Several weeks ago, I was talking with my cousin, Connie. The conversation turned to politics. It wasn’t awkward because we share similar beliefs. We talked about our renewed excitement in the Democratic presidential ticket. Connie said her husband was so excited that he wanted to knock doors for Harris/Walz. She was aghast as she feared for his safety in their deep red, rural area. She thought that he would be sent to speak to people hostile to his message.
I don’t think Connie is alone in this perception of what it is like volunteering for a political campaign. Since helping to run a congressional primary campaign and volunteering on other campaigns, I’ve learned quite a bit about the process. I shared some of what I learned with her and thought that some of you might like this information, too.
There are many ways to help a political campaign – which can include door to door canvassing.
What CAN you do?
- Find who represents you. BallotReady
- Register to vote/check your registration and encourage your friends and family to do the same. In IL go here: https://ova.elections.il.gov/ If you need registration information out of state (for example you have an out of state college student or young adults starting their careers in other states – that’s totally us!), go here: https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote I just sent “how to register” info to our youngest who is going to school in the swingiest of swing states WI.
- Find out what’s on your ballot: vote.org
- Choose your issues. Here are the top 10 issues for the 2024 election according to Pew Research Center
- Make a plan to vote. Illinois begins early voting and vote by mail on September 26, 2024.
- Donate to a campaign. This is one of the easiest ways to help a campaign. I encourage you to find local and state level races as this is where your contribution will have the biggest impact. Next would be your local congressional district, especially if it is competitive. If you want to expand your reach & have an impact here are a couple of resources to make sure you’re strategic in your giving. Oath & Vote Save America. On the Oath site you can search by candidate or cause and it ranks the impact of donations on a scale of 1-10. I checked the state legislature race in MT (Paul Tuss) that our son is managing and it’s a 9.2!
- Volunteer. Beth has volunteered with the Lauren Underwood campaign. She has done phone banking and may do door knocking/canvassing as well. (About door knocking: The campaign will NOT send you send you into enemy territory. You’ll be knocking on the doors of people who have voted for your candidate/party in the past or are very likely to be voting for them. Door knocking can include some persuasion/education, but it is primarily a voter turnout operation. A canvasser’s job is to get the voters to commit to voting for their candidate & making a specific plan to vote (by mail, early voting, or in person on November 5th.) Because Illinois is NOT a swing state, Jody has phone-banked for the Wisconsin Dems a number of times and will be doing so again in the coming weeks. The state party in WI has made incredible progress building an effective organization over the last decade and they make volunteering easy, organized, and pleasant.
- If you’ve done ALL of these things and want to do more, get involved in your local party and run for office. (Jody has his eye on the local school board in 2025.)
Here are a number of resources to help you:
