By Joseph Ax
Feb 4 (Reuters) – National Democrats will launch a program on Wednesday aimed at engaging more than 1 million infrequent U.S. voters in states with close races, well ahead of November’s midterm elections, according to an announcement seen by Reuters.
The new initiative will target likely Democratic voters who cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election, when Democrat Joe Biden defeated Republican Donald Trump, but did not turn out in 2024, when Trump won a second term over Democrat Kamala Harris, according to the Democratic National Committee.
More than 2,000 volunteers have already signed up for the “Local Listeners” program, which calls for more than 250,000 phone conversations with voters and more than 50 in-person grassroots events nationwide. The campaign will also seek to register thousands of new voters in competitive congressional districts.
The conversations, which will take a “listening first” approach, will help the DNC identify critical issues for voters that can help inform messaging for Democratic candidates in those districts, the DNC said.
Democrats need to flip only three Republican-held seats in November to win a majority in the 435-seat U.S. House of Representatives, though they face a steeper climb in the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate. Taking control of either chamber would allow Democrats to open investigations into the Trump administration while blocking much of the president’s legislative agenda.
“Local Listeners is a massive voter contact operation built on a simple but powerful idea: If we want to keep earning back the trust and support of voters, we have to listen to them,” DNC Chairman Ken Martin said in a statement. “This program modernizes the way we are talking to and hearing from the voters that we need to win elections now and for years to come.”
(Reporting by Joseph AxEditing by Rod Nickel)
