Turnout among our volunteers is pretty much driven by preventing another Trump disaster. Even in states that don’t have an abortion-related amendment on the ballot in November, the national conversation about Reproductive Freedom and the Trump threat (even if unacknowledged) and a National Abortion Ban seems to be driving volunteers to show up everywhere.
In Arizona, 299 volunteers came out in the heat to knock on doors last Saturday in the eastern and southern suburbs of Phoenix and Tucson.
We knocked on 19,345 doors in Arizona and talked to 1,361 voters. 853 of those voters answered at least some of the questions on our Issues Survey. We registered 3 new voters and re-registered 18 voters. 84 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. 1 voter filled out an Incident Report. The bruising heat had a lot to do with those numbers.
The Economy was the Number 1 issue for the Arizonans we talked to on Saturday. Border Security or Immigration was the #2 issue voters raised. Summer Worries (like the oppressive Heat) was third.
Biden Approval remained steady among the Arizonans we talked to at 53% last Saturday. Disapproval was 11%. 24% approved of Sinema, while 24% disapproved. Voters seem to have really stopped thinking about the Senator. 55% of the voters we talked to on Saturday approved of the likely Democratic Senate nominee, Ruben Gallego. 54% approved of the Governor, Katie Hobbs. 7% disapproved.
385 volunteers came out last Saturday, knocked on 27,926 doors and talked to 2,203 voters. 1,403 Issues Surveys were completed, and 44 new voters registered and 48 voters re-registered (all using the Secretary of State website). 143 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. 4 voters filled out Incident Reports.
Hope Springs volunteers have collected 64,217 verified petitions from valid voters who lived at the address from which they were registered. We match voter data with the voter database for those who sign the petitions our volunteers circulate before submitting them.
The Top Issue in Florida last Saturday was (Rising) Prices and/or Inflation. Something we’ve been calling Summer Worries was the second most frequently cited Issue. Heat, hurricanes, tourist traffic — that kind of thing. Insurance Issues; price increases, dropped coverage, sharp increases in deductibles. Housing Availability, Costs and Housing Insurance Costs was the third.
54% of the voters we talked to approved of the job President Biden is doing in Florida. 9% disapproved. 17% approved of the job Rick Scott was doing; 36% disapproved. 14% approved of the job Ron DeSantis is doing; 42% disapproved. There seems to be some correlation between DeSantis’ disapproval number and every time a tropical storm is near.
527 volunteers came out to knock on doors last Saturday in the Atlanta suburbs and in southern Georgia Blackbelt counties. We knocked on 37,785 doors and talked to 3,124 voters. 2,201 of those voters answered at least some of our questions on our Issues Survey.
We registered 58 new voters and re-registered 45 voters. Note the fact that Hope Springs volunteers registered more new voters than re-registrations (again!), largely a result of our efforts to find and register voters in Counties where African-Americans have been historically suppressed. 164 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms, and 4 voters filled out Incident Reports.
The Economy was the Top Issue in Georgia on Saturday. Housing Availability, Costs and Housing Insurance Costs was second. The prospect of Political Violence was third. We had been attributing this to the prospect of another Trump Trial in Atlanta, but that isn’t going to happen this Summer. Yet, the concerns has not gone away.
Biden Approval among the Georgians we talked to was 58% last Saturday. 7% of the voters we talked to disapproved of the president. 29% approved of the Governor, Brian Kemp. 26% disapproved.
357 volunteers came out last Saturday for just our fifth week of canvassing in Maryland. Volunteers knocked on 25,953 doors and talked to 2,094 voters. 1,327 answered questions on our Issues Survey. We registered 8 new voters and re-registered 31 voters at their current address. 73 voters completed Constituent Service Request forms.
The Economy was the Number 1 Issue with the voters we talked to. Housing Availability, Costs and Housing Insurance Costs was second. Infrastructure Needs was third.
Biden Approval among the voters we talked to was 58% last Saturday in Maryland. 6% of the voters we talked to disapproved of the president. 46% approved of Democratic Senate nominee Angela Alsobrooks. 57% approved of the Governor Moore. 7% disapproved.
583 volunteers came out to knock on doors in Michigan last Saturday in five congressional districts. We knocked on 43,550 doors last Saturday. Michigan was one of five states where we knocked on 40,000 doors or more. Volunteers talked to 3,867 voters. 2,540 of those voters answered questions to at least part of the Issues Survey. We registered 18 voters and re-registered 37 voters at their current address. 211 voters completed Constituent Service Request forms.
