(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Hope Springs Canvass Report for Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and last gasp in Montana! [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-10-05

Except for special elections. Special elections are one of our three core missions for Hope Springs. The November election in Ohio is what we consider to be a special election. It doesn’t hurt that the organizers of the Issue 1 ballot initiative to protect Reproductive Health-care in Ohio requested that we continue our GOTV efforts that we begun in the August special election.

Last year, we didn’t canvass in the Fall because that’s when campaigns really emphasize field and knocking on doors. As we say all the time — we aren’t competing with the Democratic campaigns, they know what their strategy is and how they plan to win. Their need for volunteers is immense. The efforts of Hope Springs from Field PAC are designed to lay the groundwork for them to come in and play their best. A voter warm-up act, in a sense.

So after a week off after the August Election, Hope Springs volunteers continued knocking on doors in Ohio with our Issues Canvass with the supplemental Issue 1 vote ID. 518 volunteers showed up to knock on doors in Ohio on Saturday. We are knocking on doors in three Congressional Districts (OH-01 represented by Democrat Greg Landsman (the grey CD on the lower left), OH-09, Marcy Kaptur (the pink CD on the top left) and OH-13, Emilia Sykes (the grey CD on the top right)) as well as the Columbus and Dayton suburban areas.

We knocked on 39,730 doors on Saturday and talked to 3,055 voters. 1,921 of those voters answered at least some of our questions on the Issues Survey.

Concerns about the Economy was the most frequent response to our query about their most “urgent concern.” Reproductive Freedom was second, which gives you a good indication about how voters are responding to Issue 1 here. Worries about Trump and his mental stability was fourth.

Joe Biden’s Approval numbers among the Ohioans we talked to was 53% last Saturday; his Disapproval number was 8%. You can really see the difference when we were focused on GOTV! Senator Brown’s Job Approval was 67% with only 7% of the voters we talked to on Saturday expressing Disapproval. Approval of Governor DeWine, meanwhile, was 28%; Disapproval was 42% last Saturday. DeWine’s popularity has again taken a dip due to his attempts to appeal to the MAGA base.

Hope Springs from Field volunteers registered 4 new voters. We also helped 27 more voters update their voter registration to comply with federal law.

101 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. We send completed CSRs 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 have even had candidates walk with Hope Springs volunteers because they had received one of these requests and wanted to understand how we collect them.

Democratic elected officials are furiously trying to respond to these CSRs before the November election. That effort is being spear-headed by someone outside of Hope Springs but the value is obvious. Especially, now, in light of Republican disfunction in the House.

Hope Springs from Field PAC has been knocking on doors since March in a grassroots effort to prepare the 2024 Electoral Battleground in what has been called the First and Second Rounds of a traditional Five Round Canvass. We are canvassing Democrats and unaffiliated voters with a systematic approach that reminds them not only that Democrats care, but Democrats are determined to deliver the best government possible to all Americans.

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/hopemobilization

Hope Springs from Field understands that volunteer to voter personal interactions are critical, especially when the country is increasingly divided. Knocking on doors has repeatedly been found to be the most successful tactic to get voters to cast a ballot and that is the goal of what we do.

337 volunteers came out to knock on doors in Michigan last Saturday. The grey Congressional Districts (3, 7 & 8) on the map to the right represent most of where we are targeting, but we also knocked on doors in MI-10 and MI-11 on Saturday as well as some minority neighborhoods in the Detroit. Hope Springs volunteers knocked on 24,533 doors last Saturday and talked to 1,869 voters. 1,190 of those voters answered questions to at least part of the Issues Survey.

