FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2018
CONTACT: Priyal Amin; press@turnoutpac.org; (872) 216-9067
Progressive Turnout Project Congratulates Sean Casten on Victory in Illinois
Grassroots-funded organization spent more than $363,000 on field staff, mail, and text messages to boost Democratic turnout
NAPERVILLE—Progressive Turnout Project congratulates Sean Casten and his team on a hard-fought victory in Illinois’ 6th congressional district. In total, PTP spent more than $363,000 to boost Democratic turnout in support of Casten and Democratic candidates up and down the ballot.
“Illinois voters showed up and clearly cast their ballots for change in Washington,” said Executive Director Alex Morgan. “Congratulations to Sean Casten and his team on their well-deserved win tonight and we wish him the best of luck as he gets to work for the people of Illinois.”
Progressive Turnout Project launched a comprehensive field program in June. The organization’s Field Representatives knocked on more than 93,000 doors, made over 80,000 phone calls, and sent more than 36,000 peer-to-peer text messages. Their efforts resulted in 7,000 commitments to vote across the district—likely cementing Sean’s margin of victory.
“A big reason why Sean won tonight is because the Progressive Turnout Project team ran an aggressive ground game that inspired inconsistent Democrats to get to the polls,” said Morgan.
PTP sent data-driven and research-proven mail to more than 28,000 inconsistent Democratic voters asking them to commit to vote, make a plan, and go to the polls.
“Our targeted mail programs have increased voter turnout by as much as 8 percent, so we’re confident that our campaign played a major part in Sean’s win tonight,” said Morgan.
During the final weeks of the campaign, PTP funded 1 Voter Turnout Fellow on the campaign as an in-kind contribution and as part of a broader national effort that sent 106 fellows to 51 competitive races.
“We wanted to do everything we could to help get out the vote and we’re proud of our Voter Turnout Fellows for all their incredible work during the home stretch of the campaign,” said Morgan.
Overall, Progressive Turnout Project hired and trained more than 400 staff in 72 battleground districts and states where they ran or supported field programs. This includes more than 300 staff who were part of 18 independent expenditure field programs. The grassroots-funded organization increased its reach by investing in an additional 80 races, where they ran targeted digital and mail programs to get out the vote.
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Progressive Turnout Project is a grassroots-funded political action committee with a single mission: get Democrats to the polls. PTP designs, tests, and executes specialized voter-turnout programs targeting inconsistent Democratic voters in the most competitive districts across the country. Since its inception in 2015, the organization has raised more than $26 million with a supporter base of over 3 million and invested in voter-turnout programs in 130 congressional races and 17 state legislative races, including 10 Virginia House of Delegate races in 2017.
