About Us: Progressive Turnout Project is the largest voter contact organization in the country, specifically dedicated to mobilizing the Democratic Party and defending democracy. Our mission: rally Democrats to vote.
Last week, Progressive Turnout Project had the pleasure of connecting with over a hundred of our supporters on a call about our Campaign Fellows program, which allows us to directly support Democrats running for state office.
The Rundown
The Campaign Fellows program allows us to directly support campaigns — including folks running for state-level races — by embedding fellows who are trained and supported by the PTP team, and dedicated to best-in-class field and campaign tactics.
We provide funding for campaigns to bring on a full-time staff member who can specialize in voter contact, knocking on doors and talking with voters. Adding just one full-time staff member can make all the difference, especially in the out-of-the-spotlight, often short-staffed races Democrats need to win.
We’ve grown this program into a hallmark effort to rally Democrats to vote. To date, we’ve placed more than 200 Fellows on federal and state races. This year, we plan to fund up to 1,000 fellows in Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin.
We also want to support and develop our Fellows to equip them for a successful career in other campaigns and efforts within the Democratic infrastructure. That’s why we offer a curriculum that touches on direct voter contact but also other key campaign elements to help these organizers become well-rounded operators and become the next generation of progressive campaign experts.
We also convene a Fellows Advisory Board, made up of state legislators with firsthand experience in direct voter contact, to advise us on best practices and help fine tune the program. Many of these legislators won their races thanks to voter contact — they invested in field efforts, and it paid off.
During the call, we spoke with New Hampshire State Senator Becky Whitley, a member of our Fellows Advisory Board. She told the story of her first campaign in 2020, when she was up against a former Congressman in her primary. That’s when she learned firsthand the difference direct voter contact can make.
“I talked to practically every single person in my district,” Senator Whitley said. “I still have people that come up to me that say ‘I have never voted for a Democrat, but I voted for you, because you were the only one who called me.’”
Democratic victories in state elections are more important than ever. Reproductive rights and other key tenets of a progressive agenda are increasingly decided at the state level. Pennsylvania State representative Jennifer O’Mara issued this call to action:
“Engage your friends and your family to vote. You can’t sit out a midterm [election]. I know it’s not a presidential election, but it’s so important in so many other ways, so vote. Vote in every race and make sure you’re participating in our democracy.”
The supporters who joined us for the call had the opportunity to chat with Senator Whitley and Representative O’Mara, as well as Illinois State Senator Ram Villivalam, another member of our Fellows Advisory Board. If you missed it, you can click here to watch the full recording, which includes a Q&A session with our board members.
Are you in?
We’re moving quickly to execute all of the exciting plans we’ve shared and are looking forward to sharing our success with you at the end of the cycle. But we need your help. We rely on small-dollar donations to power our work. Please contribute here, volunteer, or work with us to rally Democrats to vote.
