ELECTION 2020 Georgia turnout drive ramps up in Senate races
MILTON, Ga. — In a face mask and cap, activist Garrett Bess walked up driveway after driveway of milliondollar homes in suburban Atlanta on a recent afternoon, placing a flyer in each door, ringing the bell and stepping away to make a socially distanced pitch to vote for the conservative candidates in Georgia’s pivotal U.S. Senate runoff elections.
Bess’ group, Heritage Action for America, plans to knock on half a million doors before the state’s two Jan. 5 contests that will determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate.
“Everyone in Georgia knows the candidates,” said Janae Stracke, a colleague of Bess’ who also canvassed the subdivision. “There’s not a lot of convincing to do. They’ve made up their mind. It’s mostly knowing when to vote, how to vote, encouraging them to vote.”
This election season, the coronavirus pandemic has upended traditional getoutthevote efforts where campaign workers go door to door to encourage people to cast ballots. With people staying at home and limiting contact with outsiders, an extended conversation with a campaign worker who shows up uninvited may actually encourage people to vote for someone else.
But it’s a sign of how important the two Senate elections are that both parties and independent advocacy groups are going all in on their inperson getoutthevote efforts.
After the GOP lost the presidential election in Georgia for the first time in 28 years, conservatives are urging Republicans to get more aggressive with their turnout efforts in the state to match the outreach of former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
After Abrams lost the 2018 governor’s race, she devoted herself to voter outreach. She raised millions of dollars to organize and register hundreds of thousands of voters in the state — efforts credited with helping Democrat Joe Biden win Georgia.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee expects to have 1,000 staffers on the ground in Georgia, while the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee plans to spend millions on voter registration and turnout efforts.
Outside groups are also hitting the ground, and the inperson appeals will be supplemented with a fusillade of phone calls, text messages, mailers and ads aimed at boosting turnout for the races pitting Republican Sen. David Perdue against Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler against Democrat Raphael Warnock.