With a focus on supporting Democratic candidates, the outreach efforts will also spotlight Virginia’s redistricting ballot referendum.
The Democratic National Committee kicked off a new campaign Monday to ensure new voters who register in Virginia are people who align with the party’s ethos.
It’s the first time the DNC has done on-the-ground partisan voter registration during a midterm year in Virginia, rather than supporting general registration efforts. The events will begin at University of Virginia in Albemarle County and James Madison University in Harrisonburg. Further events are anticipated in the coming weeks.
Echoing a refrain he made when the organization poured millions into Virginia’s state-level elections last year, DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a release: “When you organize everywhere, you can win anywhere.”
College campuses are sites where new voters may be engaging in the democratic process for the first time. National nonprofits and local college campus organizations have long targeted these spaces to persuade newly-franchised voters to back their priorities or candidates.
In addition to the registration events, DNC published a playbook of lessons learned in recent election cycles.
The playbook features nine case studies that include Virginia’s Democratic gains in the legislature last year and flipping of the governor’s seat, along with how Democrats used labor union events to rebuild trust with voters in Nevada and outreach efforts for Black residents in New Hampshire.
A tactic deployed in Spanberger’s gubernatorial campaign entailed using a rubric to help volunteers and campaign staff better relay what they were hearing from voters when door-knocking or interacting at events.
“Over the last decade, voter contact scripts have barely evolved on hard side campaigns. Even when we try to innovate, we often default to the same formula: Greet, ID, Persuade, Close,” the playbook read. It said IDs are “critical,” but “we are missing important insight into what voters actually need from us and what it will take to earn their trust and their vote.”
To sway more prospective voters, “our conversations must go deeper,” the playbook stated. “That means slowing down, listening more than we speak, and prioritizing genuine understanding — even when it takes more time.”
Abby O’Keefe, who’d served as an organizing director for Spanberger’s campaign last year, said in a statement to The Mercury that her team’s efforts were an “innovative organizing program.”
While Democrats celebrated gains in Virginia and New Jersey last year along with local flips in red states like Florida, congressional midterm elections will be a test for both parties later this year.
Midterms are considered a referendum on the party in control of the White House. In President Donald Trump’s first term, the 2018 midterms saw sweeping Democratic gains. This year, Republicans once again control the White House and they have majorities in both chambers of Congress.
As Democrats hope to make flips to counter the GOP trifecta, Trump has instructed Republican states to redraw their congressional maps in order to fortify their majorities. After Texas and other Republican states answered the call, Democratic states like New York and California followed suit.
Virginia is among 13 states this year that have redistricted already or are in the process of potentially doing so.
GOP lawmakers in Virginia have accused Democrats of focusing on Washington D.C. instead of their own state and have lambasted them for “unfair” maps that would consolidate Republican representation into one of 11 districts. Democrats have countered that it’s a necessary leveling of the playing field in the face of Republican-led gerrymandering to dilute Democratic power in Congress.
So far, the turnout for early voting has been higher in GOP strongholds of the state. A DNC official told The Mercury that the new voter registration efforts will also focus on education about the redistricting proposal.
When voting for the measure earlier this month, Spanberger asserted that redistricting here would be temporary, as Virginia’s constitutionally created redistricting commission is still expected to meet once a decade to redraw maps in accordance with the new census data.
“This amendment is temporary and responsive to this moment in time where we have a president who has gone to other states seeking additional congressional seats.”
With early voting under way, it will become clear by April 21 whether or not Virginia will indeed redraw its maps.