Progressives will begin winning again when their activists remember to go where the people are. Jacqui Hazelwood and Patricia Day Gallini are doing just that, and they explain how they are doing it in their corner of Texas.
Activists Jacqui Hazelwood & Patricia Day Gallini work Democratic voters
Jacqui and Patricia have their corner of Northeast Harris County in Texas under control. Their strategic mobilization is ensuring the maximization of Democratic voters.
Asked why she is so passionately engaging voters in her precinct and surrounding precincts, her answer was concise and clear.
“The reason I am doing it is I was the guilty one that didn’t do this leading up to the 2016 election,” Jacqui said. “And the way I felt when that ended was, it made me realize that every single person can make a difference. And this is what I can do to make a difference.”
Jacqui and Patricia began working with the Precinct Ground Game; a project initially organized in Harris County by William “Bill” McLeod, a Harris County Judge candidate. Jacqui used many organizing tools including NGP VAN to organize several precincts with block walking task and routes.
Jacqui points out that many times she brings candidates along with their block walking. Bring them excites the potential voters. It helps strengthen their resolve to vote.
Most importantly, giving the false belief that there are only a few Democrats in the area, seeing Democratic block walkers is not only inspiring but affirming. Patrica recalls a story about the reaction of a Democrat whose door she knocked. The woman’s excitement was palpable,
When asked what message one should impact on the voters they are canvassing, Patricia did not miss a beat.
“Their vote is going to make a difference,” Patricia said. “And the more people we get involved with us, the more people we can talk to, — because like Jacqui said, we are last in the nation in voting. We are not a Red State. We are not a Blue State. We are a non-voting state. And we are working to change that.”
I went out canvassing with Jacqui and Patricia today. Once again it was a pleasurable experience, and the feeling was that of accomplishment. These women are leaving it all out there. Irrespective of the outcome of Midterm 2018, they can be proud of what they’ve built in this area most importantly because it is a reproducible template they can reuse for every election.
There is still a lot of work to do. As Nisha Randle of Indivisible Houston said yesterday on Politics Done Right with Egberto Willies, now is not the time to assume we have this in the bag, we don’t.
Everybody can call all their relatives, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances and urge them to vote. Take them to the polls if they need help. But this election is existential, and it is time that we stop rewarding the president for his thuggery.
There are a few days left before Midterm 2018. We must use our time to maximize the vote.
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