Economic Uncertainty was the Number 1 Issue in Michigan on Saturday. Michigan was not the only state where voters complained about higher interest rates than they expected, including credit cards and other loans (not just mortgages. Elections concerns and Elections Security was second. Housing Availability, Costs and Housing Insurance Costs was third.
Biden Approval among the voters we talked to was 56% last Saturday. 7% disapproved of the president. 56% approved of the Governor Whitmer. 6% disapproved.
In Montana, we were finishing up our efforts to get CI-128, affirming a right to reproductive freedom in the State Constitution. We cut turf for the volunteers who want to circulate petitions, of the Democrats who live in their area. This was requested as many Montanans are unaware of their fellow Democrats, especially those voters who are not active or vocal. So far, we ended up providing 324 pieces of turf for this purpose in the several months that we had Hope Springs volunteers out circulating petitions.
In the end, we validated or verified the voter status and address of 11,852 voter signatures in Montana. If you hadn’t heard, on Thursday, 117,000 signatures of registered voters were turned in — more than the 60,300 needed to get the ballot proposal on the ballot. “The signatures must be certified by county clerks, who send them to the secretary of state, who has until Aug. 22 to set the ballot questions…. Leaders of the coalition, Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, say the explicit constitutional right to abortion will prevent the Republican-controlled Legislature or future courts from undoing the 1999 ruling.” “The group said it had also fulfilled a requirement under state law that the signature total include at least 10% of registered voters in 40 of Montana’s 100 state House districts — a threshold that had been viewed as a particularly difficult hurdle for abortion rights groups in the red state.”
Volunteers started canvassing with our typical Issues Canvass approach yesterday.
In Nevada, 497 volunteers came out to canvass in the Las Vegas area (NV-01 & NV-03) and Reno suburbs. We knocked on 34,541 doors and talked to 2,580 voters. 1,591 answered questions on our Issues Survey. We registered 10 new voters and re-registered 32 voters, updating their current address. 128 voters completed Constituent Service Request forms. 2 voters completed Incident Reports.
(Rising) Prices and/or Inflation was the Number 1 issue voters talked about last weekend. Housing Availability, Costs and Housing Insurance Costs was second. We are increasingly hearing voters complain about all aspects of housing issues right now — and in every state. The prospect of Political Violence was third.
Biden Approval among the voters we talked to was 54% last Saturday. 9% disapproved of the president. 57% approved of their Senator, Jacky Rosen. Rosen is definitely in for a fight, not because she has a competitive opponent, but because the political environment in Nevada is tumultuous right now. 7% disapproved. 24% approved of the Governor, Joe Lombard. 29% disapproved.
511 volunteers came out to knock on doors last Saturday in North Carolina. We are focusing on the new (NC Republicans gerrymandered the state again this year) North Carolina Congress-ional District map, and, specifically, NC-01, NC-07, NC-09 and NC-13, this year. We knocked on 37,149 doors and talked to 2,849 voters. 1,815 of those voters answered at least some of our questions on our Issues Survey. We registered 41 new voters and re-registered 43 voters. 182 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms and 3 voters filled out Incident Reports.
The Economy was the Top Issue in North Carolina on Saturday. Housing Availability, Costs and Housing Insurance Costs was second. Reproductive Freedom or Rights was third.
Biden Approval among the voters we talked to was 55% last Saturday. 8% disapproved of the president. 55% approved of the Governor, Roy Cooper. 9% disapproved.
605 volunteers showed up last Saturday in Ohio to knock on doors in the competitive OH-01, OH-09 and OH-13 Congressional Districts. They knocked on 45,193 doors on Saturday. Hope Springs volunteers talked to 4,058 voters, and 2,625 voters answered questions from at least part of the Issues Survey.
We registered 11 new voters and re-registered 36 voters, updating their current address. 302 voters completed Constituent Service Request forms.
Political Extremism was the Number 1 issue for the Ohioans we talked to on Saturday. (Rising) Prices and/or Inflation was second. Housing Concerns and Insurance (Price) Increases was third.
Biden’s Job Approval was at 56%; 7% expressed some measure of Disapproval. 57% of the voters who responded Approved of the job Sen. Brown was doing while 7% expressed Disapproval. 31% of the voters we talked to thought Gov. DeWine was doing a good job, 39% said they disapproved of the job he was doing.
626 volunteers showed up to knock on doors in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh regions last Saturday. They knocked on 46,762 doors and talked to 4,241 voters. 2,773 voters completed questions on our Issues Survey, at least in part. For a third week in a row, it was our most successful canvass yet (iow, 2024) in Pennsylvania.
We registered 29 new voters and re-registered 52 voters, updating their current address. 345 voters completed Constituent Service Request forms and 7 voters filled out Incident Reports.