Rising Prices was the most frequent response to our question about voter’s top concern on Saturday in Michigan. Grocery prices, gas prices and health care prices were all mentioned. Political Stability was the second most frequent response. Labor Issues was third. Voters are worried about how long the UAW strike continues and are all over the map about whether or not they support it. Biden Approval among the Michiganders we talked to was at 54% last Saturday and 5% expressed some measure of Disapproval. 56% of the voters who responded Approved of the job Gov. Whitmer was doing while 7% expressed Disapproval. Lots of crosstalk about the labor strike, Biden’s response and Trump's attempt to intervene in that. Views on the Autoworkers strike has been key to approval ratings the last few weeks 53 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. We send completed CSRs to Democratic elected officials responsible for the requested functions, but if the appropriate office is held by a Republican (and there isn’t a Democrat who could take on the request), 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. Volunteers registered 1 new voters and re-registered 26 voters in compliance with Federal (HAVA) law. Again, we note that we differentiate between the new voters and existing voters because the former can often be forgotten (or clumped together with their family) during GOTV and first time voters need special care! And Hope Springs will again engage in special GOTV efforts aimed at getting young new voters to the polls next year. 1 voter filled out an Incident Report about issues they witnessed in a prior election. If you support our grassroots efforts to register voters at their doors, strengthen voter support for Democrats, turn out voters and protect the vote, please donate: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hopemobilization 311 volunteers came out to canvass in Wisconsin on Saturday. Like last year, we continue to canvass in Milwaukee (where we are canvassing in African-American wards with primarily Black volunteers) and its suburbs (the WOW counties), as well as Kenosha and Dane counties. The key Democratic and swing areas of this Senate Swing State. In everybody’s minds, Wisconsin is one of the most important states in the Electoral College and maintaining a Democratic majority in the Senate. Recent Supreme Court rulings have made it doubly so. And our volunteers understand just how important is the state. On Saturday, Volunteers knocked on 23,231 doors and talked to 1,693 voters. 1,046 of those voters answered at least some of our questions on the Issues Survey. Political Stability or Extreme Partisanship was the Top Concern among the Wisconsin voters we talked to on Saturday. Labor Issues was the second most frequently cited concern. The threatened impeachment of a newly elected supreme court justice was third, and we had a bunch of voters who talked about the connection between this concern and the fight over Republican threats to the courts. The Economy, you might have noticed, didn’t make the top 3 in this heightened partisan environment. Joe Biden’s Approval numbers in Wisconsin was 52% last Saturday; his Disapproval number was 7%. Senator Baldwin’s Job Approval was 68% with 4% of the voters we talked to on Saturday expressing Disapproval. Approval of Governor Evers, meanwhile, was 49%; Disapproval was 12% last Saturday. We still have voters asking if Tammy had an opposition yet. So (some) people are paying attention. Hope Springs from Field volunteers registered 3 new voters. 22 more voters updated their voter registration to comply with federal law. We differentiate between new voters registered and existing voters re-registering because we plan to continue our New Voter Postcard effort, and even add Voter Video Chains this cycle. 44 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. We send completed CSRs to Democratic elected officials responsible for the requested functions, but if there are no Democrats who can further the request, and 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 increasingly have local Democratic elected officials and prospective candidates join our Saturday canvasses just because they are hearing about these CSRs. 1 voter filled out an Incident Report about issues they witnessed in a prior election. We have been building a database of Incident Reports, and reports we collected in Wisconsin have been used in Court last election. If you support our grassroots efforts to protect the electorate, both in the polls and (through our data collection) in the courts, strengthen voter support for Democrats, and turn out voters, please donate: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hopemobilization

372 volunteers came out to knock on doors in Pennsylvania on Saturday. The grey Congressional Districts (PA-01, PA-07 & PA-17) represent most of where we are targeting, but we also walking on the Mainline and in minority neighborhoods in Philadelphia as well. Hope Springs volunteers knocked on 26,932 doors last Saturday and talked to 2,095 voters. More volunteers, more doors but fewer voters; sometimes that happens. 1,334 of those voters answered questions to at least part of the Issues Survey.

Economic Uncertainty was the most frequent response to our question about voter’s top concern on Saturday in Pennsylvania. Rising Prices was the second most frequent response this week, and Political Stability was third. In Pennsylvania, voters expressing this concern mentioned their state just as often as they mentioned the Trump Circus.

Biden Approval among the Pennsylvanians we talked to was 50% last Saturday while 9% expressed some measure of Disapproval. 65% of the voters who responded Approved of the job Sen. Casey was doing while 7% expressed Disapproval. 51% of the voters we talked to thought Gov. Shapiro was doing a good job, 9% said they Disapproved. Pennsylvania is the only state (that i know of) where voters have been saying they really didn’t want to see a Biden-Trump rematch. “Too divisive” one voter told a volunteer. “I hate re-runs,” another voter memorably said.

Volunteers registered 7 new voters in Pennsylvania and re-registered 33 voters in compliance with Federal (HAVA) law. 77 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. 3 voters filled out an Incident Report about issues they witnessed in a prior election.

A sturdy 39 volunteers showed up for our last canvass in Montana this year. Senator Tester is running for re-election and is considered among the most vulnerable Democrats running in 2024. Tester has his own support network that is largely independent of the Democratic party and our effort is designed to reinforce that supporter network among (mostly) independent voters in Montana.

They knocked on 2,741 doors on Saturday and talked to 193 voters. 125 of those voters answered at least some of our questions on the Issues Survey.

The Economy was the Top Concern among the voters we talked to. Healthcare Costs was the second most frequently cited concern (again). One voter defined it this way: “I don’t want my mother to be choosing between her health and groceries.” Crime was the third most frequently mentioned concern. I have no idea why.

Joe Biden’s Approval numbers was 47% last Saturday; his Disapproval number was 11%. Senator Tester’s Job Approval was 67% with 5% of the voters we talked to on Saturday expressing Disapproval. Approval of Governor Gianforte, meanwhile, was 33%; Disapproval was 39% last Saturday.

8 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. Volunteers re-registered 1 voter to comply with federal law.

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.

But the main focus of our canvassing right now is the Issues Survey, asking voters for their input and concerns. 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 has targeted states that have competitive Senate races and/or the Electoral College in 2024, as well as Congressional 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 that strategy, while informing voters about the new laws and regulations aimed at them.

We are definitely asking for help. If you are able to donate to our efforts to fight against Issue 1, identify abortion rights supporters, protect our voters, especially in minority communities, expand the electorate, please help:

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hopemobilization

You can follow that link for our mailing address, as well. Thank you for your support. This work depends upon you!

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/5/2197520/-Midwest-Canvass-Report?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/