So much is at stake in next year’s elections—and that’s why laying the proper groundwork in battleground states is now more important than ever. Will Trump voters still show up in 2022? And will Democrats be able to get more first-time voters? Simply getting voters to the polls remains of utmost importance: “2022 is not going to be a question of, ‘let’s convince people if Democrats should take control of the Senate or not.’ It really is going to come down to do each of the sides get their respective bases turn out and vote?” Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas asserted on The Brief.
This week’s guest was Jamie Perrapato, executive director of Turn PA Blue. Perrapato’s organization is doing grassroots work throughout the state of Pennsylvania to turn out voters through efforts like canvassing, phone banking, texting, and skill-building trainings for volunteers and candidates.
In particular, Democrats need to be paying attention to Pennsylvania, a state that had long been assumed to be blue, but which Donald Trump won in 2016 and Joe Biden wrested back in 2020. Both candidates bet big on the state in 2020, as it has served as a bellwether for many past elections.
That’s why doing local outreach is so important: It’s the best way to let people hear from those they trust, who are from the same area or state as them. This has worked particularly well in Pennsylvania. As Perrapato elaborated:
“What we at Turn PA Blue do is figure out where the gaps are, and we try to fill them. We have a massive amount of volunteers. In 2020, we made 4.5 million calls. Once we were running a COVID election, which I suppose nobody expected, we were able to pivot. And we were able to pivot quickly to take advantage of that. And I think that’s the advantage of grassroots groups, is that you are a part of the community, you’re a part of the local organizing, so you know what it’s like. You know in some places you can canvass, in other places you cannot. And we talk to people and most importantly, we listen to people. And we are able to mobilize super quickly where the work is needed. And that’s kind of what we’re doing.”
Many crucial seats are up for grabs across the state next month, including Pennsylvania Supreme Court seats, two commonwealth court seats, and a superior court judgeship. The makeup of school boards is also determined by elections. This is why it is so important to build trust at the community level, Perrapato emphasized, because “if we don’t do the work now, when we go to get these districts to go through the courts, or we try to protect our voting rights, somebody is going to wish they paid attention in 2021. And 2023 is the same—those are the years that make or break us in the even years in Pennsylvania.”
The focus on national politics works to the detriment of ensuring proper investment in local politics in states like Pennsylvania. Yet, as Perrapato said, politics often show up on your doorstep at the local level. Many who are just going about their daily lives, watching the news and trying to figure out what’s happening in the world, are often shocked when they realize the types of people they live near and what their elected officials are saying. “The elections that affect you most on a daily basis are the ones that people vote in the least,” she explained. “You know, you don’t like how you got a weird surcharge on your water, or you hate how they take out your trash or remove your snow, like, you’re probably not voting in that election.”
Moulitsas then asked Perrapato to talk about redistricting in Pennsylvania. The process is controlled by an independent commission, and is a unique situation compared to how other states handle redistricting. “I feel like we already won because if we get fair lines—I can’t even imagine running on fair lines. We run on the worst lines ever,” she said. “In 2018, we were 25,000 votes from flipping both chambers. That’s how close we were.” However, easier access to voting by mail, which became widely available last June due to COVID, has helped boost Democratic turnout, Perrapato added, indicating that it remains popular with Democrats and could serve as a lasting strategy to increase voter turnout.
Host Kerry Eleveld wondered how much Trump was serving as a divisive factor in the state’s Republican Party, perhaps like he did during the January special elections in Georgia, which saw depressed turnout and led to victories by Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
“He has such an impact on that party that they have to appease his base, and I think that’s hard … but they’re trying to appease their base,” Perrapato replied. “I think that the elections in Pennsylvania are far ‘Trumpier’ than the voters, so I think that’s interesting to see what happens with them.” Moreover, the state’s Republican leaders don’t seem interested in governing. “I mean, we have a ton of problems here … [but] the legislature refuses to move on it. People are looking for government [that can solve problems],” she said.
“So let’s say we get fair maps and we have the open governor’s race. There’s no illusion … that next year is going to be a tough year, right? Joe Biden’s numbers are dropping, even more so in battleground states amongst independents. You have a stymied agenda because of Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema—it’s creating a sense of malaise and almost starts feeling like the ACA battle of 2010 … I don’t want any illusion that 2022 is going to be an easy year. But let’s say that we do manage to retain the governorship and win the state legislature. What would that mean both for Pennsylvania and for the presidential election in 2024?” Moulitsas proposed.
There are endless possibilities to improve the lives of Pennsylvanians if that happens, Perrapato noted:
I mean, the sweeping changes we could enact if we had the majority. Like I said, our minimum wage is $7.25 an hour here in Pennsylvania. For a time there, we were 49th in the country of women representation. We were one of the highest in the country in education inequity, like the difference between the highest paid per student per school district versus the [lowest]. We’re usually on every list that’s a bad list, and we’re on very few lists that are the good lists. But one of the lists that we’re on that’s a good list is vaccinations. People here want COVID behind them. COVID is the top issue in all the polling, and then it kind of dovetails into education and jobs, which are essentially also related to COVID because our education system is our childcare system in this country.
Passing infrastructure is vital here. I don’t know how we go into 2022 and beyond if we don’t get a new infrastructure bill — I mean, Pennsylvania is crumbling … there’s just no interest in governing; there’s just no interest in helping people.
2021 will set the foundation for 2022, and Pennsylvania is one of the most important states to watch and invest in. Republicans are fighting at every step of the way, and Democrats are “being outspent 17:1 right now,” so now is not the time to be complacent, Perrapato pointed out.
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