FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, October 9
Contact: Logan Smith
[email protected]
202-709-8825
Bend the Arc phone/text bankers pass 750,000 voter contact attempts
“We Rise As One” campaign triples its initial goal to contact Jewish voters in swing states to elect Biden, down-ballot Dems
WASHINGTON – Bend the Arc: Jewish Action’s “Vote Out Fear” voter contact program hit a major milestone this week as volunteer phone- and text-bankers passed 750,000 voter contact attempts in swing states.
The milestone tripled the campaign’s initial goal of 250,000 contact attempts to persuade Jewish swing voters to vote for Biden and down-ballot Democrats, and organizers now hope to hit 1.5 million contact attempts by November 3. The effort started out targeting Jewish voters in Georgia and Florida, but has since expanded to reach a wider universe of persuadable voters in additional swing states including Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
“In a moment like no other, Jewish Americans are rising up in unprecedented numbers against Trump’s tactics of fear and division,” said Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action. “Despite the pandemic, our volunteers are having a tremendous impact helping thousands of voters access absentee ballots as we fight for a better America.”
The Vote Out Fear voter contact effort is part of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action’s We Rise As One campaign, a national mobilization of Jews and allies across the country rising up in solidarity to push white nationalism out of the halls of power, using persuasion language around antisemitism and white nationalism that voters wouldn’t otherwise hear from other campaigns or GOTV efforts.
“Enablers of white nationalism and white supremacy like Trump, Rep. Matt Gaetz in Florida, and Sen. Kelly Loeffler in Georgia all have something in common,” said Cotler. “In addition to all the Jewish voters in their states and districts who have already rejected the GOP's politics of division and fear, there are millions of voters who aren’t Jewish but who join us in rejecting their fear and hatred when they learn the facts.”
This year’s direct voter contact effort represents a dramatic increase compared to past cycles, compared to 375,000 contact attempts in 2018, when Bend the Arc volunteers helped flip the House, and 22,000 door-knocks in 2016, when Bend the Arc ran the only national Jewish campaign against Donald Trump.
“When Donald Trump is voted out of office in a few weeks, it will be because people all over the country joined together to fulfill the promise of a nation where everyone experiences freedom, fairness, security, and belonging no matter what we look like or where we come from,” said Cotler. “Trump has made it clear that he considers white nationalists and antisemitic groups to be a key part of his base, but we’re not going to stand by as Republicans put Jews and our neighbors in extreme danger. We’re going to rise up as one to build a country that is truly for all of us.”
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action is uniting a movement of tens of thousands of progressive Jews across the country who are fighting for justice and equality for all. We are the only national Jewish organization focused exclusively on social change in the United States.
###
