I got a chance to interview a man named Adam Blackwell, who works for an organization called Swing Left. Swing Left helps encourage and mobilize people to get out and vote. He and his organization are very busy right now with the Georgia run-offs, but he took the time to answer a few of my questions:
What does a day look like for you at Swing Left?
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Swing Left was an entirely remote organization. We have full time staff located all over the country. So, a day at Swing Left is often filled with Zoom meetings--catching up with colleagues on their priorities, collaborating on projects, and getting up-to-date information from our political team on what’s happening around the country.
As Swing Left’s Development Director, I spend a lot of time each day on the phone or on Zoom speaking with donors who help fund our grassroots operations. I also now spend a lot of my time on Zoom hosting virtual fundraising events either for Swing Left’s operations or for Democratic candidates across the country. My favorite part of my job and my day-to-day is all of the amazing and inspiring people I have the opportunity to talk to around the country, who are all working to build a stronger democracy for future generations.
How does Swing Left participate in the very
important Georgia Senate runoff elections, and how is it looking for Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock right now?
Swing Left coordinates directly with the Ossoff and Warnock campaigns, as well as with the Georgia State Democratic Party and other nonprofit organizations in Georgia (where legally permissible). We mobilize our volunteer community both within and outside of Georgia to focus their energy on turning out the vote in Georgia on January 5th through letter writing, phone banking, texting, and other voter contact opportunities. These are extremely close races. With President-Elect Biden’s win in Georgia and the strong energy from Democratic voters in Georgia, Democrats have a chance to flip these seats. Because the balance of power in the US Senate rests on the outcome of these two elections, it’s so important that Democrats do everything we can to try and win here on January 5th.
What will be SWING LEFT’s focus and what will
be your biggest goals moving forward after the January 5th election?
Moving forward, we will continue to organize and mobilize our community of grassroots volunteers and donors year-round to build Democratic support and infrastructure between election cycles. After January 5th, we’ll turn our sights on defending the Democratic trifecta we helped create in Virginia in their 2021 state election, protecting the Democratic majority in the US House of Representatives and flipping US Senate seats in 2022. In 2022, we know there will be at least 7 competitive Senate seats, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. The House majority will be in play, although we will need to wait for redistricting to be completed late next year to have a better sense of the map, and 36 governorships and 48 state legislatures will be up for grabs. Swing Left will continue to evolve with the needs of the Democratic ecosystem, and the potential impact of our work has never been greater, as we work to hold what we hope will be a one-seat Senate majority, protect our tight House majority, and elect state leaders that can ensure the fair functioning of our elections and democracy.
I’m not old enough to vote but what’s the
best way for someone like me to support democracy?
Even though you’re not old enough to vote yet, you’re still old enough to volunteer! Volunteering-- whether that’s making phone calls, writing letters to voters, or registering and communicating to voters in some way--is the single most effective thing you can do
to help effect change! In fact, prospective voters are often inspired even more when they hear from a younger person who is volunteering their time even though they aren’t old enough to vote yet.
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