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Sarah Godlewski Drops Out, Wisconsin Prepares for the Cage Fight (A Senate Swing State Canvass) [1]
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Date: 2022-07-29
In Wisconsin, we’ve really been running 3 different kinds of canvasses in the different areas. In Milwaukee, our canvasses in the African-American wards are comprised of relatively young (~30s) Black activists who have really bought into not only our Election Protection approach but also our Constituent Service Requests. When I visited their kickoff/training two weeks ago, I was peppered with questions about what we are doing in Georgia, North Carolina and even Florida. Our canvassing in the WOW counties around Milwaukee is almost entirely white volunteers, much more diverse age-wise, people who very much interested in the news from D.C. And our canvassers in Madison are much older, much more diverse ethnically, and much more diverse in their interests and purpose. Austin, Texas likes to say they are Austin weird. Maybe there is something about Madison weird, too. We are flexible.
But if they are different in some ways, what unites all three areas is their desire to rid Wisconsin of its embarrassment of a senator. 311 volunteers canvased with Hope Springs from Field PAC on Saturday. We continue to canvass in Milwaukee (where we are canvassing in African-American wards), as well as Waukesha and Dane counties. The swing areas of this Senate Swing State.
What is most interesting, in light of the fact that Sarah Godlewski, Alex Lasry and Tom Nelson have all suspended their Senate campaigns, effectively ceding the Democratic nomination to Lt. Gov Mandela Barnes, that we didn’t hear *a lot* about the Democratic primary at the doors, anywhere. Barnes did have vocal support in the African-American wards we canvassed, and we did see signs (especially for Godlewski), but we didn’t get discernible voter feedback. But, now, It’s ON!
We knock on doors with our Issues Questionnaire, which we use as a conversational device to make it easier for both volunteers and voters. We find that, by sharing it this way, many voters pick out the questions they want to answer — sometimes even moving directly to those questions. But the survey also sparks conversation and because we train our volunteers to absorb information, not challenge voter comments, we can learn an awful lot about individual voters and their views of the political and cultural trends of the area. This tactic means that we tend to get about 65% of those who answer their doors to provide at least 2 answers to the survey, and generally answer at least 6 questions.
This week, like everywhere, The Economy was the most popular response to “What Issue is most Urgent?” A particular, meaning new, concern raised were jobs for younger people, specifically graduates and their struggles in finding Jobs in a potentially Recession environment. Health Care Costs was the second most frequent response and concerns about Public Safety was third. We still hear a lot additional comments about Reproductive Rights and Gun Violence in the “Anything to add” or message to Congress query. But we are also getting comments about the January 6th hearings, as well. We found lots of anger out there, not directed at the same person or thing, but all focused around one person: the sitting senator of Wisconsin.
55% of the voters we talked to expressed approval of President Biden last Saturday, a slight uptick. 12% expressed disapproval in the job the president was doing. And, once again, we did get feedback from voters that they wished Biden could or would do more about inflation and gun violence in their area.
3% of the voters we talked to had a positive view of Ron Johnson. We are definitely not canvassing in areas kind to him. This week, 53% of voters told us they had an unfavorable opinion (which is a good number for Johnson in comparison to what we have been hearing!).
Governor Evers, on the other hand, got a better reception. 49% of the Democratic and Independent voters we talked to gave Evers a favorable rating. 11% said they had an unfavorable impression.
Hope Springs from Field PAC has been knocking on doors in a grassroots-led effort to prepare the Electoral Battleground in what has been called the First Round of a traditional Five Round Canvass. We are taking those efforts to the doors of the communities most effected (the intended targets or victims) of these new voter suppression laws.
Obviously, we rely on grassroots support, so if you support field/grassroots organizing, voter registration (and follow-up) and our efforts to protect our voters, we would certainly appreciate your support:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/2022senateswing
Hope Springs from Field PAC understands that repeated face to face interactions are critical. And we are among those who believe that Democrats didn’t do as well in the 2020 Congressional races as expected because we didn’t knock on doors — and we didn’t register new voters (while Republicans dud). We are returning to the old school basics: repeated contacts, repeated efforts to remind them of protocols, meeting them were they are. Mentoring those who need it (like first time and newly registered voters). Reminding, reminding, reminding, and then chasing down those voters whose ballots need to be cured.
We registered 13 New Voters last Saturday and updated (or corrected) the addresses of another 96 voters. While we found new voters in all three of the areas we canvassed on Saturday, a majority of those we re-registered came from within Milwaukee.
As you can see from the very first question in the Issues Questionnaire, making sure that voters are registered from their current address is a major function of early canvassing. But we are also asking people who open their doors about whether they need services delivered to their neighborhood. 67 voters we talked to filled out Constituent Service Request forms last Saturday. In general, we send these to Democratic elected officials responsible for the requested functions, but if the appropriate office is held by a Republican, we still send it along. For Democrats, though, we encourage them to reach out immediately to the voter who filled out the Constituent Service Request forms and let them know they are working on the issue. This credit-taking is enormously valuable to the Democratic office-holder.
We specifically ask voters in the Issues Survey if they have any concerns about the upcoming elections. Voters who tell us they have experience voter intimidation or other problems with voting are asked to fill out Incident Reports. We found 5 voters in Milwaukee who wanted to fill out an Incident Report in Milwaukee on Saturday. We collate these Incident Reports, to be shared with local, state and federal officials in charge of voting, as well as use them to plan out our Election Protection strategy in the fall. They could also be used in court cases.
But asking — and collecting — Incident Reports has a second purpose at this time. We are reminding voters that we care about Election Protection, that if they witness something, they can say something and it will matter. It also assures them that we are ready to do something if they see something.
Interest in Fair Elections, as they say in Georgia, is a particular interest in the African-American wards in Milwaukee and especially an interest of those volunteers who are canvassing there. Voters are keenly aware of the complete waste of the Gableman investigation and we hear resentment about chasing down mythical election fraud when voters in Milwaukee can experience real voter suppression “that they don’t care about” [they being the GOP legislature in Madison].
By starting early, and aiming towards super-compliance with Wisconsin’s voting laws, Hope Springs from Field PAC seeks to undermine the Republican strategy of shaping the electorate.
If you are able to support our efforts to protect Democratic voters, expand the electorate, and believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection, please help:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/2022senateswing
Thank you for your support. This work depends on you!
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