Kamala Harris’ Campaign Reinvigorates Voters – And Opportunities To Volunteer From Home

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris has raised more than $200 million and enrolled more than 170,000 new volunteers and is only in the second week of her campaign.

Jotaka EaddyThe largest push by far began the night Pres. Joe Biden announced he would be exiting his race for reelection. Win With Black Women founder Jotaka Eaddy quickly set up a Zoom call with the goal of raising $1 million for Harris within a week, but which netted $1.5 million that evening alone – along with attracting 44,000 participants. Following suit, Zoom-based groups like Black Men for Kamala, South Asian Women for Kamala, White Women for Kamala, White Dudes for Kamala and others continued to break Zoom attendance records and, like the first now legendary virtual fundraising event, push Zoom into new territory for hosting unprecedentedly large audiences.

It is a testament to the groundswell of excitement and support for what could be the country’s first Black woman president. As identity-based groups coalesce to demonstrate Harris’ diverse base, volunteer opportunities abound for those interested in phone-banking or using their own professional skills and talents to support Harris and her down-the-ticket allies.

#WinWithBlackWomen

Long known as the backbone of the Democratic party, Black women have reliably voted blue and mobilized to affect election outcomes: 93% of Black women voted for Biden in 2020, and concerted voter registration drives flipped Georgia blue that same year.

Prior to the historic July 21 Zoom event for Harris, Win With Black Women had 4,000 Black women leaders from around the U.S., with emphasis put on a diverse array of professional backgrounds and creative skills. It is an impactful gathering of women who in 2020 coalesced around a common frustration with how Black women were being treated and depicted in political media and beyond.

With regular Sunday meetings, the group has boosted Black woman candidates and even advisors to positions in the White House. Initiatives include #thankyouGA and #livefromGA, which recruited 45 Instagram influencers to reach more than four million viewers, urging them to support Black women leaders in the Georgia runoff in 2022; and even organizing food trucks to polling sites, where some voters waited hours to cast their votes, during the last general election. They were part of an instrumental collaboration with other Black women-led groups to urge Biden to keep his promise to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court, and launched #ConfirmJudgeJackson on social media to amplify support for now-Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

In short, this is a group that prizes the myriad skills Black women bring to the table. For information about volunteering, and volunteering as an ally, visit www.winwithblackwomen.org.

Sister District

While many Congressional districts in the Portland Metro area remain consistently Democrat, there is no shortage of opportunities for local volunteers who want to make an impact on battleground races in other states.

Sister District, a 501(c)(4), taps into the power of virtual and in-person meetings to train and support phone bankers.

“Sister District has its origins on that dark night in 2016,” cofounder Lala Wu said when introducing the organization’s strategy. “Although this all began with a reactive spark, we have since fanned the flames of our work with intention, strategy and planning.

"We saw the gap that existed in organizing and resources at the state level, and we aimed to fill it.”

For the rest of the decade, Sister District will focus its volunteer power on seven battleground states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – with plans to expand into Minnesota and New Hampshire.

“Our strategy is clear,” Wu said. “We will engage in key battles with three goals in mind every year: First, to flip a chamber, second to hold a chamber and third, to make inroads into badly gerrymandered states.”

The focus on state-level legislatures is based on the organization’s own research, specifically into the phenomenon of “roll-offs,” the practice of voting for top-of-the-ballot candidates like president, while declining to cast votes for Congressional candidates at the state level. Sister District found that when Democrats voted in contested races, 83% of them declined to cast their selection for state legislative races, while only 13% of Republicans failed to vote for down-ticket candidates. In general, state Democratic candidates were adversely impacted by roll-offs far more than their Republican counterparts.

Wu pointed out the importance of a strong, representative state-level legislature: Since the fall of Roe vs. Wade, every single state with a Democratically controlled legislature has taken steps to expand and protect abortion access.

“In fact, Democratic legislative victories in 2022 ensured over 64 million people have their reproductive rights protected or expanded,” Wu said, adding,

“We are alchemists who turn anxiety into action every single day.”

Sister District is highlighting this discrepancy through its phone-banking, door-knocking, texting and postcard-writing initiatives. Sister District also endorses progressive candidates, with strong support for BIPOC women.

For more information, visit https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sister-district-portland.