WOMEN VOTE! Activities
Here are some case studies that illustrate how WOMEN VOTE! can make the decisive difference in hard-fought elections. With your help, WOMEN VOTE! can turn out women voters who will make the difference on election day by voting for Democrats up and down the ticket, at every level of government. We need your help now — contribute today!
WOMEN VOTE! CASE STUDIES
2006 Ohio WOMEN VOTE!
2006 Ohio WOMEN VOTE! helping an outstanding pro-choice Democratic woman win her eight-way primary for a key U.S. House seat in Ohio’s 13th congressional district.
In May of 2006, Ohio WOMEN VOTE! sent 14 different mail pieces contrasting Betty Sutton’s honest leadership with her opponents’ questionable ethical standards in a district where voters had grown weary of political corruption. By surveying voters, EMILY’s List was able to identify key messages, test the effectiveness of mail pieces, and modify the persuasion strategy accordingly. Ohio WOMEN VOTE! helped Betty Sutton go from four percent in the polls to leading her well-funded, well-connected opponents by sending 468,336 pieces of mail, making 79,603 phone calls, and knocking on 4,045 doors.
The result: on May 2, 2006 Ohio WOMEN VOTE! helped Betty Sutton defeat a self-funder who spent nearly $2 million of her personal fortune, and a well-known former congressman. Sutton is the best candidate to defend this open seat from a Republican takeover attempt. Ohio WOMEN VOTE! will continue to communicate with key voters in this district to ensure they turnout again in November and send Betty Sutton to Congress!
The Ohio WOMEN VOTE! Strategy
Ohio’s 13th district, vacated by Rep. Sherrod Brown who is running for the U.S. Senate, is considered marginally Democratic. EMILY’s List recruited Betty Sutton, a labor lawyer and former legislator, because she has what it takes to fend off an aggressive Republican takeover attempt in November.
EMILY’s List helped Betty Sutton win her May 2 primary against seven other candidates with 31 percent of the vote. Her strongest challengers included Tom Sawyer, a former congressman; and Capri Cafaro, a former congressional candidate and shopping mall heiress.
Ohio WOMEN VOTE! conducted a preliminary survey of voters and discovered that Betty Sutton was at four percent, but when voters were informed about her record along with her opponents’ records, she went up to 35 percent, more than any other candidate. With this information, Ohio WOMEN VOTE! defined its strategy. To win, Ohio WOMEN VOTE! would position Sutton as the candidate with honesty and integrity and highlight her opponents’ ethical problems. While serving in Congress, Sawyer and his wife took several vacations paid for by lobbyists. Capri Cafaro had been involved in ethics scandals.
To implement this strategy, Ohio WOMEN VOTE! took the following action steps:
Deciding who to target: Ohio WOMEN VOTE! would focus on targeting Democratic primary voters who had voted in at least two of the past four primary elections, a total of 61,501 voters.
Determining the most effective messages to mobilize those key voters: Ohio WOMEN VOTE! would work to establish Sutton as “honestly different” while highlighting her opponents’ faults.
Determining the best method of communication: With a budget of $200,000, direct mail would allow EMILY’s List to target Democratic primary voters specifically and repeatedly. Ohio WOMEN VOTE! would deliver 468,000 pieces of mail; 14 different pieces; reaching each likely household at least seven times and up to 14 times.
The first wave of mail dropped established Betty Sutton as an “honestly different” candidate among a field of ethically challenged candidates.
After this first wave of mail, WOMEN VOTE! conducted another survey, and learned that Sutton had improved from four percent in January to 18 percent in April. By this point, Capri Cafaro, who had been on the air with her own 30 minute infomercials, also increased in the polls — but Sawyer remained stagnant.
The second wave of mail focused on Sawyer and Cafaro specifically. So while Betty Sutton’s campaign was on the air with her positive message, EMILY’s List was making sure voters knew the truth about her opponents through Ohio WOMEN VOTE!
