Weather prevented canvassing in one state, and part of two other states. It happens, especially this time of year. California, of course, remains the most important component of our work this month, but Pennsylvania, too (judicial retention election). Plus the threats from MAGA Rigged Districting in Texas, Ohio and North Carolina. Still, Hope Springs from Field PAC’s [dated website] volunteers persist, as weather permits. We are no longer in New Jersey or Virginia, the other states with key elections this November.
Consensus 2026 Senate Map
Partisans in Congress remain dead-locked over who will get blamed for shutting down the government. Both sides seem to think they are winning. Here in Arlington (VA), it seems no one is winning. Certainly not America, which is about to see massive rate (double?) increases in their health care premiums. It’s almost like president felon wants America to fail. Just like Putin envisioned.
Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas remain a part of our special Voter Registration project conducted mostly by Divine Nines (we have had a couple of HBCU alumini groups that were organized around their school, not greek groups) — although North Carolina volunteers did not canvass last weekend. But they have been unbelievably active this year — and finding voters who need free Photo IDs through the Elections Boards in Georgia and North Carolina, to boot!
In California, voters are now receiving their November ballots in the mail. Which initiates our GOTV efforts to get supporters (of Prop 50) to fill out and return their ballot. We started training for this two weekends ago and have now initiated GOTV in California and Pennsylvania. So far we have found 21,741 supporters for Prop 50 in supposedly deep red areas of Northern California and 8,115 in Pennsylania committed to retaining all three Democratic-aligned state supreme court justices.
Our job is to get them to vote! A lot more on this throughout the rest of the month.
Volunteers there have started taking their walk lists home to do follow-up contacts with households who weren’t at home when they stopped by. These numbers have exploded, as we see further evidence that people will excel at remote work. We continue to find this is an amazing way to break through the typical nonchalance attitude that people have when someone they don’t know call them up (although some of our volunteers text). People are naturally more inclined to talk to volunteers and share their thoughts with them when it is pointed out something unique or interesting about their home. Which is the point of the Observations Forms (and why i continue to share them).
The fact is that the positive impression volunteers leave with voters, especially at this stage in the election cycle, is more important than what they say — because that’s what voters remember. Some of our volunteers do this, but by no means all. But it allows us to build out more voter input into the voter data-base.
Granted, Hope Springs makes it easy for volunteers to leave behind good impressions — even though some volunteers do feel like we’ve loaded them down with paper-work. Offering voters opportunities to fill out Constituent Service Requests, or Incident Reports, or even Q-(uestion) slips for their elected officials to answer, at their door continues to build voter appreciation for Democrats in general. We aren’t promising that all their problems will be solved — only the opportunity to have them addressed, and voters understand that. Voters appreciate that. Someone was listening!
Last Saturday, we collected 25,893 survey responses at the door but we added 138,332 responses through follow-up contacts with voters whose home they had visited the previous Saturday. Most of these are through phone follow-up contacts (some of our volunteers even begin this Saturday nights — somehow they’ve decided that telling voters ‘I was just at your door this morning’ increases their response rate). But some volunteers collect it through text, which can be slow. It helps that we leave literature behind — something that makes up a majority of the expenses that Hope Springs from Field has each month — and why we continue to ask for your financial support to help defray these costs. That’s 164,225 distinct voter inputs from last Saturday that are being add to VAN (the shared Democratic database).
But this number, in this case, 164,225, is all volunteer work. We don’t lead here — this is totally self-organized. Volunteers request to take their walk sheets home with them, volunteers do it as they are able — our only ask here is that the work is completed by Thursday night. To me, it just magically appears. Except we know that there is no magic here. It is Democrats and progressives living in the trenches of Democracy, making these extra voter contacts on their own!
Hope Springs’ canvassers aren’t the only volunteers living in the trenches of Democracy. 8,596 volunteers are receiving their New Voters postcards and name/addressees as i write. I have a love/hate relationship with this project: i love the fact that we do it, but hate the work involved. I surely wish a group that actually specializes in this type of voter contact but have had no luck there. We are indeed doing the things no one else will. *sigh*
On Saturday, 7,089 volunteers came out to canvass. We knocked on 497,623 doors. At every door, we left a piece of literature promoting the Democratic Party as an explanation of why we were there (which, again, remains by far our largest expense — we are leaving 2 million pieces of lit at doors each month now).
Volunteers talked to 40,052 voters last Saturday. Of those, 25,893 voters answered questions on our Issues Survey, at least in part.
Hope Springs volunteers have now registered 12,796 voters this year. On Saturday, we registered 282 new voters and re-registered 142 voters at their current address to comply with federal law. 261 of those 282 are in the 3 states were African-American volunteers, mostly from our Divine Nine partners, are in primarily African-American neighborhoods knocking on doors. We differentiate new registrants from re-registrants because we engage in follow-up communications, as well as mentoring, with the people whom we newly register to vote. But you can see how the previous graphs follow the same pattern (more volunteer mean more doors), but the number of voters we register does not. You can also tell which weeks we’ve had outside help from our partners from the Divine Nine!
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 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.
Professional prognasticators have started to understand our strategy for overcoming the Rigged Maps by mobilizing our electorate in areas where Democrats feel overwhelmed. One of them even accompanied our volunteers last week. But they are starting to get it. One of them wrote this.
Arizona
Weather prevented canvassing in all areas on Satuday. Still, 238 volunteers came out to knock on doors in Arizona. We knocked on 17,302 doors and talked to 1,384 voters. 885 of those voters answered at least some of the questions on our Issues Survey. We registered 1 new voter and re-registered 28 voters (many of these were voters who wanted to take advantage of Arizona’s Active Early Voting List).
