Just the Stats, Ma'am: Weekly Canvass Wrap up from AZ, FL, GA, ME, MN, NV, NH, NC, PA, TX & VA

In Florida, Hope Springs from Field PAC [dated website] volunteers have been canvassing since February 8th (due to the special election in FL-6), but most of us have been knocking on doors this year since March 1st.  That’s 10 weeks (14 in Florida).  We have a pattern in list building.  For the first month, we distribute turf of approximately 65 houses — although more experienced volunteers will ask for a “full packet” from the start.  In the second month, we add another 10 houses to most packets.  But we are now 10 weeks in, and walk lists have now expanded to 85 houses.  That’s about double what most campaigns give out, which is why you have volunteers asking for 2 packets to take out.

85 houses might seem a lot (really depends on how close they are together — and, remember, we aren’t knocking on the doors of Republican households).  Very few volunteers complete a whole packet.  In the Summer, we’ll have many volunteers average about 82 houses when they go out.  But then there are the volunteers who might only knock on 40 doors.  We have a volunteer who consistently knocks on the low end of the scale, but always spends the 3 hours devoted to the task.  And she consistently talks to 8 to 10 voters.  I know this because i’ve called voters who she had spoken with because she isn’t the normal volunteer in this way.

Every volunteer is different.  In every state, we have volunteers who aspire to knock on as many doors as possible in the time they devote to it.  It’s a friendly, but mostly private, little competition.  And we have volunteers like Kate, mentioned above, who prioritizes how many voters she has talked to.  I’d say that is competitive to, but i bet she’d disagree.  I’m sure she’ll let me know.

But it’s teamwork.  It’s actually shocking to me (perhaps not to other organizers) that the average numbers don’t really change much week to week, regardless of how many doors get assigned.  Now you might think, why 85 if 82 is the upper limit?  But it’s not the upper limit.  It’s an aspirational number.  It’s also why we insist that turf cutters have experience in walking the turf they have cut to train their own eyeballs.  But that number stems from experience, having worked with plenty of volunteers who have driven a significant distance (line in FL-06) before they canvass.  They don’t want to stop after 45 houses — and they don’t want to take out two packets that aren’t right next to each other.

One thing i hear almost every week is how appreciative volunteers are that we stay on top of their participation.  One volunteer told me Saturday how he took “several weeks” (actually 5) to complete our Volunteer Survey.  “Hope you saw it,” he seemed eager to know.  It’s not a time sensitive thing, i told him.  All input is welcome (volunteer, donor, reader — organizer).  It makes us better.

But, apparently, that’s not normal.  People don’t really understand the significance of the fact that Hope Springs from Field was designed as a “pop-up” PAC, a one-off.  Nobody envisioned that this need to bring in organizers from states around Georgia for the special election would evolve into something else.

And that’s due to the volunteers, mostly from HBCUs, who were intent on RE-ELECTING Rev. Warnock in the less than two years he was given after that special election.  They didn’t want their work “to be wasted.”

I mentioned previously we are sending out 37,415 emails each week to mobilize volunteers.  As we’ve expanding into new states, that has risen to 42,188 emails a week.  I mention that since that fact became known to me.

Last Saturday, we had 3,300 volunteers come out to canvass.  We knocked on 239,434 doors in eleven states last Saturday.  At every door, we left a piece of literature promoting Democrats, which remains our biggest expense (by far) — and why we continue to plea for financial support.

Volunteers talked to 19,486 voters last Saturday.  Of those, 12,405 voters answered questions on our Issues Survey, at least in part.  

We have targeted 14 Swing States to knock on doors and will have volunteers canvassing in all of them this month.  Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.  

Here’s the thing.  We aren’t knocking in urban areas, for the most part (where state and local Democratic party orgs are stronger), but the swingy areas that tend to be suburban (or even ex-urban) — and where weather is more of a factor.  But these are the areas that are deciding elections in the 21st century.  And, in addition to our Issues Survey, through our Constituent Service Request forms and Incident Reports, we are directly connecting them with their state and local government.  Not through our volunteers, but through their own words and actions.

Hope Springs volunteers registered 82 new voters and re-registered 159 voters at their current address to comply with federal law.  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 i’d bet you can tell when more Divine Nine chapters have joined us to canvass in African-American neighborhoods (specifically) for our Voter Registration Project

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/hopemobilization

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.

Arizona

In Arizona, 488 volunteers came out to knock on doors on Saturday.  We knocked on 34,794 doors and talked to 2,783 voters.  1,753 of those voters answered at least some of the questions on our Issues Survey.  We registered 2 new voters and re-registered 26 voters.

Concern over Prices was the Number 1 issue for the Arizonans we talked to.  Several comments about expecting prices to fall under this administration.  Housing Concerns was second and Tariffs was third.

2% of the voters we talked to supported DOGE and House Republican efforts to cut the federal government.  34% disapproved.  We are finding that more voters have no opinion now that Musk said he was leaving, and that’s indicated here.  11% of the voters we talked to said they approved of the job that Trump was doing.  44% disapproved.  There is no senate race next year in Arizona, but we are asking about job approval for the Republican Members of Congress in these 3 districts.  5% approved and 48% disapproved.  50% approved of the job Gov. Hobbs is doing while 5% disapproved.

173 Arizonians filled out Constituent Service Requests and 3 voters filed Incident Reports.

Florida

We wrote about last Saturday’s canvass in Florida in Thursday’s diary.  517 volunteers came out to knock on doors on Saturday.  They knocked on 37,947 doors and talked to 3,149 voters.  2,015 of those voters answered questions on at least part of the Issues Survey.