In addition to educating voters by mail, Ohio WOMEN VOTE! conducted a get-out-the-vote effort by phone and through door to door canvassing. Over the phone, Ohio WOMEN VOTE! identified Sutton supporters. After 26,743 calls were made, 10,329 Sutton supporters were identified.
To persuade the remaining 21,217 undecided or unreached voters, Ohio WOMEN VOTE! launched a door-to-door canvass — an expensive but extremely effective way to communicate with voters and turnout Betty Sutton supporters.
On May 2, Ohio WOMEN VOTE! delivered the margin of victory for Betty Sutton, who received 31 percent (20,851 votes). Cafaro received 24 percent (16,516 votes) and Sawyer received 22 percent (14,578 votes).
Learn more about this case study: OHWV! PowerPoint presentation
2004 Pennsylvania WOMEN VOTE!
2004 Pennsylvania WOMEN VOTE!: helping elect Pennsylvania’s only Democratic congresswoman In the spring of 2004, Pennsylvania WOMEN VOTE! sent 13 different mail packages stressing issues like education, health care, gun safety, choice, and the economy, to women voters targeted through voter file research. We used polling to make sure that the most effective pieces were reaching the right voters. A team of WOMEN VOTE! volunteers and staff made calls and knocked on doors to turn out women voters. In total, Pennsylvania WOMEN VOTE! sent 280,000 pieces of mail, knocked on 106,000 doors, and made 69,000 phone calls.
The result: on April 27, 2004, EMILY’s List WOMEN VOTE!® helped Allyson Schwartz win a hotly contested primary battle against a well-funded opponent. The momentum Schwartz gained from this victory — along with continued support from EMILY’s List — helped her go on to win the general election in November and become the only Democratic woman in the Pennsylvania congressional delegation!
Learn more about the EMILY's List WOMEN VOTE!® projectLearn more about this case study:
Read more about Schwartz in the Philadelphia Daily News!
"When Democratic Congressional candidate Joe Torsella shook hands at the Bridge and Pratt transit station in April, a supporter chatted up some women who appeared nearby with signs for his opponent, state Sen. Allyson Schwartz. One was there from Florida, he discovered, another from California.
What lured them across the country to stand on a subway platform? Sisterhood, in a potent political package..." Click here to read the rest of this article.
2004 Washington State WOMEN VOTE!
In 2004, Washington WOMEN VOTE! identified more than 440,000 voters who planned to vote for Christine Gregoire, John Kerry, and Patty Murray, or who were undecided. Based on this research, WOMEN VOTE! created a database of voter preferences to secure as many early or absentee votes as possible. Ultimately, WOMEN VOTE! helped Christine Gregoire defeat Dino Rossi by 129 votes out of a total of nearly three million cast. Patty Murray won a third term in the U.S. Senate, and John Kerry won Washington’s 11 electoral votes.
Air EMILY: on-the-ground organizing in important political battlegrounds
In late October 2004, EMILY’s List chartered four private planes to fly volunteers from Washington, D.C., to Florida to spend the final days of the campaign going door to door in counties where high Democratic turnout was critical.
Dubbed “Air EMILY,” this massive volunteer project helped increase Democratic turnout in Palm Beach County from 70 percent in 2000 to 75 percent in 2004. The hard work of more than 1,300 Air EMILY volunteers resulted in record-high voter turnout that far exceeded WOMEN VOTE! projections. John Kerry won Palm Beach County with 60.4 percent of the vote and Senate candidate Betty Castor won 60.2 percent.
"I am 59 and have been sitting on the sidelines in the last few elections," wrote Air EMILY volunteer Ann Proctor of Takoma Park, Maryland. "Never again, thanks to EMILY’s List."
After the election, Air EMILY volunteers returned home disappointed about Democratic losses — but energized by their hands-on participation in the campaign, and excited about future volunteer opportunities.
The experience gained from Air EMILY will help EMILY’s List design future GOTV projects. "We’re going to build on the motivation and camaraderie we saw on the ground in Florida," says Karen M. White, EMILY’s List’s national political director.