Our GOTV team (Andria Thomas and Matt LaFortune) has selected one of the two Senate races we'll be supporting: Theresa Greenfield, who is challenging Senator Joni Ernst in Iowa. Per the Cook Political Report, this now officially a toss up race and winning it will be critical to the Democrats taking the Senate this fall. As with all of our chosen candidates, Ms. Greenfield publicly supports DC Statehood. No Donation Without Representation! 

Our next GOTV virtual Zoom meeting will be Tuesday, August 18, starting at 7:00 p.m. We'll focus on the Greenfield Senate race that night. (It's also night two of the virtual DNC, so we're working on something special to celebrate.) Details and RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/dcdemsward6/event/293212/.

In the meantime, we're still writing postcards to support the re-election campaigns of Rep. Elaine Luria (VA-02) and Rep. Abigail Spanberger (VA-07), both of whom were elected with our help in 2018. Both first-term representatives, who also publicly support DC Statehood, are in tough re-election fights, so we have the opportunity to have a major impact on them retaining their seats so the Democrats can protect - or even possibly expand - their House majority this fall. 

Need addresses? Email Matt LaFortune at mattlafortune@gmail.com.

• List of links to postcard sources
• Postcards designed by the niece of one of our dedicated GOTV volunteers (thanks for the sharing the link, Amelia!)
• Network NoVA's Virginia-specific postcards

Already completed some postcards? Hang onto them for now - Matt will be in touch about collecting them to mail on the dates the campaigns request.

Need a little inspiration? Ward 6 Dems Secretary Joel Sarfati shared this picture of his daughter and granddaughters writing postcards to voters, which is a great activity to do with your kids to teach them about civic engagement.

Mark your calendars: On Tuesday, August 18, starting at 8:00 p.m., the Ward 6 Dems will be hosting a virtual watch party on the second night of the Democratic National Convention. This will be a first for us, so we're still figuring out exactly how it's going to work. Relatedly, we need a few tech-savvy volunteers to help us with that. Is that you? Email Ethan Van Ness, who is coordinating the event, at ethan.vanness@gmail.com to help us make it happen.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was recently quoted as being open to supporting S. 631, the Senate version of the Washington DC Admission Act, but she needs to hear from DC residents that we support statehood. Landing even ONE Republican supporter would be a HUGE step in securing our full rights of citizenship. 

DC Vote is organizing a letter-writing campaign to demonstrate to Senator Murkowski that the 700,000+ residents of DC are serious: We want statehood, and we want it now.

What do you need to do?

1. Hand-write or type a letter to Senator Murkowski saying you are for DC Statehood.
2. Mail to DC Vote: 1111 14th Street NW, #1000, Washington, DC 20005. Or email your letter as a PDF to barbara@dcvote.org.
3. Encourage your friends and neighbors to participate.

Talking points you can use, from Neighbors United for DC Statehood.

Formatting and content tips for writing to a Senator from the American Library Association. 

The DC Board of Elections has announced that they will automatically mail ballots to all registered DC voters this fall. This is an important step, particularly given all the problems many voters experienced during our June 2 primary. 

However, you still need to make sure your mail ballot finds you. That means that you need to check to make sure you're registered and that your address with the BOE is correct.

1. Check your registration status online at https://www.dcboe.org/Voters/Register-To-Vote/Check-Voter-Registration-Status. 
2. Are you registered but need to update your address? The best way to do that is to download, complete, and mail back the Voter Registration Application. 
3. Are you not registered at all? Same thing: download, complete, and mail back the Voter Registration Application. 

The application is postage pre-paid (as the ballots will also be this fall), so all you have to do is find a way to print it and then drop it in the mail when it's complete. Don't delay! Your vote is your voice - make sure YOUR voice is heard. 

It take about 5-10 minutes to complete your 2020 Census questionnaire online. Completing the questionnaire online means that Census enumerators - many of whom are our neighbors, doing temporary work - do not have to visit your house to interview you, which keeps us all safe. Donald Trump is trying to dramatically shorten the time frame for the door-to-door visits by Census enumerators, so it's particularly important that will all complete our questionnaires online ASAP at https://my2020census.gov. 

Why does the Census matter?

1. The federal government distributes over $6 billion annually to the District to support vital programs based on census data.
2. Census data is used to update Ward and ANC boundaries to reflect population growth and movement across the District.
3. District agencies rely on accurate census data for budgeting, planning, and policy decision-making across the city.
4. Residents use the census to support community initiatives involving legislation, quality-of-life, and consumer advocacy.
5. Businesses use census data to decide where to build offices and stores, creating jobs in our community.

An undercount would have serious consequences for our city, denying us federal funds to which we are entitled that support everything from programs for children to infrastructure improvements. 

Tomorrow night, Tuesday, July 21, at 7:00 p.m., our Ward 6 Dems GOTV leads, Andria Thomas and Matt LaFortune will share the latest election news and distribute addresses to everyone who has blank postcards. We've also invited representatives from the Luria campaign to join the call and train volunteers to phone bank in support of her campaign. 