Georgia

482 volunteers came out to knock on doors last Saturday.  We knocked on 35,041 doors and talked to 2,873 voters.  1,838 of those voters answered at least some of our questions.

We registered 18 new voters (primarily African-American) and re-registered 17 voters.  199 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms and 4 voters filled out Incident Reports.

Inflation was the Top Issue in Georgia on Saturday.  Concern over Jobs was second.  Budget Cuts was third, voters are concerned how they will effect their families.

2% of the voters we talked to supported DOGE and House Republican efforts to cut the federal government.  42% disapproved.  6% of the voters we talked to said they approved of the job that Trump was doing.  43% disapproved.  47% of voters we talked to said they approved of the job Jon Ossoff was doing in the Senate; 5% said they disapproved.  42% approved of the job Gov. Kemp is doing while 36% disapproved.

Maine

73 volunteers came out to knock on doors last Saturday in our kickoff canvass in Maine.  We knocked on 4,912 doors and talked to 393 voters.  255 of those voters answered at least some of our questions.

We re-registered 2 voters.  4 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms.

Inflation was the Top Issue in Georgia on Saturday.  Tariffs was second.

1% of the voters we talked to supported DOGE and House Republican efforts to cut the federal government.  44% disapproved.  5% of the voters we talked to said they approved of the job that Trump was doing.  48% disapproved.  21% of voters we talked to said they approved of the job Susan Collins was doing in the Senate; 38% said they disapproved.  36% approved of the job Gov. Mills is doing while 25% disapproved.

Minnesota

124 volunteers came out to knock on doors last Saturday.  We knocked on 8,965 doors and talked to 726 voters.  457 of those voters answered at least some of our questions from our Issues Survey.

We registered 1 new voter and re-registered 5 voters.  18 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms.

Prices was the Top Issue in Minnesota on Saturday.  Housing Concerns was second.  Tariffs was third.

2% of the voters we talked to supported DOGE and House Republican efforts to cut the federal government.  37% disapproved.  5% of the voters we talked to said they approved of the job that Trump was doing.  48% disapproved.  55% approved of the job Gov. Walz is doing while 7% disapproved.

New Hampshire

66 volunteers came out to knock on doors last Saturday.  We knocked on 4,501 doors and talked to 360 voters.  230 of those voters answered at least some of our questions.

We re-registered 3 voters.  9 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms.

Prices was the Top Issue in New Hampshire on Saturday.  Tariffs was second.

3% of the voters we talked to supported DOGE and House Republican efforts to cut the federal government.  38% disapproved.  10% of the voters we talked to said they approved of the job that Trump was doing.  44% disapproved.  18% approved of the job Gov. Ayotte is doing while 31% disapproved.

Nevada

279 volunteers came out to knock on doors in Nevada on Saturday.  We knocked on 20,562 doors and volunteers talked to 1,665 voters.  1,065 of those voters answered questions on our Issues Survey.

We registered 2 new voters and re-registered 11 voters.  24 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms.

Jobs was the Number 1 Issue in Nevada on Saturday.  Prices were second and Tariffs third.

4% of the voters we talked to supported DOGE and House Republican efforts to cut the federal government.  32% disapproved.  11% of the voters we talked to said they approved of the job that Trump was doing.  44% disapproved.  There is no senate race next year in Nevada, but we are asking about job approval for the Members of Congress in these districts.  48% approved and 9% disapproved.  You will see that these took a dramatic turn last week.  14% approved of the job Gov. Lombardo is doing while 34% disapproved.

North Carolina

We wrote about last Saturday’s canvass in North Carolina in Wednesday’s diary.  371 volunteers came out to knock on doors in North Carolina.  We knocked on 26,971 doors and talked to 2,211 voters.  1,415 of those voters answered questions from our Issues Survey.

Pennsylvania

94 volunteers came out to knock on doors in the Philadelphia suburbs.  We knocked on 6,899 doors and talked to 552 voters.  353 of those voters answered questions from our Issues Survey.

Concern over Prices was the Number 1 Issue in Pennsylvania.  Jobs was second.

2% of the voters we talked to supported DOGE and House Republican efforts to cut the federal government.  44% disapproved.  13% of the voters we talked to said they approved of the job that Trump was doing.  42% disapproved.  16% approved of the job Thom Tillis was doing in the Senate; 44% disapproved.  51% approved of the job Gov. Shapiro is doing while 7% disapproved.

Texas

We wrote about last Saturday’s canvass in Texas in yesterday’s diary.   573 volunteers came out to knock on doors on Saturday.  We knocked on 42,230 doors and talked to 3,462 voters.  2,198 of those voters answered at least some of our questions.  

Virginia

We wrote about last Saturday’s canvass in Virginia in Monday’s diary.   233 volunteers came out to knock on doors on Saturday in VA-01 and VA-02.  We knocked on 16,612 doors and talked to 1,312 voters.  826 of those voters answered at least some of our questions.

We canvass with an Issues Survey that is our jumping off point of conversations with voters.  We find this is an easy way to begin the canvass season.

1,163 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.  For Democrats, though, we encourage them to reach out immediately to the voter who filled out the Constituent Service Request forms and let them know they are working on the issue.  This credit-taking is enormously valuable to the Democratic office-holder.

16 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 will be entered into VAN, the 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 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 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/hopemobilization

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!