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The prognosticators and the post-election pundits sure are keeping busy with this one! Two weeks past Election Day, and we know — thank goodness! — that the much-feared nationwide Red Wave was more like the sloshings of a half-empty pitcher of spiked Kool-Aid.
New Jersey’s own elections were finally certified last Friday. But nationwide, many other Midterm 2022 questions remain unanswered. We still don’t know what margins we’ll be working with in the House of Representatives (four races are still pending), and there’s a major run-off election to be had in the Senate. (C’mon, Georgia! Next election, get it right the first time!)
The Walker/Warnock run-off in Georgia will be anything but a coin-toss (Walker’s favorite method of making big life decisions).
And the biggest unknown of all:
Will Republicans and Democrats find a way to work across the aisle over the next two years? Will the House and Senate collaborate to pass effective — and beneficial — legislation? Put your money down, ladies and gentlemen; we’re going to have to wait and see.
Despite all the lingering unknowns, there is one thing for sure: Your commitment showed in the results here in CD11, with a landslide victory for Rep. Mikie Sherrill.
Team Mikie’s Political Director, Scott Altieri, wrote, “Last week, the voters reelected Mikie to serve a third term by a margin of 17 points.”
We'll say that again: Mikie won with a
We pity the fools who run against her next time!
“We are so grateful,” Altieri continued, “to all of you for making this possible. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this.” If you have any doubt about Mikie’s appreciation for grassroots supporters like all of us, here she is at her Election Night victory party!
Click to hear how she leads off her Victory Party shout-out to the grassroots!
Mikie knows that NJ 11th for Change volunteers deliver — every election. You proved it this summer and fall in the midterms, with the hard work you did canvassing directly for campaigns, sending out VBM letters, postcarding with our special reproductive-rights-themed postcards, and text banking to vote-chase during the final stretch.
Kerry Doyle, braving Halloween decorations while canvassing
David Waggett picking up a canvassing turf packet during the final days of election season!
Here are some more highlights:
VOTE-BY-MAIL LETTERS
Not that this guy needs reminding!
When we look at the final vote totals it is clear why VBMs are so important to our victories. In Essex County — our primary focus — Dems returned VBM ballots at an impressive rate of 58% percent (compared to an overall Dem turnout rate of just 36%). How does that compare to GOP and unaffiliated turnout using VBMs? Dems TRIPLED Republicans in their rate of VBM return! Over 75% of all VBMs returned were Dems, while GOP voters made up a skimpy 8% of VBMs, and Unaffiliated voters about 17%.
Dizzy yet? The key takeaway here is that the ease and flexibility of the vote-by-mail system is good for all voters. It reduces barriers to voting like work, illness, mobility challenges, childcare, inconvenience, or just plain don’t-wanna-leave-the-housiness. And because blue voters have embraced VBMs while red voters turn their noses up at it, that benefit accrues mostly to us. It increases our advantage, and is a big, big win for us!
And even better? Signing up a voter for VBM is the gift that keeps on giving. It doesn’t just help us in the current election; it sets that voter up for easier voting in future years’ elections, too. SCORE!
GET-OUT-THE-VOTE POSTCARDS
In a whirlwind of coordination and cooperation — with the help of delivery drivers, pick-up location hosts (in Wayne, Madison, Randolph, Montclair, Nutley, Morristown, and West Orange), postcard-party hosts, and so, so many writers — you sent out a staggering number of GOTV postcards, timed just right to catch the attention of voters during the early-voting period. How many, and how fast, you ask?
Between our “solo practitioners” squeezing in postcards whenever they found spare moments in their busy days, the binge-writers who hunkered down for hard-working evenings, and teams of festive postcard-partygoers, you guys got the job done! Every target group we wanted to reach, you completed the lists — with perfect timing for the start of Early Voting!
TEXT BANK VOTE-CHASING
And your text banking to vote-chase mail-in ballots, potential early-voters, and Election-Day voters in the final days was just EPIC!
With the follow-up questions you answered for those voters, and an outstanding voter response rate of over 8% (!!), our texters gave THOUSANDS of people the information they needed to be able to vote, and they were overwhelmingly grateful.
(Even the voter who asked "Where is my polling place?" and was annoyed that our response was a clickable link where they could enter their home address and look it up themselves — a process that takes all of fifteen seconds. Believe it or not, that voter wrote back to our volunteer to apologize for being snippy. It turned out that their polling place had changed, and they acknowledged that they'd never have known it without our text!)
If there’s one thing we know for sure …
it’s that we made a difference this year. Why are we so certain?
We know your efforts weren't limited to CD11. Your commitment also showed in the exhausting and heartfelt efforts made on behalf of CD7's Tom Malinowski, to counter the overwhelming disadvantage he faced after redistricting.
And your dedication continues to show in your enthusiasm for various urgent efforts in Georgia’s Walker/Warnock run-off!
You deserve a break.
We all deserve a break!
... at least until we’re ready to start up again for the 2023 state legislative races. Because, hey, this is Jersey, the state where there’s NEVER an off year!
We also deserve a celebration!
A party is in the works, so we can get together and raise a glass to all of our accomplishments. Keep an eye out for the announcement, as we thread the needle through the holiday season.
We are so incredibly proud
of the work we’ve done together
in 2022.
Can’t wait to see you all!
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Your contributions make our work possible! Donations allowed us to make almost 160,000 voter contacts in New Jersey's 11th congressional district in 2020, and over 130,000 in 2021; our efforts were a big part of making 11 towns flip from Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020 (including some historically deep-red municipalities!) and securing a tight victory for Governor Phil Murphy in 2021.
Your generous donation goes towards our data analysis and voter-file access, text banking expenses, support for our events, printing, and much more. It allows us to continue our work building a government that is transparent, responsive and accountable. Please visit our "DONATE" link and pledge any amount. Every contribution helps as we charge ahead into 2021 and beyond!
NJ 11th for Change is a 501(c)(4) unaffiliated organization dedicated to advocating for all people of New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District. We foster an engaged and informed community with the power to shape our political representation so that it is transparent, responsive and accountable—and so that it reflects the values of fairness, compassion, inclusivity and a decent quality of life.