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Nationwide distributed organizing effort will expand volunteer recruitment efforts and grow Democratic base
San Francisco, CA — Today via Facebook Live, Tom Steyer and NextGen America announced the launch of the Blue Wave Program, a distributed organizing program to activate volunteers in all 50 states ahead of the midterm elections. With a goal to text 7,000,000 voters and make 500,000 calls in targeted congressional districts in 2018, the Blue Wave Volunteer Program will recruit activists from all over the country to contact voters with one goal in mind: to create a Blue Wave in November.
Achieving a blue wave in 2018 will not be possible without volunteers doing their part across the country, which is why this program will use distributed organizing tactics to reach progressives outside of traditional battleground states and significantly expand the number of volunteers helping turnout young voters in competitive districts. Using digital organizing tools, these tactics allow political organizers to reach potential volunteers who were previously unreachable.
“In every corner of the country, from deep-red states to dark blue cities, progressives are eager to stand up to Donald Trump and his Republican Party. Energy and momentum are on our side, but we won’t take anything for granted this year,” said NextGen America President Tom Steyer. “We’re leaving no stone unturned and ensuring that every American who wants to fight back has the opportunity, resources, and training that they need to be a part of the blue wave that will take back Congress this year.”
NextGen America is already running the largest youth vote program in American history, registering, engaging, and mobilizing young people across eleven states — Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. With the addition of the Blue Wave Volunteer Program, NextGen America aims to harness new Democratic energy and train a new wave of activists to sweep across the entire country.
NextGen is not new to distributed organizing — in 2016, NextGen sent 7 million text messages through its first distributed organizing program, and this year, NextGen will build off that success to make a larger footprint on the Democratic base. NextGen’s Blue Wave Program program will not only recruit volunteers, it will also train them to tap into their own communities and recruit volunteers themselves.
The Blue Wave program will be directed by Alejandro Chávez. A longtime organizer and the grandson of labor, immigration, and civil rights hero César Chávez. Chávez has personally witnessed the power of grassroots campaigns while working at Democracy for America and MoveOn.org. Chávez will be joined by six other full-time organizers who will help run the program.
“The Blue Wave distributed organizing program is the future of campaigns — it’s not only powered by digital tools and data, but also driven by the notion of inclusivity,” said Blue Wave Program Manager Alejandro Chávez. “For people with disabilities who cannot go to door-to-door, for working people who cannot volunteer due to their schedules, for folks who live in rural areas without access to transportation, this program makes it easy to contribute to the most important election of our lifetime.”
NextGen Rising, NextGen’s youth organizing program, knocked on thousands of doors and registered thousands of voters ahead of competitive primaries in California, Iowa, Nevada, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The Blue Wave Volunteer Program seeks to grow that momentum nationwide ahead of November. When thousands of volunteers participate, a few texts or calls from one person every day will have a major impact. To join the fight to reclaim Congress, text “Blue Wave” or the tidal wave emoji to 82623.
