Uniting California Announces Massive Get Out the Vote Push Ahead of Election Day

Field organizing program aims to turn out California voters for progressives in key districts

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Today, Uniting California — a joint effort between NextGen America, the California Labor Federation, and local grassroots organizations — announced a massive get out the vote (GOTV) effort to turn out California voters in the final days before November 6. In partnership with local grassroots groups, organizers will knock on over 90,000 doors and make tens of thousands of calls to have 50,000 conversations with swing voters and Democratic base voters in in seven historically Republican districts: CA-10, CA-21, CA-25, CA-39, CA-45, CA-48, and CA-49. Uniting California’s GOTV effort follows more than a year of grassroots organizing and comes as part of the state’s largest independent expenditure field program in 2018.

“This is the most consequential midterm election in my lifetime, and to get our country back on track, we need to vote out California Republicans who have chosen to put Donald Trump ahead of California’s communities, environment, and working families,” said NextGen America President Tom Steyer. “Until the moment the polls close on November 6, we’re going to stay in the trenches with the labor movement — knocking doors, making calls, and ensuring that Californians show up to fight back with our votes.”

“Elections are won or lost on the ground,” said California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski. “That’s why we’ve invested heavily in one-on-one conversations that empower voters to create lasting change. With our community partners, we’ve been talking to voters in these crucial congressional districts, day-in and day-out, for over a year. These conversations about critical issues like health care and good jobs are the gold standard for communication on the importance of voting. In the final days, we fully expect this unprecedented get-out-the-vote effort to deliver the votes that will tip the scales in favor of flipping a number of closely contested districts.”

Since launching last October, Uniting California has had over 350,000 conversations with voters across the seven districts, recruiting over 1,700 volunteers, knocking on 580,000 doors, and making nearly 190,000 calls this year. Through the program, community organizations lead neighborhood canvasses and phone banks, and use digital tools — like peer-to-peer text messaging and social media — to connect with voters and mobilize them to defeat Republicans. With a multi-million dollar investment, Uniting California is the largest independent expenditure dedicated to field organizing in the state.

The $400,000 GOTV effort is part of Uniting California’s strategy of investing in community organizing to talk to voters about the issues like health care, taxes, education, and clean air and water works and can lead to higher turnout. Ahead of the June 5th primary, the program had conversations with more than 200,000 California voters about these issues and encouraged them to vote in the primary. Not only did Democratic candidates successfully make it through California’s top-two system in every district, but voter file analysis also showed that in key districts like CA-25 and CA-49, voters contacted by Uniting California turned out at rates around 10% higher than the district-wide average.

Uniting California’s network of local partners includes Equality CA, Flip the 49th, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Orange County Voter Information Project, Million Voters Project Action Fund, Working America AFL-CIO, Valley Forward, and Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles County.

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Paid for by Committee for Working Families, Sponsored by the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. 510-663-4074. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.