The second full weekend that Hope Springs from Field PAC [dated website] volunteers knocked on doors was also our first weather-interrupted Saturday of the year. It was one of the challenges of starting some states earlier than in the past. But this decision was guided by the fact we’d already been canvassing in Florida (FL-06) in February for the special election there. We already had people coming out in ~60° weather (below our 65°“floor”) and volunteer-demand was there. But it isn’t just influenced by volunteer interest — voters are less likely to open their doors or talk to us in colder weather. Especially in the South.
But it wasn’t just cold. We had rain interfere in one canvass. Organizer problems.
Clik here to view.
Hope Springs volunteers continue to canvass in 17 areas in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina & Texas. Our target maps are a little different this year. We are still focused on 4 Senate races this year, in Georgia (Jon Ossoff), Maine (Susan Collins’ seat, which could be an open seat), Michigan (open) and North Carolina (Thom Tillis). But we are also targeting House seats this year, with the intention of taking back the House. As always, even in key Senate states, we are knocking on doors in key Congressional Districts, in suburban or ex-urban area, where the majority of swing or unaffiliated voters live. Areas that often have little Democratic presence.
Areas also targeted specifically by Elon Muck’s America PAC paid canvassers.
Like previous cycles, Hope Springs volunteers are involved in special elections where there is even a little hope of Democrats winning. In this case, we have volunteers knocking on doors on behalf of Josh Weil in the Volusia and Flagler areas of FL-06.
Clik here to view.
Hope Springs has expanded, as it has every year, even though it is an off-year in the presidential cycle. These priorities are largely determined by grassroots volunteers in each state.
Last Saturday, we had 703 Hope Springs from Field volunteers come out to canvass. We knocked on 50,531 doors on the 8th. At every door, we left a piece of literature at voter’s doors. The printing bills for that and upfront payments for access to the voter file is the biggest reason why we continue to ask for your financial support.
Volunteers talked to 4,094 voters in these 6 states, basically a thousand voters more than the prior weekend. Like last year, we continue to use an Issues Survey approach to allow voters to lead the discussion. Hope Springs volunteers registered 15 new voters and re-registered 128 voters at their current address to comply with federal law.
352 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. Over the past 2 years, Hope Springs volunteers had helped 50,840 voters fill out CSRs at their doors in these 9 Swing States (Ohio was a “Swing State” in 2023 where we expended considerable energy to win that ballot initiative). In one state, 89% of those who filled them out said they voted in the election. So we are emphasizing CSRs this year (and probably next).
Hope Springs from Field PAC began knocking on doors again on March 1st. We target 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. The voters we talk to continue to tell us they come away more invested in governance and feel more favorably towards Democrats in general because of our approach.
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. 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.
Arizona
In Arizona, 128 volunteers came out to knock on doors in the Phoenix metro area. Cold weather prevented canvassing in the Tucson area. We knocked on 9,177 doors and talked to 761 voters. 486 of those voters answered at least some of the questions on our Issues Survey. We registered 2 new voters and re-registered 27 voters.
Inflation remained the Number 1 issue for the Arizonans we talked to. Housing Availability, Costs and Housing Insurance Costs was second and Grocery Prices was third.
We are asking voters if they approve of the sudden and deep cuts in federal programs and agencies led by Elon Musk. We had voters actually mention Musk’s threat to Social Security in the survey (in the what is the most urgent issue facing our country query). 5% of the voters we talked to supported DOGE and House Republican efforts to cut the federal government. 42% disapproved.
17% of the voters we talked to said they approved of the job that Trump was doing. 41% disapproved. There is no senate race next year in Arizona, but we are asking about job approval for the Republican Members of Congress in these districts. 7% approved and 39% disapproved. 44% approved of the job Gov. Hobbs is doing while 8% disapproved.
43 Arizonians filled out Constituent Service Requests. 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. 1 voter filled out an Incident Report.
Florida
In Florida, we are a month away from the special election in FL-06, so we are knocking on doors on Saturdays and Sundays there. We are now approaching GOTV with early voting beginning March 22.
137 volunteers came out last Saturday and 51 on Sunday, knocked on 13,762 doors and talked to 1,113 voters in northern Volusia and southern Flagler counties. 707 voters responded to questions. 73 voters filled out Constituent Service Requests.
The Top Issue in Florida last weekend was Inflation. Housing Availability, Costs and Housing Insurance Costs was the second most frequently cited Issue. On Saturday, Grocery Prices was third.
Clik here to view.
On Saturday, 17% of the voters we talked to supported DOGE and House Republican efforts and on Sunday, 19% said they approved. 44% disapproved on Saturday and 41% disapproved on Sunday. On Saturday, 15% of the voters we talked to said they approved of the job that Trump was doing; 23% approved on Sunday. 42% disapproved on Saturday and 41% on Sunday.
