“I think the regular person is suffering right now. Social services are not being funded properly, and the cost of gas is going up. Our access to proper food and housing is not proper or correct. People are really suffering.”
“I wish politicians knew that so many people in my community, regardless of socioeconomic status, are struggling. The biggest thing is the cost of gas, groceries, and housing and housing instability.”
“Tariffs need to go away. We’re paying the price with taxes on everything.”
I’m Shelby Wiltz, the DNC’s Political Director. These are just a few of the key takeaways from thousands of voters who spoke to hundreds of volunteers throughout the DNC’s Local Listeners program.
In January, the DNC Organizing Team launched Local Listeners, a first-of-its-kind training and voter contact program designed to center listening-first conversations. This seven-week bootcamp trained volunteers to become organizers in their own communities, pairing them with a calls program aimed at reactivating voters in target congressional districts.
We hear a lot about what pollsters have to say about the state of our country. But we had a really simple, but ambitious, idea:
We know that hundreds of thousands of Democrats voted in the 2020 presidential election, but sat out the election in 2024. What if we could find them and connect with them?
And if we could connect with them, most political pundits would recommend just asking them simple questions and getting off the phone as quickly as possible. It’s a numbers game. But, what if we approached this project as organizers? What if we had open-ended conversations about what’s on their mind? What if we built actual relationships and community with these voters?
Well, that’s exactly what we’ve been doing.
This year, more than 400 volunteers joined us to make 448,295 calls to voters who voted in 2020, but not 2024. We had nearly 10,000 conversations with voters from 61 battleground districts across the country, and what we found could change the game for the midterms this year.
A statistic that may shock you: From January to July, our volunteers had more conversations with voters than the number of votes that decided the House majority in 2024.
I’m beyond proud of what our organizers and volunteers were able to accomplish with these conversations, and I’d love to share some of our findings with you today:
During every conversation, volunteers asked voters which issues were most important to them. Across all groups, voters named the rising cost of living as a top issue, and 78% of them said the country is headed in the wrong direction under Trump.
We also asked voters what it would take for a candidate to earn their vote this year. Consistently, they said they wanted leaders who would fight for them, their families, and their communities. They agreed that candidates should be for the working people.
And — most importantly — 86% of these folks said that they plan to vote in the upcoming midterm elections this November.
So much is at stake this November, and reaching every voter we possibly can is going to prove critical to Democrats’ success up and down the ballot. Having these conversations doesn’t just allow us to sway people in key districts to vote; it helps us build trust with voters that Democrats may have lost in the past few years.
Here’s the truth: Building trust is key to winning elections. We’re already working to share our results with campaign staff, organizers, fellows, and volunteers on races up and down the ballot, all across the country. We hope that our findings from this program will help inform scripts for door-knocking and phone banking, campaign literature and messaging, paid media, and more.
We also plan to share our findings with YOU.
Another big truth is that the work to build trust in the Democratic Party across the country is being powered by the people. Over 99% of the donations the DNC receives are from grassroots supporters — just like you — pitching in what they can, when they can, to fuel our fight to elect Democrats this year and well into the future.
We are revolutionizing our approach to organizing because winning in 2026, 2028, and beyond requires a fundamental shift in how we connect with people. If you’re ready to help us win in November, join us for an upcoming phone bank and start connecting with voters on the issues that matter most.
Best,
Shelby Wiltz
DNC Political Director
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You asked nonvoters what they want or need, but did you ask them why they failed to vote in 2024? Everybody seems to have an opinion about why voters sat out the election; you had the chance to ask them directly. I'd like to hear the results of that survey.
We need top level Democratic Party CHANGE!
Jamie Raskin for Speaker of the House!
Americans deserve better.