Hi, folks. As you know, my Dad is
Jack Carter, who's running for US Senate in Nevada. Early voting began last week, and we at the Carter campaign are doing a big GOTV push over the next week! It's easy to help us out using your home phone (or cell phone) and calling Nevada voters.
Click here to register. You'll get phone numbers, instructions, and a script. Even a half hour of phone calls would be a big help. The numbers you'll get will be for people who are identified as Carter supporters; your job is to remind them that voting has begun and to urge them to vote.
On the flip is some encouraging news about voter turnout so far.
First, some background:
in 2004, about 42% of people voted during early voting and another 12% sent in absentee ballots. That year, about 850,000 people voted total, with about 550,000 from Clark County (which includes Las Vegas). That means that Clark County was about 65% of the vote. The next biggest was Washoe County (which includes Reno), then Carson City, then Douglas County. Voter registration in the state is almost perfectly split between Democrats and Republicans; there are about 10,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans out of more than a million.
Early voting started one week ago (last Saturday). Here is some of the raw data of who has voted since then:
Early voting thru 10/26 (this includes absentee ballots).
TOTAL VOTED: 83,234
TOTAL DEMS: 37,463
TOTAL REPS: 35,218
TOTAL NON-Ps: 8,257
TOTAL OTHER: 2,296
CLARK COUNTY: 64,572
DEMS: 30,079
REPS: 26,089
NPs: 6,616
OTHER: 1,788
CARSON: 2,643
DEMS: 1,034
REPS: 1,308
NPs: 238
OTHER: 63
DOUGLAS: 461
DEMS: 133
REPS: 283
NPs: 38
OTHER: 7
WASHOE: 15,558
DEMS; 6,217
REPS: 7,538
NPs; 1,365
OTHER: 438
Democrats are out-voting Republicans. We've got an edge, but it's a small one - we're going to need all the GOTV help we can get. A big part of that will be your phone calls to our identified Carter supporters who have not yet voted. Here on the ground, we're identifying Democratic precincts that are under-performing and hitting them hard with events and canvassing. Personally, I've spent a lot of time over the past week going to these neighborhoods in Las Vegas with some pamphlets and just talking to as many people as possible. I find it extremely gratifying to talk to someone, tell them where to go to vote, and know that there's a good chance that they'll actually do it as a result.
Remember that here in Nevada, we've got a lot of close races that could be decided by voter turnout. In addition to my Dad's Senate race, two House races are very close. Both Tessa Hafen and Jill Derby have great opportunities to take over what have been Republican seats; they are two of the DCCC's "Red to Blue" featured candidates. And Dina Titus, the Democrat running for Governor, has never looked better against scandal- plagued Jim Gibbons. We've got a real shot with all of these races, and your phone calls could really help turn Nevada blue!
I'll keep you updated on some of the really cool events that are coming up, including a big GOTV rally with Al Gore on Wednesday!
Thanks for reading - we'd really appreciate your help!
Sarah
You can always find more at the Carter Blog.