to lose it’s majority is to cheat. And cheating is something that Trump does frequently (and everyone knows). So we can’t be surprised he’s been demanding state legislatures enact rigged maps to prevent losing his House majority.
We can’t stop Trump from cheating but we can prevent him from being succesful at it next November. I doubt i need to explain Trump’s many plans to cheat, to Rig the Midterms. But i am in a bit of a quandry to explain how Hope Springs from Field PAC’s [dated website] grassroots volunteers (and organizers — because California is a decision made by us organizers) have chosen to respond to Trump’s cheating. How does an over-extended grassroots org choose to take on more responsibility?
Regardless, Hope Springs’ vols are all in on trying to thwart president felon’s hostile takeover of our Democracy. We all get it — the twice-impeached criminal doesn’t want to be impeached again, and there’s no doubt there are already Democrats in the house eager to file articles of impeachment on Trump. All it takes is a Democratic majority, which most people think likely in 2026. We are determined to make that happen. President felon keeps raising the stakes and we need to counter him effectively.
And we don’t think you do that (counter Trump effectively) on social media (not that there isn’t a place for that — if you’ve been reading my diaries, you know i believe in a “combined arms” approach to winning elections) — we think we do it at the doors, expanding the electorate and getting our voters to cast ballots that are actually counted.
Which is why volunteers continue to canvass in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas — and we have begun to knock on doors in California.
Why California???
For the same reason we are still in Texas trying to thrawt the intent to steal Democratic House seats there.
I have immense admiration for the CalDems and their party set-up. And this was a point of discussion with Hope Springs’ organizers and other Obama alums. And i won’t get into all the political factors that wenr into this discussion except to note their conclusion: this was something we could do.
Hope Springs from Field PAC began knocking on doors again on March 1st. We target Democrats and unaffiliated voters with a systematic approach that reminds them not only that Democrats care, but that Democrats are determined to deliver the best government possible to all Americans. The voters we talk to continue to tell us they come away more invested in governance and feel more favorably towards Democrats in general because of our approach.
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/UNRIGtheMidterms
Hope Springs from Field understands that volunteer to voter personal interactions are critical. Knocking on doors has repeatedly been found to be the most successful tactic to get voters to cast a ballot and that is the goal of what we do.
Current Map — before Prop 50
Here’s the thing: we aren’t knocking on doors in Blue Districts. If you look at the current map (to the left), you can see they mostly hug the coast. California Democrats cover those areas well. What we are committed to doing is finding Democratic voters who support Prop 50 in the pink and red districts — mainly those who are slated to become Blue in the new map (basically new CD’s CA-01, CA-02, CA-03 and CA-04).
Prop 50 Map to be voted on
To show support for a Bluer California, if you will. In these dominant Republican counties. By, you know, doing what we do best!
Granted, we have our work cut out for us. A Politico poll found that nearly two-thirds of California voters prefer retaining the state’s independent redistricting commissionauthority to draw congressional lines. And Prop 50 walks a fine line in this regard.
But this is basically no different than what Hope Springs’ volunteers did in Ohio in 2023 — when we turned counties from red to blue in that special election.
Even though we had a quick start, the weekend after Labor Day, 482 volunteers came out to knock on doors in California. We consider this to be a remarkable turnout for a new state for us!
New Maps Partisan Breakdown
But Texas and California are not the only states looking to change their Congressional maps this year. Congressional mapmaking begins again in Ohio, due to the fact that the current Ohio Congressional maps were not agreed upon by both parties last time.
The congressional map that establishes voting districts for Ohio’s U.S. House representatives must be redrawn before the end of the year. State lawmakers’ first deadline is approaching in September, and maps must be in place for 2026 primary elections.
The process dictated by the Ohio Constitution starts in the legislature. The General Assembly gets first crack at drawing the districts.
According to a legislative brief on the process, each chamber has to come up with agreement from three-fifths of the members to achieve a bipartisan map, including at least half of the Republicans and Democrats in the chambers.
