In 2002 I joined an energetic movement in Michigan to elect our first female governor, Jennifer Granholm. In the post Bush v. Gore years, it was exciting to be part of a growing progressive movement with powerful peaks like the election of President Barack Obama and a Democratic majority in 2008. Then, of course, we hit major roadblocks in 2010 and 2014 that brought in the tea-party Congress.
My name’s Alex Morgan. I’m Progressive Turnout Project’s Field and Training Director and I joined PTP to craft our battle plan to engage the Democratic voters that will send Democrats to Washington to fight for us.
Progressive Turnout Project is a grassroots Political Action Committee with a single mission: get Democrats to the polls. We design, test, and execute specialized voter turnout programs targeting sporadic Democratic voters in the most competitive congressional districts in the country. In the 2016 election cycle, we will send our trained teams to districts across the country to run tailor-made turnout programs complementing the work campaigns do and boosting Democratic turnout.
We’ve already announced our first round of strategic investments in congressional districts across the country: CA-52, IA-1, IL-10, ME-2, MN-8, NY-3, and NY-24. Over the coming months we’ll be rolling out aggressive, tailor-made GOTV programs in each of these districts to close the turnout gap and get those oft-ignored sporadic Democratic voters to the polls.
Our first action in each of our seven districts is to take a look at previous Democratic turnout. Who helps us win? Who’s missing when we lose? We zero in on those voters and spend our time thinking about what will engage them in the next election and long term.
Right now, we’re hiring District Directors who will be on the ground in a number of our districts by spring. PTP District Directors will build and train teams of Field Representatives to focus on deep canvass and phone conversations with sporadic Democratic voters about what issues are important to them, what motivates them to vote, and their vote plan for 2016. PTP staff in these districts will engage in community outreach, but will not recruit volunteers. We encourage interested local residents to join existing local organizations that reflect their values and can use their help beyond the 2016 election.
In addition to knocking doors and making phone calls, Progressive Turnout Project will engage sporadic Democratic voters with targeted mail and digital advertisements. These advertisements can come in many different forms such as “Neighbor to Neighbor” letters or “Voting Record” notifications. Of course, in every district, our plans converge in the fall when voters have the opportunity to vote by mail, early vote, or cast their ballot on Election Day.
Over 14 years, I’ve watched our progressive movement grow. 2016 will be a pivotal year as we elect a new president and Congress. Now, let’s make sure each and every Democrat makes it to the polls!
Do you have questions about our turnout program? Know qualified candidates to serve as District Director or Field Representative? Want to share a link to interesting voter engagement research? Please feel free to send an e-mail to alex@turnoutpac.org.
- February 1, 2016