The Ward 6 Dems have already distributed 200 addresses in support of Rep. Abigail Spanberger's re-election campaign, which means it's time to get our next batch going, this time for Rep. Elaine Luria. Both women were elected in Virginia in 2018 and were part of the blue wave that awarded control of the House of Representatives to the Democrats, and we want to help them hold their seats this fall.

Details and RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/dcdemsward6/event/288117/ . 

• List of links to postcard sources
• Postcards designed by the niece of one of our dedicated GOTV volunteers (thanks for the sharing the link, Amelia!)
• Network NoVA's Virginia-specific postcards

Already completed some postcards? Hang onto them for now - we'll collect them to send on the dates the campaigns request, closer to November.

On Tuesday, June 23, the Ward 6 Dems hosted a virtual salon with Martha's Table CEO Kim Ford.

Martha's Table uses a community-led strategy to serve residents in Southeast, DC, offering a deep set of services within a clearly defined area to ensure better community alignment. Their programs include education, family engagement, and health & wellness, with a focus on food and nutrition.

Due to the pandemic, Martha’s Table has ramped up to serve many more families in need:

• McKenna’s Wagon went from serving 125 to 200 people per day.
• Martha's Table Markets, at the organization's Northwest and Southeast locations, are distributing more than 8,000 bags of groceries for neighbors and families every week.
• The 137 families served by Early Childhood Education have been bolstered with over $1.2 million in direct cash assistance and, among other supports, virtual check-ins with Family Engagement Specialists.
• They are distributing more than 100,000 pounds of food per week at 20 sites across DC.

For those who missed it, you can view the video recording of the event here.

Please consider helping continue the great work that Martha’s Table is doing. The Ward 6 Dems has a goal of raising at least $2500 in donations - join us by donating to Martha’s Table today!

As we wrote about in our last newsletter, Friday, June 26, 2020, was an historic day for DC statehood. H.R. 51, the Washington DC Admission Act, passed the House of Representatives 232-180 in a floor vote.

Shortly thereafter, the Ward 6 Dems hosted a virtual salon with Bo Shuff, executive director of DC Vote, where he reminded us that for DC to become a state, the bill must also pass the Senate.

According to Shuff, achieving statehood “is all about relationships” we can leverage to pressure senators to vote for DC statehood. If you are planning to make donations to support out-of-state candidates for the House or the Senate this fall, Shuff suggested that you first find out if they support DC statehood. As Shuff said, “Don’t support anyone who doesn’t support statehood.” Or, as the DC Democratic State Committee has put it, "No Donation Without Representation." 

You can get more info about DC Vote and sign up for their updates at: www.dcvote.org.

Another good way to use your time while staying at home and physical distancing is to complete your 2020 Census questionnaire. 

Why does the Census matter?

1. The federal government distributes over $6 billion annually to the District to support vital programs based on census data.
2. Census data is used to update Ward and ANC boundaries to reflect population growth and movement across the District.
3. District agencies rely on accurate census data for budgeting, planning, and policy decision-making across the city.
4. Residents use the census to support community initiatives involving legislation, quality-of-life, and consumer advocacy.
5. Businesses use census data to decide where to build offices and stores, creating jobs in our community.

An undercount would have serious consequences for our city, denying us federal funds to which we are entitled that support everything from programs for children to infrastructure improvements. 

It take about 5-10 minutes to complete your 2020 Census questionnaire online. Completing the questionnaire online means that Census enumerators - many of whom are our neighbors, doing temporary work - do not have to visit your house to interview you, which keeps us all safe. Complete your questionnaire today at https://my2020census.gov. 

At the Ward 6 Dems 2020 election voter outreach kick-off meeting on Tuesday, June 30, Matt LaFortune, our GOTV lead, reviewed our strategy. At least for the time being, it's going to be entirely virtual, focusing on efforts like postcard writing, phone banking, and text banking.

Ward 6 Dems are already writing postcards to get out the vote for Virginia Dems Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Rep. Elaine Luria, freshmen House members whose campaigns we supported in 2018. We're still in the process of choosing the Senate races we'll be supporting this fall. (Because of the pandemic, not all states have had their primaries yet.)

Our next GOTV session will be in mid-July and will include a brief training on how to text bank as well as an update on our postcards to voters campaign.

Learn more about how you can get involved and check out our calendar of events, which includes volunteer opportunities with allied organizations like the Arlington Democrats and Indivisible Waterfront.

Want to learn more about the power of postcards? Check out this great video from Postcards4Va.com.

Are you ready to start writing some postcards yourself? Since everything is virtual right now, you will have to buy your own postcards. You can get them here or here. Matt has already downloaded an address bundle from Postcards4VA.com, so you can email him to request some of those, or you can set up your own account with the site and download your own bundle.