Huge turnout to canvass for Wexton

By Stephanie Witt Sedgwick:

Volunteers packed the Sterling campaign of office of State Senator Jennifer Wexton (Loudon-Fairfax), candidate for Virginia’s Congressional District 10, kicking off a day of canvassing Saturday for them and an even longer day of campaigning for Wexton and her staff.

A crowd of over 140 people filled the office to capacity early Saturday morning and more volunteers were expected later in the day. John Begala, Wexton’s political director, said the turnout was so large that he could only compare it to what is normally the largest canvassing effort, the Get Out The Vote weekend right before the election: “We would be very excited if this was the GOTV turnout, and to see this five weeks before the election is really something.”

Before the group fanned out across the local area and Wexton took off crisscrossing the district, the group, which included volunteers from local progressive groups including Virginia Democracy Forward, Network NoVA, NOPE! Neighbors, Herndon Reston Indivisible and the Georgetown University Democrats, was welcomed by local politicians.

Looking back on the events of the past week, Delegate Jennifer Boysko (Fairfax-Loudon), urged the crowd to take “our energy and our anger and move this campaign forward.”

Delegate Mark Sickles, (Fairfax) promised that Wexton was a tireless worker, who “would get under the hood and fix what’s wrong in a bi-partisan way.”

Wexton had some parting words of her own. While incumbent Barbara Comstock, her Republican opponent, may have the backing of big money, including the Koch brothers, Wexton said she had more, “I love you guys, you are something better than Koch money.”

Some of the more than 140 people who came out to canvass for Wexton

More in The Blue View

Weekend of Action!

The November election is only two months away, and every single vote counts in building our blue wave. To make sure we do everything we can to elect Tim Kaine, Jennifer Wexton, and Gerry Connolly in 2018, we’re asking everyone who can to join our elected officials and participate in a weekend of action this weekend, September 8 and 9, 2018.

On Saturday, we will be having a canvassing and phone banking event from the home of Sue Langley:

2435 Flint Hill Road
Vienna, VA 22181

Gerry Connolly will join us at noon, and Ken Plum and Pat Hynes will also participate. More information is available here.

On Sunday at 9am, Delegate Jennifer Boysko will join us for canvassing and phone banking in Fox Mill:

2982 Franklin Oaks Drive
Herndon, VA 20171

More information is available here.

There are opportunities on both Saturday and Sunday throughout the day, so come meet your elected officials and join us in fighting to restore sanity to our government.

Come Canvass Saturday with Anne Holton!

This Saturday, August 18 starting at 1pm, the Virginia Coordinated Campaign will be launching Hunter Mill door-knocking efforts from the new coordinated campaign office at

150 Elden St., Suite 244, Herndon, VA

We anticipate that Anne Holton, former Virginia Education Secretary, will join us in our efforts to reach voters.

The Coordinated Campaign has been hosting canvass events every Saturday, so if you’ve been participating in those, note the change in time and location. If you haven’t had the chance to get out there yet, this is a great time to join up and help us elect Tim Kaine to the Senate, Jennifer Wexton to the 10th House District, and Gerry Connolly to the 11th House District.

For more information, contact

Maddy White, at maddy.white@virginiavictory.org or 571.299.9490

When we knock, the House is a lock

The primaries are over, summer is here, and it’s time to buckle down and take back the House and Senate. There are lots of opportunities to volunteer, and one of the most important things you can do is get out there and canvass. This means pounding the pavement and knocking on your neighbors’ doors to make sure everyone knows how critical their votes are in 2018.

Taking back the House starts with taking the 10th, as Virginia’s 10th Congressional District has two precincts right here in Hunter Mill. If we want Barbara Comstock out, canvassing for Sen. Jennifer Wexton will get it done.

Taking back the Senate means reelecting Tim Kaine, which takes everyone across all of Virginia. As we learned in 2016, we can take nothing for granted, and beating neo-Confederate Corey Stewart requires running up the score right here in Hunter Mill. Knocking doors helps us do that.

There are several canvassing events already scheduled (here are sign up links for Saturday and Sunday), and more are coming throughout the summer. Keep your eyes on the Hunter Mill calendar for these opportunities, and contact Maddy White at maddy.white@virginiavictory.org or 571-299-9490 if you have any questions or concerns about participating.

We look forward to seeing you out there!

You voted. Now participate in V.O.T.E.D.

V.O.T.E.D.

What does this mean?

Volunteer Onboarding, Training, Engagement, and Deployment

Susan Johnson, Precinct Ops, and her task force have spent many hours talking through the fine points of welcoming new volunteers in an efficient, consistent, and timely fashion. They are seeking at least 15 members, representing all districts, to join in this effort in welcoming new volunteers. We know Hunter Mill can supply some!