(Rising) Prices and/or Inflation was the Top Issue last Saturday in the state. Housing Availability, Costs and Housing Insurance Costs was the Second most cited Issue. Reproductive Freedom or Rights was third.
Biden’s Job Approval was at 57%; 7% expressed some measure of Disapproval. 60% of the voters who responded Approved of the job Sen. Casey was doing while 6% said they Disapproved. 54% of the voters we talked to thought Gov. Shapiro was doing a good job, 8% said they disapproved of the job he was doing.
604 volunteers came out to knock on doors last Saturday in Texas. Again, heat was a factor is some of the areas where we were knocking on doors (and we expect that to be true today). We knocked on 42,702 doors and talked to 3,010 voters. 1,827 of those voters answered at least some of our questions on our Issues Survey.
We registered 32 new voters and re-registered 41 voters. 257 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. 5 voters filled out Incident Reports.
Housing Availability, Costs and Housing Insurance Costs was the Top Issue in Texas last weekend. Immigration and Border Security was second and the prospect of Political Violence was third.
Biden Approval among the Texans we talked to was 54% last Saturday. 9% of the voters we talked to disapproved of the president. 12% of the voters voiced approval of Ted Cruz; 38% disapproved. We have also been asking about job approval of Colin Allred, the Democrat running against Ted Cruz. 46% of the voters we talked to approved of the job he’s been doing. 13% approved of the Governor, Greg Abbot. 39% disapproved.
547 volunteers came out to canvass in Wisconsin in Milwaukee (where we are canvassing in African-American wards) and its suburbs (the WOW counties), as well as Kenosha, Waukesha and Dane counties. Hope Springs volunteers knocked on 40,860 doors and talked to 3,579 voters. 2,351 of those voters answered at least some of our questions on the Issues Survey. We registered 12 new voters and re-registered 33 voters. 85 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. 1 voter filled out an Incident Report.
The Economy was the Top Concern among the Wisconsin voters we talked to on Saturday. Housing Availability, Costs and Housing Insurance Costs was the second most frequently cited concern. Voter Concerns over Extremism was third. People mentioned fears of a Civil War again last weekend, which i would think would be very far away from Wisconsin but, you know, talk radio.
Biden’s Approval numbers in Wisconsin was 56% last Saturday. His Disapproval number was 8%. Senator Baldwin’s Job Approval was 58% with 8% of the voters we talked to on Saturday expressing Disapproval. Approval of Governor Evers, meanwhile, was 51%; Disapproval was 10% last Saturday.
I do want to repeat that if you are interested in participating in our Postcards to New Voters Project, you can sign up here. (The diary on this can be found here.) We especially need help this year since we are not limiting our Postcards to New Voters effort to those new voters that Hope Springs or its partners registered to vote. Basically, every new voter in the swing Congressional Districts in our Swing States will be included in this effort for 2024.
And if you are able to support this kind of intensive grassroots organizing and voter contact, we would certainly appreciate your financial support:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hopemobilization2024
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. 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.
But the main focus of our canvassing right now is the Issues Survey, asking voters for their input and concerns. We find that most voters who aren’t in a hurry or in the middle of something are willing to answer at least a couple of these questions, especially their top issue or concern and their views of President Biden. 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 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 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. So far there haven’t been significant changes in the laws but we still ask about fears and experience vis-a-vis elections. Voters who say they have experience voter intimidation or other problems with voting are asked to fill out Incident Reports.
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.
By starting early, and aiming towards super-compliance with these really, really onerous provisions, Hope Springs from Field seeks to undermine Republican efforts to throw Democrats off the voter rolls, informing voters about the new laws and regulations aimed at them. There’s a lot of work to be done, but fortunately, the three states that are making it most difficult are also states in which you can knock on doors at least 10 months out of the year. And, with your help, we will be there, getting our people to super-comply with these restrictive provisions.
2023 Hope Springs expenses
Our biggest expense is the Voter File. But it is also a fixed cost. That won’t change as we raise and spend more money. Printing literature is our second largest cost. Printing and mailing our our Post Cards to New Voters is our third cost and paying the fees for ActBlue is the smallest of our monthly costs.
But here’s the reality: Identifying Single Issue Voters and Constitutional Amendment supporters and doing GOTV (Get-Out-the-Vote) costs us more money than our regular canvassing because this issue drives volunteer turnout higher and higher and we reach more voters. Which means we have to buy more lit to distribute and other minor expenses (like water for volunteers). We are starting earlier, and staying in the field longer, for this election year. So please:
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/hopemobilization2024
If you would rather send a check, you can follow that link for our mailing address at the bottom of the ActBlue page. Thank you for your support. This work depends upon you!