While federal and state rules limit how Indivisibles work with candidates and their campaigns, many of the organizing skills we learn through Indivisible are useful in our outside election efforts. Here’s how one Indivisible leader turned those skills into a successful campaign strategy.
by Elizabeth Suneby
Until November 2016, Martha’s Vineyard (MV) resident Carla Cooper was not politically active beyond voting in every election. Trump’s inauguration changed that.
“I put out a question on my Facebook page,” she says.”‘Hey, anybody feeling as desperate as I am and want to do something about it?’”
The making of a political activist
Carla’s simple outreach led to the making of a political activist and community organizer. Since that fateful post, Carla launched Indivisible Martha’s Vineyard and now holds several leadership positions in local Democratic organizations. She currently serves as Chair of the Edgartown Democratic Town Committee and is an Executive Committee member of the Democratic Council of Martha’s Vineyard.
In January 2022, Carla was tapped to join the campaign team for Rob Galibois, an unknown Democratic candidate for district attorney for the Cape & Islands. The position had been held by a Republican since its establishment in 1974, and Rob’s Republican opponent, the assistant DA, handpicked by the incumbent, was a Trump supporter.
Rob ran on a platform of transparency, community engagement, and data-driven innovation — ideals lacking from the prior DA, who never stepped foot on MV. Against all odds, Rob won in 2023 by a margin of 16,500 votes. In recognition of Carla’s effective leadership, she received the Democrat of the Year Award from the Cape and Islands Democratic Council.
An action plan for electing local candidates
Carla’s action plan for electing local candidates rests on five pillars: turnout, education, contrast, contact, and leverage. Here are a few insights from her experience about integrating these pillars into a campaign:
Remember: In mid-term elections, it’s all about turnout.
“We calculated the number of votes we needed and where best to find them,” Carla says. “We needed to get about 7,000 votes on MV for Rob to win. One of our tactics was to get a list of every registered Democrat and unenrolled voter on the island who did not vote in the prior midterm election and call each one on the phone. We also hand-wrote 3,500 postcards to targeted Cape Cod residents.”
Face-to-face campaigning can help educate the public.
“While it might seem obvious, it’s critical to go where the people are,” Carla notes. “We stood in front of grocery stores and other high-traffic locations. We brought Rob to meet the police chiefs. We held a launch party at the wharf and invited all the local press. Rob participated in veterans’ picnics, the 4th of July parade, the Juneteenth celebration, the Tisbury Street Fair, a Pride parade, and many house events. In addition to Rob shaking many hands, we coordinated social media, texting, phone banking, postcard mailings, and other marketing campaigns to educate the public about Rob’s credentials and priorities and keep him in the public consciousness.”
Contrast the policies and priorities of both candidates.
“For example, Rob publicly supported women’s reproductive freedom and the right to an abortion, and he committed to not prosecuting women and providers who provide abortion care — regardless of any future federal abortion ban,” explains Carla. “He also committed to not cooperating with other states’ attorneys general who try to extradite women who travel to MA for abortion care. Whenever we could, we connected the Republican opponent with MAGA extremism, while our candidate was supporting LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights. We shared photos from the opponent’s Instagram showing him with election-denying talk radio hosts and juxtaposed those with our candidate standing with democracy warriors like Congressman Jamie Raskin.”
Contact trusted community members.
“To reach the island’s Brazilian community, we connected with voters through their churches and provided printed information about Rob in Portuguese. To reach the Wampanoag community on the island, we brought Rob to the Aquinnah Town Meeting,” Carla recalls.
Leverage personal networks.
“We helped campaign volunteers think broadly,” Carla notes, “to leverage personal networks beyond family and friends — including acquaintances at work, exercise classes, book clubs, local alumni associations, and more — and to ask these acquaintances to do the same with their personal networks.”
Connect local candidates to statewide candidates.
“To leverage the strong statewide Democratic ticket,” Carla says, “we created and distributed palm cards with a list of all the statewide Democratic candidates — which were recognizable names. The cards also made it easy for voters at the polls.”
Prioritize local elections.
“District attorneys, sheriffs, library committee members … These are the people closest to your community who make a difference in your day-to-day life,” Carla adds. ”Clearly articulate the importance of these positions to your community. Make it personal.”
Learn more
To get a copy of Carla Cooper’s presentation “Grassroots Organizing for Local Elections: Strategies for Electing Local Candidates,” contact Carla.
Elizabeth Suneby is a writer from Wellesley, MA. (www.elizabethsuneby.com)