If interested, please contact Susan at

precinctoperations@fairfaxdemocrats.org

Meet Maddy from the Coordinated Campaign

Maddy is a Field Organizer for the Hunter Mill District with the Virginia Democratic Coordinated Campaign and will be the point of contact for all volunteer events with the coordinated campaign. She graduated from James Madison University in 2017, and is excited to be back in her home turf for this campaign! She grew up in Reston so she has a spot in her heart for this region, and is incredibly excited to hit the ground running and really ramp up the grass-root efforts in this area.

The coordinated campaign is currently seeking “influencers” to recruit, train, and launch volunteers for canvassing, phone banking, and voter registration drives in the Hunter Mill district.

If you’ve done this for past campaigns, or are interested in learning more, contact Maddy at maddy.white@virginiavictory.org or call/text at (571) 299-9490.

If you are unable to lead events but would still like to volunteer, please sign up at TimKaine.com/events or by contacting Maddy directly. She is looking forward to meeting Hunter Mill volunteers and working together to Keep Virginia Blue and flip some seats with this blue wave!

Come Knock Doors With Us!

The closer we get to election day, the more opportunities will arise for you to take part in canvassing—knocking on doors to talk to potential voters. Hunter Mill is already doing canvassing events on May 5 and May 19. These are part of a Voter ID project in which we are trying to learn more about how voters in those precincts vote in elections, and lay the groundwork for more effective candidate campaigns in the fall.

Canvassing is one of the most powerful tools in the electoral toolbox. While political campaigns work hard to get their messages out to voters through television, radio, mailers, email, text messages, and phone calls, there is really nothing as potent as a face-to-face conversation. It really shows your neighbors how important you think voting is, and how passionately you feel about the issues at stake. It is easy to dislike or dismiss a faceless group of people, but a canvasser’s knock on a door helps a neighbor realize that parties are made of people who care enough to talk to them, person to person.

And voters are just that: your neighbors. Canvassing is a great way to meet the people who live in your community. We all tend to walk our normal paths and stick to our usual friends and acquaintances, but we are part of a larger community. Canvassing can help you build your own understanding of the individuals who form that community.

Canvassing also helps the party better understand the community. That, in turn, facilitates more effective engagement with the community’s priorities. Effective engagement with communities is how grass roots become blue waves.

And, of course, who among us couldn’t use a little sunshine and exercise?

So, as you see canvassing opportunities arise throughout the summer and fall, right up through election day, consider participating and deepening your and your party’s ties to the community, and building the momentum that will set Hunter Mill District, Fairfax County, Virginia, and Washington on the path to a brighter future. Don’t hesitate to reach out to Hunter Mill’s Vice Chair for Precinct Operations, Joanne Collins at collinsjoanne@yahoo.com or 585-703-1121 if you have questions.

A Message from the Coordinated Campaign

Hello Hunter Mill Dems! My name is Adam and I’m a field organizer for inner NOVA with the Democratic coordinated campaign. I’ll be your point of contact for all volunteer events with the coordinated campaign. A little about myself, I was born in Washington DC but I grew up in Asia, Latin America, and right here in Fairfax, VA. Previously I worked on the Hillary Clinton campaign in Wisconsin, the Ralph Northam campaign in Fairfax, and now the Tim Kaine campaign. We’re currently seeking “influencers” to recruit, train, and launch volunteers for canvassing, phone banking, and voter registration drives in Hunter Mill. If you’ve done this for past campaigns, or are interested in learning more please shoot me a message at adam.kubiske@virginiavictory.org or call/text at 703-678-6835. If you are not able to lead events, but would still like to volunteer, please sign up at TimKaine.com/events or by contacting me directly. Looking forward to meeting you and working together to achieve a historic blue tsunami this November!

Hunter Mill District Voter ID Project

HMDDC Precinct Operations launches a Voter ID Project starting April 22, 2018.

The Voter ID Project will attempt to identify unknown voters within Hunter Mill District. We will contact neighbors who are registered to vote, but it is unknown to us how they identify themselves. Do they consider themselves a Democrat, Republican or Independent and how are they likely to vote?

Join us in South Reston/Herndon for our first Voter ID Canvass where we will be walking Dogwood & McNair Precincts to listen and build relationships with neighborhood voters to lay the groundwork for our candidates to campaign more effectively and increase the turnout in our favor on Election Day in November.

South Reston/Herndon Voter ID Canvass

2429 Freetown Dr, Reston

April 22 at 12pm & 3pm

Contact: Joanne Collins, HMDDC Vice Chair of Precinct Operations

at collinsjoanne@yahoo.com or 585-703-1121 with any questions.