John,

Last week, I had the chance to talk to the New York Times about how the Working Families Party is adjusting in order to meet the new reality of the COVID-19 pandemic. I told them the story of how it took me some time to get my parents used to FaceTiming with me in a way that made sense.

I think that’s happening with all of us on a broader level. We’re all learning how to connect with each other in this unprecedented time of social distancing, whether that’s with loved ones, co-workers, or — in our case — our day-to-day work of reaching voters and organizing in communities across the nation.

This is a scary moment, and for way too many, it has been devastating. From the murderous malfeasance of this White House, to the Black and brown communities emerging as epicenters following centuries of structural racism, to the Republican judges and lawmakers putting people's lives at risk for their own political benefit like we saw this week in Wisconsin — it can all be a lot to process.

But this is also a moment where people are looking for connection, re-examining long-held views, and willing to entertain big, progressive ideas they might not have even considered just a few weeks ago.

Right now, the mission of WFP is more relevant than ever. And I know our work together can make a bigger difference than ever.

The way we organize and run campaigns will look different for a while, and it's up to us to meet this moment. If you can afford it, will you make a donation right now? The work to support our hundreds of WFP candidates goes on, as does our fight for a response to this pandemic that puts working people first.

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There's no question that this pandemic presents a significant challenge to progressive organizers and campaigns. But overcoming significant challenges is what we as organizers are trained to do.

Even before the pandemic arrived, the Working Families Party was already training our organizers and supporters on the digital tools we need to reach people without meeting in-person:

Over the last three years, we've built a robust peer-to-peer texting program with a team of national volunteers who regularly engage in voter contact on behalf of WFP candidates.
We've been connecting our supporters with key organizing resources online, providing our endorsed candidates with strategic guidance on how to best organize online, educating voters about existing vote by mail and absentee voting provisions, and working on state-level campaigns to expand vote-by-mail in the primary and general elections.
And we’re shifting now to use webinar tools like Zoom to allow our candidates and organizers to collaborate with supporters in place of in-person events, and investing more in texting and call tools to continue voter contact.

While our immediate priorities have shifted a bit to meet this moment, our primary goal for this year remains the same: There are still going to be elections, and we still need champions for working families to win them.

Electing candidates at all levels of government who are accountable to working families — NOT corporations — is more important today than ever. If you can afford it, please chip in so we can expand our digital organizing in the weeks and months ahead.

Thank you for standing with us,

Maurice Mitchell
National Director
Working Families Party

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P.S. If you missed it, you can read the New York Times story here.

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Paid for by Working Families Party National PAC (81 Prospect St., Brooklyn, NY).