In these critical days before the election, SURJ just received powerful evidence of the effectiveness of our work.
We partnered with Movement Labs for a randomized control trial to measure how effectively our members’ conversations persuade conflicted white voters to support the Harris/Walz ticket. Results found that 1 out of every 5 voters who were undecided at the beginning of a conversation were persuaded to support Harris by the end of the conversation.
Margins will be razor-thin in this election, especially in white districts. Based on these successful results, we are scaling our now research-proven phone banks to reach 1 million additional undecided and disengaged white voters.
This persuasion rate is very high. Half of all tests like these come back with no impact or even negative results. And that’s because these conversations are hard. Staying with someone when they are repeating MAGA talking points or expressing distrust of elections requires sharp organizing skills.
But persuasive conversations with undecided white voters are SURJ’s specialty we’ve honed over 15 years of organizing. We lead with open-ended questions, engage in deep listening, and don’t try to convince a voter that a political party is the single answer to their problems. And, importantly, we lead white voters through the tough process of abandoning the racist divide-and-conquer tactics of the far right.
In the final days before the election, we’ll do the work we do best: talking to folks like us, securing their vote, and bringing them in on our vision of the future.
Here’s how you can join us:
- Join a phonebank and get trained alongside our many powerful leaders. And you now have empirical evidence that your efforts will make a positive difference!
- Give a gift today to support this work.
Thank you for being with us. Now, let’s go talk to our people!
