Press Release

Working America’s 235,000 conversations with persuadable voters accelerates vote gain across 12 states

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Confronting a daunting midterm map, Working America marshaled an evidence-based field and digital program, holding more than 235,000 face-to-face conversations with working-class voters in 14 states. By combining high-powered field organizing with analytics and innovative relationship-based digital communications, Working America is accelerating vote gain in close races across the country.

“Nothing about the Blue Wave is inevitable. It takes outreach and organizing to connect the dots between the real concerns of voters and the choices they’re making at the polls,” said Matt Morrison, executive director of Working America @MattMorrisonWA. “Our recipe is simple: Show up on people’s doorsteps, listen to their concerns and offer compelling solutions and information that’s new to them.”

Known for its high-quality, face-to-face field canvass, Working America extended its expertise this election cycle to digital communications with voters it reaches at the door. By collecting emails and phone numbers on the doors, the group then extends the relationship and accelerates the persuasive effect of their communication by layering in intensive digital content. Through 57 randomized clinical experiments, Working America measured the impact of its member digital communications program and found it consistently gains votes for its endorsed candidates at a far more efficient rate than typical digital engagement.

“We learned hard lessons in 2016 and worked to apply them in 2018. Working-class voters represent a critical portion of the electorate. In many neck-and-neck races, they can be the difference-makers, but only if you reach them,” said Morrison. “Based on clinical testing, we know that persuading tuned-out, fed-up voters is not only possible, but necessary, especially in places where Trump won.”

In 2018, Working America ran 57 randomized control trials. Notable findings included:

• Working America’s canvass operation is consistently effective at finding the most persuadable voters and moving them to vote for Democrats. Clinical results from 2018 show that Working America canvassing added around 8 votes for every 100 conversations it had in the most competitive elections nationwide.
• The 3.3 million+ Working America members are the foundation of our digital program. By communicating with these voters who first engaged with us at the door, we add ~3.7 votes for every 100 digital targets — a number that outpaces what other groups are able to measure or achieve.

State-Level Data

State – Canvassers Logged

Macomb County, Michigan – 113,800 door knocks, 34,881 conversations

Columbus, Cleveland, Youngstown, Ohio – 106,048 door knocks, 41,890 conversations

Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – 108,515 door knocks, 35,583 conversations

Metro Twin Cities, Minnesota – 127,373 door knocks, 41,057 conversations

Cedar Rapids, Dyersville, Iowa – 4,439 door knocks, 1,856 conversations

Phoenix, Arizona – 29,935 door knocks, 8,236 conversations

Billings, Great Falls, Montana – 19,300 door knocks, 7,562 conversations

North Dakota – 10,797 door knocks, 3,766 conversations

Greensboro, North Carolina – 3,253 door knocks, 1,382 conversations

Northern Central Valley, California – 52,560 door knocks, 17,223 conversations

Cook County, Illinois – 16,857 door knocks, 5,852 conversations

Albuquerque, New Mexico – 14,785  door knocks, 5,144 conversations