It's going to take a lot of work this year to take the House and Senate back and ensure that we have the most progressive voices possible representing us in our fight against the fascist regime in the White House. Research shows the most effective tool we have to get people to the polls and voting for the people and causes we support is face-to-face conversations about what matters to them, also known as deep canvassing.
Unfortunately, getting enough people to knock on enough doors to make this happen on a large scale is expensive. That's where Seed the Vote comes in. I first connected with them in 2025 in the fight to resist Elon Musk's $22M and protect the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. I was extremely impressed with the training they provided and with the volunteers who'd come from all over the US to knock on doors on a rainy day in Milwaukee. The reason people were able to travel was not because they all had the money but because STV provides financial support to the extent possible to cover airfare, hotel, rental cars, etc.
This year, I'm again involved with Seed the Vote, but in even more ways. I'm serving on the Volunteer Engagement Committee and working with the team that helps volunteers make these travel arrangements. I'm also knocking on doors - the first weekend in May, I'll be headed to Allentown, PA, to canvass for Bob Brooks in primary, a union firefighter and strong progressive - and I'm doing so because of the support STV provides. You are going to get dozens and hundreds and thousands of appeals for money this year, and it's not easy to see the value of that money as far as winning elections. Any money you can donate to Seed the Vote will not be going to media buys or consulting firms. It will be going to get people in front of voters to have those crucial conversations.
Critically, STV partners with the local organizations who are already doing the work. They're not there to take over, they're there to provide the massive amounts of labor necessary to knock on as many doors as possible and get as many voters to the polls as we can. No single election is sufficient to protect democracy for all time. It's an ongoing project. But if we cannot take Congress back this year and fill the seats with people who will actually provide a check on President Trump, I am extremely afraid that this will be the election in which democracy in the US comes to an end. If you can, please donate.
A little bit more about Seed the Vote (https://seedthevote.org/)
Seed the Vote was founded in 2019 to win elections while building the political power of local groups in swing states. We’ve recruited, trained, and deployed almost 17,000 volunteers to doorknock and phonebank with local partners. We know that having face-to-face conversations is one of the most effective ways to persuade voters in swing states where the election will be determined by a very small number of votes. In 2020 and early 2021, over 9,000 STV volunteers helped defeat Trump by doorknocking and phonebanking across 5 states. In Arizona alone, STV volunteers talked to 16,000 people. Biden won the state by 13,500 votes.
In the 2022 midterms, STV worked in 4 states to help maintain Democratic control of the Senate. In Nevada alone, our volunteers talked to ~7,500 people in a Senate election won by only 9,000 votes. In 2024, 5,000 STV volunteers knocked over half a million doors across 7 states, one of the biggest volunteer canvassing programs in the country. We were proud to have contributed to four Senate and two House seat wins.
In 2025, our doorknocking volunteers helped secure big wins in two critical races - a Wisconsin Supreme Court race that led to winning a liberal majority on the court, and Prop 50 in California, which will help level the playing field in the 2026 midterm elections. Our vision for 2026 In 2026, we’re being ambitious. It’s time to go big.
The huge Democratic sweeps in recent elections show that people across the board are deeply dissatisfied with the Trump administration. His disapproval ratings are high; cost of living hasn’t gone down; and people are furious with his administration’s heavy-handed immigration enforcement. At the same time, many people who have traditionally voted Democratic are deeply disturbed by the party’s unwillingness to stand up to the administration’s clear authoritarian power grab. This means we have a huge opportunity to use the 2026 primaries to elect progressives who stand for the things we really care about - ending ICE terrorizing our cities, getting us affordable healthcare and housing, intervening on climate change. AND it means we have a huge opportunity to win back the House and Senate in the fall elections, ousting Republican representatives who are giving a rubber stamp to the MAGA agenda.
It won’t be easy. Republicans are going to try to interfere with elections in many ways. They’ve already rigged the maps so that it will be harder. This will be a FIGHT. But we believe that if we fight, we have an exciting opportunity to push the Democratic party to grow a backbone, and win majorities in the House and Senate. This will be the first step in taking back enough power at the federal level to slow Trump’s attacks on our communities - to set us up for pushing his authoritarian regime out of power in 2028.
* $50 covers mileage & gas for a volunteer driving to the city they’re canvassing in
* $100 covers gas for a team of canvassers for a week
* $250 buys a flight for a volunteer coming from the same coast/midwest
* $600 buys a flight for a volunteer coming from the opposite coast
* $1000 covers hotel & flights for a canvasser flying out for a week
* In a week, one canvasser can knock 300 doors and have 75 conversations.
* $10,000 will send 10 canvassers to knock 3,000 doors and have 750 conversations