DLCC Grassroots Victory Program Kicks Off Groundbreaking 2016 Field Efforts

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee Executive Director Jessica Post kicked off the DLCC’s first Grassroots Victory Program training of 2016 today with a call to action for the field campaign professionals gathered from across the country. The three-day training (June 1-3) assembles field organizers in the nation’s capital to hone skills and reinforce best practices in everything from volunteer recruitment and voter contact techniques to community engagement and candidate management. The innovative curriculum features immersive simulation exercises and provides field organizers with data-driven tools and methods that will push Democratic candidates to victories in close down-ballot races this fall. On-the-ground GVP-trained organizers helped tip the scales in some of the closest races in the country last cycle; in districts where these organizers were deployed in 2014, Democrats won 70 districts by fewer than 1,000 votes, including districts critical to holding Democratic majorities in chambers in Colorado, Iowa, Maine, and Oregon. In 2012, 483 legislative elections nationwide were decided by 500 votes or fewer.

“Grassroots energy must be built from the ground up, and grassroots outreach is essential to down-ballot Democratic victories in November,” said Post. “The 2016 election cycle provides a unique opportunity for Democratic state legislative candidates to win landmark victories, and this week’s GVP training is a key component of DLCC’s path to state-level successes this fall. GVP arms in-state organizers with the techniques and technology needed to run winning grassroots outreach campaigns. Over the next three days, we’ll engage our field teams in intensive, simulation-style trainings and arm organizers with targeting tools needed to make data-driven decisions and implement robust and effective door-to-door voter contact programs.

“The organizers gathered here today are crucial to the future of the Democratic Party,” Post continued. “The successful field programs they run and the chamber majorities they help win this fall will help Democrats advance progressive policy agendas that provide opportunity for middle-class Americans. Their candidates will build the Democratic bench for future cycles’ congressional, gubernatorial, and presidential races. And the seats they win will move Democrats toward a successful round of post-2020 redistricting. GVP trainings are just one critical element of this year’s Democratic victories, and I look forward to continuing our critical work with the staffers here and our partners in states across the country as we build for success in November.”

This week’s flagship GVP training brings over 70 field organizers from across the country to the nation’s capital and is the first in a series of additional sessions. Now in its third cycle, GVP not only cultivates well-trained professional field staff, but the program also builds a culture of state legislative organizing that ensures legislative candidates connect with voters face-to-face at their doors – a culture that endures into future cycles. GVP works to implement field strategies that are centrally-organized, volunteer-based, and data-driven. On the doors, over the phones, by their own hands, and through the recruitment and management of volunteers, GVP-trained organizers accounted for more than 10 million door knocks and phone calls and identified over 900,000 supporters in the closest legislative races in the nation last cycle – numbers Democrats will expand in 2016.