We ask voters if they plan to vote in the special and a large number say they are planning on it. Of course, there is reason to suspect these plans are in theory. More people than we expect to turn out say they will vote in April. Regardless, we ask those who say they will vote in the special who they plan to support. On Saturday, 29% of the voters who said they planned to vote in the special election said they’d support the Democrat. Not every one who said they would vote for Weil knew his name. On Sunday, 25% said they would vote for Weil.
On Saturday, 28% of the voters who said they planned to vote in the special said they would vote for MAGA Randy Fine. On Sunday, 29% said they would vote for Fine. We also ask about how voters feel about the job the governor is doing. On Saturday, 38% said they approved and 32% said they’d disapprove; on Sunday, 39% said they approved while 31% said they disapproved.
Georgia
107 volunteers came out to knock on doors last Saturday. We knocked on 7,671 doors and talked to 614 voters. 392 of those voters answered at least some of our questions.
We registered 1 new voter and re-registered 31 voters. 34 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. 1 voter filled out an Incident Report.
Inflation was the Top Issue in Georgia on Saturday. Tariffs was second. Housing Concerns was third.
15% of the voters we talked to supported DOGE and House Republican efforts to cut the federal government. 37% disapproved. 19% of the voters we talked to said they approved of the job that Trump was doing. 31% disapproved. 48% of voters we talked to said they approved of the job Jon Ossoff was doing in the Senate; 7% said they disapproved. 41% approved of the job Gov. Kemp is doing while 26% disapproved.
Nevada
21 volunteers came out to knock on doors in Nevada in the Las Vegas area. We knocked on 1,467 doors and volunteers talked to 121 voters. 79 of those voters answered questions.
We registered re-registered 1 voter. 26 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms.
Inflation was the Number 1 Issue in Nevada on Saturday. Housing Concerns were second.
9% of the voters we talked to supported DOGE and House Republican efforts to cut the federal government. 44% disapproved. 11% of the voters we talked to said they approved of the job that Trump was doing. 47% disapproved. There is no senate race next year in Arizona, but we are asking about job approval for the Republican Members of Congress in these districts. 45% approved and 9% disapproved. 24% approved of the job Gov. Lombardo is doing while 33% disapproved.
North Carolina
96 volunteers came out to knock on doors in North Carolina. We knocked on 6,604 doors and talked to 521 voters. 336 of those voters answered questions from our Issues Survey.
We registered 8 new voters and re-registered 6 voters. 63 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms. 2 voters filled out Incident Reports.
Inflation was the Number 1 Issue in North Carolina. Grocery Prices was second.
4% of the voters we talked to supported DOGE and House Republican efforts to cut the federal government. This was half of what it was last week. 49% disapproved. 18% of the voters we talked to said they approved of the job that Trump was doing. 34% disapproved. 18% approved of the job Thom Tillis was doing in the Senate; 38% disapproved. 42% approved of the job Gov. Stein is doing while 11% disapproved.
Texas
163 volunteers came out to knock on doors on the 1st in Texas, despite the fact two of our regularly scheduled canvasses were rained out. We knocked on 11,850 doors and talked to 964 voters. 614 of those voters answered at least some of our questions.
We registered 4 new voters and re-registered 63 voters. 113 voters filled out Constituent Service Request forms and 1 voter filled out an Incident Report.
Inflation was the Top Issue in Texas last weekend. Housing Concerns was second and (this is new) Border Access was third. Texans are complaining about long lines “in and out” of Mexico. Some also complained about being searched to get into Mexico. Border problems largely due to the agreement the administration has made with Mexico.
7% of the voters we talked to supported DOGE and House Republican efforts to cut the federal government. 52% (! — Texas???) disapproved. 17% of the voters we talked to said they approved of the job that 37% disapproved. 8% approved of the job John Cornyn was doing in the Senate; 42% disapproved. 16% approved of the job Gov. Abbott is doing while 38% disapproved.
All the data we collect is entered into VAN, the Democratic database.
Hope Springs from Field has a hybrid approach. We aren’t interested in competing with regular campaign field organizing. We are in the field before they get there and then move on when the Democratic campaigns start their own intensive field work. Indeed, when we wind up the typical field work by Labor Day, we will encourage all the volunteers working with us to move over to the Senate campaigns in their states (and hope that our field organizers will be hired on by those campaigns). After Labor Day, we will begin organizing our Election Protection Project.
Clik here to view.
We continue to remind voters to verify their registration and also ask voters if they have any concerns about the upcoming elections. Last year, we walked with lit about the changes in voting laws, but we also asked voters about their fears and experience in prior elections. Voters who say they have experience voter intimidation or other problems with voting are asked to fill out Incident Reports. 5 voters filled out Incident Reports on Saturday.
Hope Springs has targeted states that have competitive Senate races and/or the Electoral College in 2024, as well as 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.
But the main focus of our canvassing 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.
If you are able to support Hope Springs from Field’s efforts to turn out the vote here, protect Democratic voters, and believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection,
we would appreciate your support:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hopemobilization
If you would rather send a check, you can follow that link for our mailing address at the bottom of the page. Thank you for your support. This work depends upon you!