Virginia Governor-elect Ralph Northam’s victory in the Nov. 2017 VA gubernatorial election is being hailed by the press as “the first forceful rebuke of Trump and his party.” On a night that saw other exciting and improbable wins, the Northam vote was the widest victory in decades for a Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia.
And yet, in the lead-up to the election, the Democrats had no Get out the Vote (GOTV) effort aimed at communities of color and others who would be needed to push the eventual winner, Dem. Ralph Northam, over the finish line. New Virginia Majority stepped into the breach to:
· Register 30,666 voters in 2017
· Organize a statewide plan with partners NextGen, Planned Parenthood, SEIU, For Our Future, and Equality Virginia that knocked on 689,000 doors
· Run $150,000 in ads on African-American radio stations
· Fight for 12 candidates—11 of whom won in November
New Virginia Majority, a part of Airlift's Voter Moter Fund, has been around a while and has demonstrated a track record of success organizing working-class communities of color to enact longstanding and large-scale change year-round on issues of racial, economic, and environmental
They’re poised to do more important work on the ground in 2018, and Airlift will be there to support them.
Photo: Mallory Noe-Payne/ WVTF