111 volunteers showed up to canvass in the Bozeman/Butte and Missoula areas on Saturday. Senator Tester is running for re-election and is considered among the most vulnerable Democrats running in 2024. Tester has his own support network that is largely independent of the Democratic party and our effort is designed to reinforce that supporter network among (mostly) independent voters in Montana. They knocked on 7,625 doors on Saturday and talked to 537 voters. 324 of those voters answered at least some of our questions on the Issues Survey.
You may have noticed that our volunteer recruitment in Montana has not been as successful as Hope Springs has been elsewhere. We haven’t seen the kind of exponential growth we have witnessed elsewhere. It has been more difficult because we didn’t really start with much of a list in the first place. Kinda making it up as we go along.
Economic Uncertainty was the Top Concern mentioned in Montana. Several (!) voters even specifically mentioned keeping an eye on the Fed’s next announcement here. I can’t say that this has ever come up before. Jobs & Opportunity was the second most frequently cited concern. These are undoubtedly related. Schools and Costs was the third most frequently mentioned concern. Here’s the thing we are noticing, though, in Montana. Jon Tester speaks this language. For the most part, we aren’t talking to farmers, but the fact that Tester is deeply rooted in the state comes through in the common language used by the voters we are talking to an their senator.
Joe Biden’s Approval numbers was 43% last Saturday; his Disapproval number was 19%. Senator Tester’s Job Approval was 64% with 7% of the voters we talked to on Saturday expressing Disapproval. Approval of Governor Gianforte, meanwhile, was 19%; Disapproval was 32% last Saturday.
Hope Springs from Field volunteers helped 4 voters update the voter registration to comply with federal law. 24 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. We send completed CSRs to Democratic elected officials responsible for the requested functions, but if there are no Democrats who can further the request, and 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.
Hope Springs from Field PAC has been knocking on doors since March in a grassroots effort to prepare the 2024 Electoral Battleground in what has been called the First and Second Rounds of a traditional Five Round Canvass. We are canvassing 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.
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/fistfulofsteel
Hope Springs from Field PAC 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.
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.
But the main focus of our canvassing right now 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 the Electoral College in 2024, as well as Congressional 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.
By starting early, and aiming towards super-compliance with these really, really onerous provisions, Hope Springs from Field PAC seeks to undermine that strategy, while informing voters about the new laws and regulations aimed at them.
If you are able to support our efforts to protect Democratic voters, especially in minority communities, expand the electorate, and believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection, please help:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/fistfulofsteel
Thank you for your support. This work depends upon you!