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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

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

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!