West Virginia’s ‘blue geysers’ show that talking with voters at their door is a winner!

I just read the end-of-year letter we sent out in 2016, right after that terrible election that continues to plague our nation. In it we pledged to do everything possible to resist and counter the terrible policies we knew were coming.

The 2018 midterms were a turning point. Even though West Virginia didn’t change its colors, we took back significant ground in the state. Conservative radio host, Hoppy Kercheval, described the elections not as a blue wave, but a series of ‘blue geysers’ in certain areas of the state. He pointed out that the Republican majority leaders of both the WV House and Senate went down to defeat, Monongalia County sent an all blue delegation to the House, and Charleston elected a woman mayor and all Democrats to at-large seats on City Council.

What Hoppy didn’t mention is that one of our own WV Citizen Action Board members, Sammi Brown, was elected to represent Jefferson County in the WV House! In the same area, former Delegate John Doyle was returned to the House, defeating Senator Shelley Moore Capito’s nephew. This is an area that WV CAG sent a canvass team to work with Jefferson Vision, a local citizen group opposing the Rockwool manufacturing plant.

Your support and efforts are critical in the ongoing resistance to Trump & the Republican agenda.

What was most significant about ALL of these ‘blue geyser’ areas was that citizens were canvassing in a targeted door-to-door campaign in support of these candidates.

In the Kanawha Valley, our new affiliate RiseUp WV knocked on 2,000 doors in support of the newly elected Mayor of Charleston, and winning first-time Senate and House candidates. All in all, citizens across the state hit 22,000 doors!

These grassroots efforts paid off and proved that one-on-one voter engagement still works in the age of the internet! We’re really excited about the groundswell of energy and grassroots activism in West Virginia right now, and we have a plan to harness that energy and support community organizing around the state.

Your support is critical in order to build on these successes in the upcoming legislative session and in preparation for the 2020 elections. We plan to be knocking on doors starting now and continuing right up to November 2020 in order to turn our ‘blue geysers’ into a blue tsunami!

Are you with us?  If so, renew your membership and/or send a donation to WV Citizen Action today!

Sincerely,

Gary Zuckett, Executive Director