Let America Vote’s long-term commitment to field is paying off
Kansas City, MO — With Election Day one week away, the scope and impact of Let America Vote’s substantial investment into five key political battlegrounds is coming into focus.
After five months in the field and against a backdrop of rising voter suppression, LAV is positioned to help elect pro-democracy candidates up and down the ballot on Nov. 6.
“We’ve had boots on the ground in five states since June to elect voting-rights champions in November,” Let America Vote Board Chairman Abe Rakov said. “With one week to go, we can see the impact we’re having on critical races in our states. Let America Vote is pioneering a new kind of issue-driven grassroots engagement focused on voter-to-voter contact, and we’re excited to see the results on Tuesday.”
Let America Vote Campaigns Director Brendan Summers on Tuesday outlined the voting-rights organization’s field-first approach and Election Day opportunities in a strategy memo published to the organization’s website.
Let America Vote operates field offices in Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and Tennessee, and to date has made voter contacts on behalf of nearly 100 legislative and statewide candidates in those states. LAV has also formally endorsed 11 candidates for key offices in other states across the country.
These efforts follow a successful 2017 in which Let America Vote volunteers knocked on more than 200,000 doors between Virginia and New Hampshire — helping flip seven legislative seats and keep the governor’s mansion in Virginia and winning the mayor’s office in Manchester, New Hampshire.
LAV’s efforts include mobilizing interns and volunteers to knock doors and make phone calls; maintaining an extensive distributed organizing program to engage activists across the country; and opening our field offices to allied campaigns and organizations. Tuesday’s strategy memo explains those efforts in full, providing a detailed status update as campaigns rush to get out the vote.
In a state-by-state breakdown, the memo details specific districts and races where Let America Vote is primed to have the biggest impact.
See below for excerpts from the strategy memo:
GEORGIA
Competitive Races: In Georgia we’ve supported Stacey Abrams for Governor since day one. She is a transformational leader who will make a fantastic governor. Our office in Sandy Springs is a hub for progressive groups engaged on the Independent Expenditure side, allowing cooperation in tracking packets, ensuring efficiency and avoiding duplication.
Metrics: Our Iowa numbers speak for themselves in terms of our commitment to one-on-one, volunteer-led grassroots organizing. Through October 28, we’ve knocked on 83,768 doors, and made 33,088 calls.
Competitive Races: Let America Vote is leading efforts to pick up Assembly Districts 2 and 22, while protecting the most vulnerable southern Nevada incumbent in AD 29. We’re also organizing aggressively in Senate Districts 8, 9 and 20.
Metrics: Through October 21st, LAV-New Hampshire has knocked on over 71,000 doors and made over 45,000 calls in support of our program.
Competitive Races: Let America Vote has been able to work extremely closely with many state representative candidates in the Volunteer State. Our team has knocked on doors for Bob Freeman in Nashville and Gloria Johnson in Knoxville. These races likely will be two of the closest contested this year.
Let America Vote launched in February 2017 to fight back against proposals across the country that make it harder for eligible voters to exercise their constitutional right to cast a ballot. Whether it’s extreme identification requirements, questionable purges of voter rolls, voter intimidation, new and extreme voter registration processes, or anything that makes voting harder, Let America Vote will be there to lead the way against it. Its president is Jason Kander, the former Missouri Secretary of State.