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Voter outreach is a top priority for political leadership in Montgomery County with 80 days until the 2024 presidential election.
Democratic and Republican committee leadership in the key battleground county are rallying their volunteers as they prepare to canvass, knock on doors, make phone calls, and leave candidate literature as Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz face off against former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
Montgomery County Democratic and Republican party chairmen agree that outreach and making connections with voters are key strategies concerning not only the presidential race, but other federal, state and local contests on the November ballot.
“I’ve always been a firm believer that voter outreach is critical, and the face-to-face conversations are essential,” said Montgomery County Democratic Committee Chairman Jason Salus in an interview last week.
“I think that knocking on doors, and dropping literature, it’s invaluable because if you can get [to] a person, and talk to them about what you believe or what your candidates believe, that’s the best way to get somebody’s vote,” said Montgomery County Republican Committee Chairman Christian Nascimento.
Political landscape changed
It’s been a whirlwind few weeks in national politics since President Joe Biden suspended his reelection campaign on July 21 and endorsed Harris for the Democratic nomination for president. Harris racked up numerous endorsements and formally secured the nod in a virtual roll call session, she told thousands last week during a campaign rally in Philadelphia at Temple University’s Liacouras Center.
The change in the political landscape sparked Democrats with less than four months until Election Day.
“We’re excited. I haven’t seen an energy level like this since the 2008 Obama campaign,” Salus said. “We’re not counting any victories yet, but I think people … recognize what’s at stake, they’re enthusiastic, and engaged, and they’re ready to do the work.”
Nascimento too acknowledged the shift in political energy, but didn’t seem to put too much stock into it. He instead stressed the need to focus on issue-based outreach to Republicans, independents and “disaffiliated Democrats” throughout the suburban county.
“I think it’s pretty clear a change in candidate doesn’t really change the strategy,” Nascimento said. “Vice President Harris … owns the Biden-Harris administration full stock, and so it’s highlighting the issues that are important to voters around here, which I think are the economy and inflation, border security, support for Israel, things like that.”
“I’m really focused on making sure that we get our folks out, and then we’re reaching across the aisle to folks that are going to be open to our message,” he said. “I think the Democrats have some energy because [of] the change in the candidate. I think they’ll have some excitement coming out of their convention just like we did ours, and I think the race will stabilize.”
Harris and Trump are running neck and neck as of Friday. A Franklin & Marshall College Poll released Thursday had Harris leading Trump 46 percent to 43 percent among registered voters in Pennsylvania.
Voter outreach crucial
Salus said the importance of direct canvassing and voter registration couldn’t be overstated. Nascimento agreed.
“Polls are one thing, but to my mind, seeing and meeting voters face-to-face, hearing directly from them in context, and meeting them where they are, you can’t replace that,” Salus said.
“I think it’s really invaluable,” Nascimento said. “… When you think about some of the margins that [former] President Trump won and lost by in Pennsylvania, you can make some of that up in Montgomery County.
“I don’t think that [former] President Trump feels like he needs to win Montgomery County, but I think if we outperform how he’s performed before, that will go a long way to winning Pennsylvania, and I think the voter outreach is key,” he continued.
County is battleground
Trump won Pennsylvania overall during the 2016 presidential election against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. However, in Montgomery County, Clinton had 256,082 votes to Trump’s 162,731 votes, according to an election summary report. Biden won back the state in 2020, and a Montgomery County election summary report showed he had 319,511 votes to Trump’s 185,460 votes.
Salus noted Democratic popularity incrementally increased when he “saw an acceleration in voter registration when [Barack] Obama first ran in 2008.” Montgomery County voters went for Obama with 253,393 votes, or 59.99 percent, to former Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain’s 165,552 votes, according to the 2008 general election summary report.
The historically Republican county slowly turned blue, with some momentum showing in 2007, according to Salus, who recalled that Democrats “won half the row offices” in Montgomery County, noting the clerk of courts, controller, coroner, prothonotary, and register of will races.
In 2009, Salus said an endorsed Democrat was elected for the first time as a county judge.
In 2011, now-Governor Josh Shapiro and former county Commissioners’ Vice Chairwoman Leslie Richards, both Democrats, flipped the majority on the Board of Commissioners. They served alongside Republican Commissioner Bruce Castor.
Ramping up for November
Both party committees have ramped up efforts to attract volunteers and donors in 2024.
“In the modern version of the Montgomery County Democratic Party, the ground game has long been critical. I really can’t speak to what the Republicans are doing,” Salus said.
Salus added he saw some counter-protestors at a “Harris for President” rally earlier this month at Wissahickon High School where Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer stumped for the vice president.
“It’s really about meeting people and getting the message out,” Nascimento said. “My expectation is that they’re going to push really hard. I think … things that I’ve heard is that they feel like Montgomery County is a really important area for them if they want to win Pennsylvania, just like we do, and so I think they’ll be out, and we plan on matching that.”
Montgomery County’s Republican Committee has more than 600 members and the Montgomery County Democratic Committee has 741 members.
The Montgomery County Republican Committee has its headquarters in Blue Bell. Nascimento said there are plans to open additional satellite offices in Hatfield, Jenkintown and Pottstown. In June, the Trump campaign opened “Latino Americans for Trump” office in Reading.
“We’re trying to make sure that we’ve got a presence in a number of different communities,” Nascimento said.
The Montgomery County Democratic Committee has a similar strategy in mind, as Salus emphasized how “we’re trying to cover all bases and be accessible in every corner of the county.”
The committee’s office is located in Norristown, and Salus mentioned several other satellite offices situated across the county as the committee partners with local Democrat groups in Glenside, Pottstown and Wynnewood. The Biden-Walz campaign also opened offices in Lansdale and Norristown.
Salus recalled an event recently at the committee office in Norristown where 155 people came out in attendance, with more than 40 percent considered “brand new to the party.” Salus added that a new part-time staff member was brought on to manage onboarding of the apparent influx in volunteers.
What’s next for committees?
Both Democrats and Republicans urged involvement from prospective voters.
“Our demographics skew a little older so we feel like we have that space well in hand,” Nascimento said. “I think that we certainly recognize we have to make inroads with young people and people of color. I think that President Trump, for example, I think does really well with African-American and Latino men, and so we’ll try and capitalize off that [and] the youth vote.”
Nascimento said that the county committee too brought on another member, with Giana DePaul as its new executive director.
Salus didn’t identify specific demographics the Democrats are looking for, but instead said that “we’re trying to reach out to every voter who … we believe is open to hearing our message.”
He also noted grassroots movements taking place online with large-scale Zoom calls generating interest in Harris. While they aren’t affiliated with the Democratic National Committee or the campaign, Salus acknowledged that they’re picking up steam.
“I think people understood a few weeks back, we have a three-month campaign, and we need to gather everyone and mobilize them quickly, and that’s happening,” Salus said.
“We’re going to continue talking to voters,” Salus said. “There’s still a window to encourage folks to register or update their address, and then we’re going to spend most of the fall reminding voters to vote whether they’re voting by mail, or in person. We want a great turnout.”
“Really, it’s about two things: One is making sure that voters know about our candidates, their backgrounds, up and down the ticket, and two, just highlighting the contrast between what I think our candidates want to do and what the opposition wants to do for the presidential [election],” Nascimento said.
MediaNews Group staff writer Karen Shuey contributed to this report.
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