If the legislature can’t come to an agreement, the Ohio Redistricting Commission is reactivated to take over the process.
[...]
The commission has a month to come up with a bipartisan plan. If the commission also can’t come to an agreement, the process returns to the legislature, which then has until Nov. 30 to come up with a map.
If a bipartisan map is agreed upon, that map will last 10 years, but if the commission doesn’t have bipartisan agreement, or if the legislature passes a map by a simple majority vote, the map only lasts for four years.
State law already prevents Ohio from gerrymandering — but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. “Ohio Republicans are eyeing three seats: Democratic U.S. Reps. Emilia Sykes of District 13 in Northeast Ohio, Marcy Kaptur of District 9 in Northwest Ohio, and Greg Landsman of District 1 in Southwest Ohio.” Hope Springs volunteers have been active in all three of these districts and was even involved in the initial election of the two newer members of this delegation in 2022. We will continue to canvass deep into the Fall this year as opportunities exist to shape the electorate and thrawt Republican ambitions here.
722 volunteers knocked on doors in Ohio on Saturday.
Texas, California and Ohio aren’t alone.
Florida could be the next big target for Republicans to redraw their congressional lines to their advantage, with plans in the works to potentially target three to five House seats currently held by Democrats before the 2026 midterm elections.
The state already has a highly gerrymandered map that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed through in 2022, which led to a congressional delegation of 20 Republicans and eight Democrats.
A more aggressive gerrymander in Florida would launch another salvo in the political battle that has most recently seen GOP-controlled Texas and the Democratic-controlled California fight to enact new political maps. Currently, Democrats would need to win just three GOP seats in the House to claim control of the lower chamber.
We won’t know more until at least October 6th, when the “select committee” holdS its first meetings.
There are at most five Democratic Florida U.S. representatives whose districts would be targeted during a potential redraw, according to two Florida GOP operatives familiar with discussions among lawmakers.
Democratic U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Lois Frankel, Jared Moskowitz and Frederica Wilson, as well as Rep. Darren Soto, in Orlando, could see their districts become more competitive by including more Republican-leaning areas, or be drawn into the same district to set up an intraparty primary.
Hope Springs’ volunteers have been knocking on doors in 4 out of 5 of these Florida Congressional Districts this year. A survey of almost 500 Floridians by Common Cause found that 55% oppose the idea, with only 26% in support and another 19% undecided.
The opposition is consistent across party lines: Among Republicans, 45% oppose the idea, with 36% supporting it and 18% having no opinion. Among political independents, 60% oppose the plan with just 14% supporting it. Among Democrats, 62% oppose the idea, with 25% supporting it.
748 volunteers knocked on doors in Florida on Saturday. There is a lot of work still to be done this year, and Hope Springs’ organizers and volunteers are up for the task.
We knock on doors of Democratic and Independent voters and use a voter-driven approach to guide them through the Issues Survey, the CSR and Incident Reports. We record questions voters raise with a Q(uestion)-slip and record other relevant observations on an Observations form. Q-slips are sent to the relevant Democrat to respond to and Observations are entered into VAN. 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 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 Congressional Races in 2026. There is a lot of work to be done! Especially since we have had to expand the map this year.
Hope Springs is a seat-of-the-pants grassroots-driven operation. We don’t have employees but we realize that to formalize and professionalize this effort that will have to change eventually.
Hope Springs has been called “the most comprehensive, organized grassroots voter contact project out there right now. It is truly astonishing that it is grassroots-based!” Not sure why it is “astonishing,” but i probably have more faith in grassroots or self-organized efforts because of my experience with Barack Obama’s early days in 2007.
If you are able to support Hope Springs from Field’s efforts to protect Democratic voters, especially in minority communities, expand the electorate, and believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection, we would appreciate your support:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/UNRIGtheMidterms
If you would rather send a check, you can follow that link for our mailing address at the bottom of the page. Thank you for your support. This work depends upon you!
