Deep Dive into Battleground States
In WDN Action’s three-part Deep Dive Into Battleground States series, we heard from movement leaders in battleground states about how they are fueling progressive wins and working to build long-term power. Read on for highlights from across the country.
ARIZONA
Fueled by the fight for immigration justice in the state, organizers in Arizona have been building progressive movement infrastructure through deep relational organizing and community engagement for more than a decade, creating the conditions for historic turnout and victories up and down the ballot. With a critical Senate seat up for reelection and a competitive Governor’s, Senate, and Secretary of State race, organizers are going all in this year to keep building for long-term, sustainable power in Arizona.
Alejandra Gomez, Co-Executive Director at LUCHA, recounted her decade of organizing – the culmination of a 12-year deep-seated relationship with AZ voters and a grassroots long-term strategy focused on relational organizing, political education, voter expansion and voter registration, and scaling their electoral work. Poised to flip a chamber, LUCHA plans to leverage their groundwork laid during the redistricting fight and knock on over 2 million doors across the state. Alejandra also shared they are working on two ballot measures to fight voter suppression and provide tuition equity for DREAMers. She shared a video about the formation of Activate 48, a historic coalition consisting of Mi Familia Vota, Chispa Arizona, LUCHA, and Our Voice Our Vote.
We also heard from Natali Fierros Bock and Pablo Correa of Rural Arizona Action (RAZA). Natali shared a quote by Valerie Kaur, author of See No Stranger: “No matter how hopeful or hopeless we feel, we can choose to return to the labor anyway. Sometimes we receive the gift of our labor, sometimes we do not. But it does not matter. Because when we labor in love, labor is not only a means but an end in itself.”
Once running mates, now Co-EDs, Natali partnered up with Pablo Correa in 2018 to start Rural Arizona Action (RAZA), which focuses on engaging rural communities by meeting their needs, whether it’s community assistance programs or community education and advocacy through their c4. With an intentional focus on down-ballot races, Natali and Pablo discussed the importance of building early infrastructure, year-round organizing, rural margins, thinking outside of two-year cycles, and scaling electoral engagement across the state to deliver meaningful changes in people’s lives.
TEXAS
2020 saw a record turnout of young voters in Texas thanks to the tireless organizing of groups across the state. With the most extreme abortion ban in the country and restrictive new voting laws, organizing led by groups like Texas Organizing Project (TOP) and NextGen America hold a key to the future of this battleground state. With the most counties in the country at 254 counties, the largest Black population in the country (3.5M Black voters), and as the third youngest state in the country (1 in 3 eligible voters are under the age of 30), Texas hopes to be the next state to follow the lead of Georgia and Arizona.
A 4th generation Texan raising two fifth-generation Texans, Brianna Brown, Co-Executive Director of TOP, highlighted their efforts to register Black voters in Texas as part of their 10-year get out the vote strategy. A critical anchor organization in the state, TOP is doubling down on their electoral work at the local level.
Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, former U.S. Senate candidate and the founder of two organizations in the state – JOLT and Workers’ Defense Project – now leads youth-organizing powerhouse NextGen America, which contributed to the largest youth voter turnout in American history. NextGen uses cutting edge technology-based strategies to engage youth, including running the country's largest micro influencer programs. They organize in person and online across eight states, and will impact seven governor's races, six Senate races, and 22 House races in 2022.
NEVADA
Home to one of several competitive Senate campaigns this year, Nevada is one of the most crucial states in the 2022 midterm elections. With Nevada becoming increasingly racially and ethnically diverse, organizations like Make the Road Action Nevada and Make It Work Nevada have worked to build a strong grassroots foundation and elevate the power of working class communities.
A trained journalist, Erika Washington led Make It Work Nevada through a story-gathering process through kitchen table conversations and community surveys to learn more about their community’s priorities. Having a c4 afforded them the space and the opportunities to push the message and the issues, hold elected officials accountable, and be “unapologetically Black and for Black liberation.”
Blanca Macias, Deputy Director at Make the Road Action, highlighted the Latinx, immigrant, queer woman lens of their work. With a focus on engaging infrequent, hesitant, Latinx, immigrant and youth voters, they identify progressive voters and engage them in political processes, giving them the knowledge to support candidates best for them and their families, run campaigns centered on issues that matter to the lives of Latinx immigrant and multiracial youth, and amplify their members’ experiences to hold elected officials accountable and show that participation in elections makes a positive difference in their community members' lives.
GEORGIA
Aisha Yaqoob Mahmood led the Asian American Advocacy Fund in helping to turn out the Asian American vote and flip the state of Georgia in 2020. Knowing that Democratic voters would turn out to vote against Trump in 2020, the organization made the decision to focus on down ballot races – and their strategy paid off. "We mobilized and made some key differences when it came to races like the Gwinnett County sheriff and the Cobb county sheriff… We were able to win those seats and make incredible strides toward immigrant justice and get rid of harmful anti-immigrant policies," she said.