Housing Availability, Affordability and Housing Insurance Costs and increasing electrity prices was the Number 1 issue for the Arizonans we talked to. Fears over cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and the loss of Rural Hospitals were second and High Prices and fears that the Cost of Living won’t keep up was third. 68 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms.
1% of the voters we talked to supported the House reconciliation bill to cut the federal government. 12% disapproved. 6% of the voters we talked to said they approved of the job that Trump was doing. 49% disapproved. There is no senate race next year in Arizona, but we are asking about job approval for GOP House incumbents. 4% approved and 48% disapproved. One GOP Congressman has decided not to run for re-election. 49% approved of the job Gov. Hobbs is doing while 5% disapproved.
California
We wrote about last Saturday's canvass in California in our diary on Monday. 1,914 volunteers knocked on 118,285 doors. They talked to 9,581 voters and had in-depth conversations with 6,323 of them, respectively, guided by our Issues Questionnaire.
Florida
We wrote about last Saturday's canvass in Florida in our diary on Wednesday. 584 volunteers knocked on 42,456 doors. They talked to 3,396 voters and had in-depth conversations with 2,207 of them, respectively, guided by our Issues Questionnaire.
Georgia
647 volunteers came out to knock on doors in Georgia last Saturday. We knocked on 47,683 doors and they talked to 3,862 voters. 2,510 of those voters answered at least some of our questions.
We registered 73 new voters (primarily African-American) and re-registered 17 voters.
The Slowing Economy was the Top Issue in Georgia on Saturday. Worries about the future of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and the impact on Rural Hospitals was second and Tariffs and their impact on Agricultural Exports was third.
1% of the voters we talked to supported DOGE and House Republican efforts to cut the federal government. 13% disapproved. 5% of the voters we talked to said they approved of the job that Trump was doing. 48% disapproved. 54% of voters we talked to said they approved of the job Jon Ossoff was doing in the Senate; 4% said they disapproved. 38% approved of the job Gov. Kemp is doing while 35% disapproved.
202 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms and 4 voters filled out Incident Reports, citing potential problems they had witnessed in a prior election.
Iowa
We wrote about last Saturday's canvass in Iowa in our diary on Thursday. 468 volunteers knocked on 34,491 doors. They talked to 2,828 voters and had in-depth conversations with 1,810 of them, respectively, guided by our Issues Questionnaire.
New Jersey Polling
Ohio
Weather definitely affected our canvassing. We wrote about last Saturday's canvass in Ohio in our diary on Thursday. 135 volunteers knocked on 10,044 doors. They talked to 813 voters and had in-depth conversations with 518 of them, respectively, guided by our Issues Questionnaire.
Pennsylvania
We wrote about last Saturday's canvass in Pennsylvania in our diary on Tuesday. 1,107 volunteers knocked on 80,478 doors. They talked to 6,438 voters and had in-depth conversations with 4,120 of them, respectively, guided by our Issues Questionnaire.
Texas
We wrote about last Saturday's canvass in Texas in our diary yesterday. 1,996 volunteers knocked on 146,884 doors. They talked to 11,750 voters and had in-depth conversations with 7,520 of them, respectively, guided by our Issues Questionnaire.
Virginia Polling
Grassroots support drives Hope Springs, and our grassroots organizing. No amount is too small (and the FEC puts a ceiling on what we are allowed to accept). Regardless, we would certainly appreciate your support:
We canvass with an Issues Survey that serves as our jumping off point for conversations with voters. We find this is an easy way to begin the canvass season.
3,733 voters completed Constituent Service Request forms last Saturday. We send the 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 anyway. In Texas, these are going to the Democratic state House members who left the state for the Quorum Break.
60 voters filled out Incident Reports on Saturday. A lot of these were reports about primary elections allegations. Incident Reports are used to plan Election Protection activities, and will be combined with other, historical incidents and handed over to District and State Attorneys, Attorney Generals and the DoJ Civil Rights Division right before Election Day as a precaution against Election Day Incidents in November. Past polling place activity is a predictor of future voter intimidation or suppression activity.
All the data we collect is entered into VAN, the shared Democratic database. 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. We also ask voters if they have an problems that local, state or federal governments need to address in their neighborhoods.
Hope Springs from Field has a hybrid approach. We aren’t interested in competing with regular campaign field organizing. We are in the field before they get there and then move on when the Democratic campaigns start their own intensive field work. Indeed, when we wind up the typical field work by Labor Day, we will encourage all the volunteers working with us to move over to the Senate campaigns in their states (and hope that our field organizers will be hired on by those campaigns). After Labor Day, we will begin organizing our Election Protection Project.
We continue to remind voters to verify their registration and also ask voters if they have any concerns about the upcoming elections. Last year, we walked with lit about the changes in voting laws, but we also asked voters about their fears and experience in prior elections.
Hope Springs has targeted states that have competitive Senate races and/or the Electoral College in 2024, as well as 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.
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. We are a bottom up project, one that doesn't just help Democratic presidential, senate and house candidates, but every Democrat running for office in these swing state areas (who uses VAN).
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.
No other Democratically-aligned org has been methodically trying to circumvent MAGA efforts to rig the House Midterm elections. And we need your help to continue. Our printer costs alone are way beyond our budgeting.
If you are able to support Hope Springs from Field’s efforts to turn out the vote here, protect Democratic voters, 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!
