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Get Out the Vote for Sheila Bynum-Coleman in Richmond, VA, Nov 1-5
Sun 10/6 @ 8pm: Learn about canvassing in Virginia to turn the State Legislature BLUE!
Learn about canvassing with Swing Left Greater Boston to flip the Virginia House of Delegates and the State Senate. This could be our best and last chance to turn Virginia blue and set up a decade of progressive victories that will impact the entire country.
Online info session on Sunday, October 6 at 8 pm. Sign up here.
Our Candidate: We will be supporting Sheila Bynum-Coleman who is running against the incumbent Republican Speaker of the VA House of Delegates.
Location: We will canvass in the most northern part of HD-66 in three majority-minority precincts where four out of five registered voters would cast their ballot for our candidate — if they decide to vote! Improving voter turnout here in the outskirts of Richmond is considered critical for Sheila Bynum Coleman’s campaign.
Effectiveness of Canvassing: HIGH. HD-66 was recently redistricted after the US District Court ruled that it had been racially gerrymandered. Many voters are unaware of which districts they are part of, who their delegates are, and who the candidates are in their upcoming elections.
Redistricting has made this district competitive for Democrats.
Susan Collins recently gave Mitch McConnell New Balance sneakers
A Vote for Susan Collins Is a Vote for Mitch McConnell
Mitch McConnell has ensured Susan Collins cannot have a foot in both camps. Susan Collins is careful to maintain her record as the most independent Republican in the Senate, and her 2019 voting record shows it. She has rarely voted in line with President Trump this past year (seven of twenty-two votes.) But what about the votes she doesn’t get to take because McConnell prevents bills from coming to the Senate floor?
Since January 2019, Susan Collins hasn’t had the opportunity to vote on 148 bills that were passed by the House but blocked by Mitch McConnell from reaching the Senate floor for debate and a vote. These bills would prevent foreign interference in our elections, fight political corruption, protect patients with pre-existing health problems, prevent voter suppression, and limit corporate spending in our elections. Meanwhile, Maine’s most popular statewide elected official, Angus King, has been an active proponent of this legislation.
In 2020, we could elect a Democrat to the White House, but if McConnell is still the Senate Majority leader, he has vowed to continue with his obstructionist agenda. “If I’m still the majority leader of the Senate after next year, none of those things are going to pass the Senate.… So think of me as the Grim Reaper,” McConnell said recently.
Susan Collins might be committed to representing the values of Mainers, but as a Republican, she has lost the opportunity to act on them. A vote for Susan Collins in 2020 is a vote to maintain the Republican Senate majority and enable Mitch McConnell to maintain his stranglehold on our democracy.
Berl Hartman (far left) and fellow volunteers working to register voters in Maine
Teamwork is Key to Swing Left Volunteer Berl Hartman’s Maine Voter Registration Success
With nearly 1,000 new voters registered in Maine as of September 12, Berl Hartman and her fellow Swing Left volunteers in Maine are making significant progress with new voter registration. A hugely successful voter registration drive on Pride Day in Portland this past spring was a big win, but it also presented a new problem to solve: getting all those voter registration cards where they needed to go. Two or more for the same city must be sent to the relevant city clerk, whereas singles are sent to a central location in Augusta, and each collection of cards needs a cover letter. Enter volunteers Carolyn Marsden and Tom Shiple, who have both taken on that back-end processing work. Tom has used his IT expertise to create a system that automates look-up of districts and the letter writing. The team effort is not only satisfying, but effective.
What inspires Berl, besides her passion to fight climate change? Registering young voters on college campuses. That’s “really invigorating and uplifting,” she said. Need some inspiration? Watch this video of the Portland Pride effort.
24 people attended the Maine Matters / Massachusetts Mobilizes campaign kickoff at Activist Afternoons last Sunday. Kudos to Rebecca Riccio for organizing and many thanks to Tim Grose from the Maine Dems, who travelled via train from Sacco, Maine to lead the training.
Mailing 70 letters to register voters at Swing Left Rhode Island’s first event
SwingLeft is growing – in tiny but mighty Rhode Island!
Announcing the official launch of “SwingLeft Rhode Island” (SLRI) the newest local chapter of SwingLeft’s national organization!
SLRI was created to bring concerned citizens of Rhode Island together and provide strategic ways to support other ‘less blue’ states around the country.
Want to help in Little Rhodey? Here are three QUICK ways you can help right now…
