If you needed any indication of how concerned Hope Springs from Field PAC volunteers have been about redistricting this year in Ohio, here it is. Even though the weather is not bad, they still ventured out on Saturday to knock on doors. They want to do everything they can to keep Republicans from reducing Democratic representation in Congress.
But the fact is, the weather was nicer last weekend than you might expect. A lot of our canvasses were in the mid-60s, and we had volunteers knocking on doors with their coats around their waists.
We’d been waiting for the new maps to chart our future in Ohio. And the maps that came out of the Redistrict-ing Commission were better than expected for Democrats.
This compromise is a shocking development. Ohio’s constitution mandates a complicated redistricting process that includes the commission and the state legislature… Both parties expected the commission to reach a stalemate and that redistricting would revert back the state’s GOP-controlled legislature.
”Several Ohio districts are so competitive that Democrats believe they, too, have a chance at winning them.” “Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D, OH-9) and Greg Landsman (D, OH-1) see their districts get less Democratic, while Rep. Emilia Sykes (D, OH-13) sees her district get bluer.” We expected lines like that for Kaptur, but Sykes definitely got a nice draw.
We continue to knock on doors in OH-01, OH-09 and OH-13 Congressional Districts. These are districts we’ve canvassed over the last 3 years, and we added the Republican targets of OH-07 (Max Miller, the pink district west of Cleveland), OH-10 (Mike Turner, the pink district with Dayton at its center) and OH-15 (Mike Carey, the pink district that includes Columbus). These are definitely reach districts now.
And we continued to canvass in the (red) counties we won in 2023 (Issue 1). Just because.
357 volunteers came out to canvass, so only a couple dozen less than last week. Hope Springs volunteers knocked on 25,953 doors and talked to 2,128 voters. 1,370 voters answered questions from at least part of the Issues Survey.
Hope Springs from Field PAC began knocking on doors again on March 2nd. 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.
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.
Yes, we really need your help here! Our printer’s bills are — like most things — much higher than we had anticipated for the year. Adding extra states (like California) did not help the budget!
High Prices and Affordability were the Number 1 issue for the Ohioans we talked to on Saturday. The future of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and the threat cuts represent to Rural Hospitals was second. Tariffs and the uncertainty around Agricultural Exports were the third most frequent issues voters raised.
We continue to ask voters if they approve of the sudden and deep cuts in federal programs and budget. 1% of the voters we talked to said they viewed these cuts in a favorable light on Saturday. 14% thought just the opposite. 8% of the voters we talked to had a favorable impression of the job Trump was doing (44% disapproved).
On Saturday, 4% of the voters who responded approved of the job Sen. Husted was doing while a mere 21% expressed Disapproval. 37% approved of what Gov. DeWine was doing and 31% disapproved.
Hope Springs volunteers registered 1 new voter and re-registered 4 voters who updated their addresses to comply with HAVA requirements.
In Ohio, we had 86 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 knock on doors of Democratic and Independent voters and use a voter-driven approach to guide them through the Issues Survey, the CSR and Incident Reports. We record questions voters raise with a Q(uestion)-slip and record other relevant observations on an Observations form. Q-slips are sent to the relevant Democrat to respond to and Observations are entered into VAN. 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 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 Congressional Races in 2026. There is a lot of work to be done! Especially since we have had to expand the map this year.
Hope Springs is a seat-of-the-pants grassroots-driven operation. We don’t have employees but we realize that to formalize and professionalize this effort that will have to change eventually.
Hope Springs has been called “the most comprehensive, organized grassroots voter contact project out there right now. It is truly astonishing that it is grassroots-based!” Not sure why it is “astonishing,” but i probably have more faith in grassroots or self-organized efforts because of my experience with Barack Obama’s early days in 2007.
No other Democratically-aligned org has been methodically trying to circumvent MAGA efforts to rig the House Midterm elections. And we need your help to continue. Our printer costs alone are way beyond our budgeting.
If you are able to support Hope Springs from Field’s efforts to protect Democratic voters, especially in minority communities, expand the electorate, and believe in grassroots efforts to increase voter participation and election protection, we would appreciate your support:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/UNRIGtheMidterms
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!
