Hi there,

For me, there’s nothing quite like canvassing in Virginia in the fall. Meeting up at a campaign’s headquarters with other volunteers to collect materials and turf maps. Seeing the excitement (and a little nervousness) on my friends' faces who’ve never volunteered with a campaign before. Feeling that rush when I’m walking up to knock on my first door of the day—will someone answer? Will they be friendly? Did I practice my script enough?

Connecting with voters may look a little different this year, of course. But I’m excited to announce that Swing Left is going all in to hold Virginia’s Democratic trifecta in the 2021 elections.

The stakes are high. Swing Left is supporting six Virginia House of Delegates races and the gubernatorial race because protecting Virginia’s Democratic trifecta means furthering progressive policies that the state is championing—from expanded voter access to criminal justice reform.

Even though we don’t know all of the nominees in these races just yet (we’ll know more after the VA primaries in early June) there are already important ways to get involved:

• We’re raising critical early money to send to the eventual nominees right after their primaries.
• We’re supporting local organizations doing on-the-ground organizing through Blueprint, Swing Left’s platform for year-round political giving.
• We’re writing Vote Forward letters to share why we vote and to encourage high-potential voters to cast their ballots this year, too.

I joined the Swing Left community during the 2018 midterms, working with my College Dems group at American University to help take back the House. In 2019, when I became president of the chapter, I wanted to keep that momentum going, and I knew we could rely on Swing Left for political strategy guidance and useful resources.

Virginia canvass kickoff in 2019 with Del. Alex Askew, Del. Nancy Guy, former Del. Cheryl Turpin, and U.S. Senator Mark Warner.

Swing Left linked us up with key campaigns in Virginia—races that were so close that every door knocked and dollar raised could help determine the win. One of my favorite trips was a canvass to support Nancy Guy for delegate in VA HD-83. We knocked more than 5,000 doors. When now-Delegate Guy won her race by only 41 votes, I was blown away. Every door we knocked, every chat we had, every time we shared polling place information, could’ve been with one of those 41 voters. Democrats gained the trifecta in 2019. Our volunteering made a real difference.

Our American University College Dems group with Nancy Guy in 2019.

Democrats made real progress at the national level in 2020, and we’ve got to keep that momentum up at the state level as well. The work ahead requires all of us to come together to help raise early grassroots money for candidates and get as many Virginia voters as possible to the polls in the fall. So I’m reaching out to ask: will you join me to help hold the Virginia Democratic trifecta this year?

I could geek out on Virginia all day, but I’ll leave it here. Swing Left’s political and organizing experts will be in touch soon with even more details about these target races and ways to get involved. I can’t wait to see you at a virtual volunteer event or (fingers crossed!) knocking doors later this year.

Julia Larkin
Swing Left Youth Organizing Board
American University Class of 2022

If you were forwarded this email and found it useful, you can subscribe here.

If you want to stay updated but your inbox needs a breather, click here to receive fewer emails.

For stories and news from the field, tune into Swing Left’s weekly podcast ‘How We Win.’

Paid for by Swing Left, swingleft.org, not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
Copyright © 2021 Swing Left. All rights reserved.
Swing Left 1015 15th Street NW Suite 1000 Washington, DC xxxxxx USA

To stop receiving emails from Swing Left, please click here.