As November approaches, the Asian American Advocacy Fund is looking to build on those successes even as they continue fighting rampant voter suppression. Using the same strategy for the upcoming midterms, they are engaged in deep organizing and base building work to ensure that come November, Asian American voters know what's at stake.
We also heard from We Vote. We Win. CEO Deborah Scott, who gave an overview of their strategy of engaging Black women year-round around kitchen-table issues like transportation and Medicaid expansion. Focusing on regions with large numbers of Black women – areas like Clayton County, Atlanta and south Fulton – Scott's organization is knocking doors, text banking, and making phone calls in partnership with other groups to cover more ground – and reach more voters.
FLORIDA
Rebecca Pelham and her team at Engage Miami hope to build on their 2020 work, where they ran their largest campaign ever to organize and mobilize the power of young BIPOC voters in South Florida.
Engage Miami's work is built around a youth-centered issue platform that includes climate justice, education equity, reimagining what community safety means, housing, and more. Young people, Pelham says, are passionate about the issues but often lack access and power. "That's why we're a power-building organization... We have the opportunity to elect people who will represent communities in ethical, values-forward ways," Pelham said.
Andrea Mercado and the Florida Rising team are nurturing a state-wide movement of Black and Brown power building – despite the GOP's disinformation machine and best efforts to subvert democracy with gerrymandering. Mercado pointed to recent victories across the state and up and down the ballot: passing the first $15 statewide minimum wage in the south, Seminole County turning blue for the first time since 1948, flipping the Orange County Commission to progressive control, and more.
NORTH CAROLINA
As Executive Director and Founder of Poder NC Action, Irene Godinez is leading one of the most robust Latinx voter outreach programs in North Carolina. Building on their successful 2020 mail program, Poder is producing and mailing colorful, art-forward mailers to Latinx voters throughout the state. Their theory, she said, was that if voters received beautiful mailers that make them feel seen, they'll read them instead of throwing them away – and that's exactly what is happening. Poder NC is also targeting Latina voters who were likely eligible to vote but not registered.
We closed out the session by hearing from Jenn Frye and Sendolo Diaminah of the Carolina Federation, the largest non-party volunteer voter contact effort in North Carolina (check out these resources to learn more about their work). Their recent c4 efforts have focused heavily on developing leaders and inspiring them to get more involved in the political process.
"We're out here to challenge our folks: If you want to see changes, what can you do about it? And then what can we do as staff to give you the tools and support and resources to really step into that power?" Diaminah asked.
WISCONSIN
With the future of Congress and the governor’s office hanging in the balance, organizations like Freedom Action Now are leaning into deep community relationships to build political power. In addition to a contested governor's race, Wisconsin has a Senate pick-up opportunity, contested races in all eight U.S. House seats, and 15 of 17 state Senate seats.
To win in November, Community Power Building Coordinator Mahnker Dahnweih described the work of the Freedom Action Now team to build and scale their canvassing teams so they can knock on every Black and Southeast Asian door in Madison in advance of the election. And the engagement won't end on Election Day; they are also developing educational programs for after the election so the voters they mobilize stay engaged year-round.
Dahnweih said: “We have to stick around and ask: What are your needs right now? What's your vision for what our community should look like? How our government should be running?”
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Of all the battleground states, New Hampshire saw the biggest red-to-blue shift in 2020, thanks in large part to the GOTV efforts of organizations like the New Hampshire Youth Movement. But Democrats also narrowly lost control of both the state House and Senate, and their Republican governor won reelection. Groups like NHYM are working to flip the state legislature back to Democratic control, plus help mobilize young voters for important races like Maggie Hassan’s Senate seat.
Executive Director Quincy Abramson discussed their work of community organizing, legislative and electoral organizing, and leadership development year-round for young people who are frustrated about how issues like climate change, education and housing are being addressed.
Abramson stressed the importance of c4 dollars for their work, which allow them to mobilize young people in a more real, genuine way. “It doesn't feel authentic to not talk about our own experiences and opinions and feelings. We need c4 dollars so we can be real about how we feel about the state of our political system,” Abramson said.
PENNSYLVANIA
The progressive ecosystem has grown significantly in Pennsylvania and is facing 2022 head on. Modeled after the New Georgia Project’s “secret sauce” for boosting voter engagement, organizations like New Pennsylvania Project are working to expand the electorate in a state with a competitive governor’s race and Senate race.
CEO Kadida Kenner said her group’s primary focus is to register communities of color, immigrant communities and youth voters year-round. That includes efforts to register new citizens as soon as they are sworn in at their naturalization ceremonies.
Like Dahnweih and Abramson, Kenner gave some anecdotal evidence about the power of c4 funding: “When we're having c4 voter registration conversations, 60 percent of folks register as Democrat,” Kenner said. “But when we're having c3 nonpartisan voter registration conversations, 70 percent register as independent.”