Welcome to the September issue of the States & Stats Newsletter, highlighting the work of our award-winning political research team.
Our research team works on projects like state legislative data and district targeting, understanding what motivates voters and volunteers downballot, and collecting, analyzing, and reporting on state-level data and trends. This research powers all of Sister District’s political strategy and programs.
In this month’s States & Stats:
- Data Deep Dive – Presenting Sister District’s Downballot Voter Toolkit
- Special Announcements – Join Sister District for a virtual event about the importance of voting downballot on Sep 23 and for a virtual Fireside Chat with author David Daley on Oct 15
I hope this newsletter is interesting and informative. And I welcome your feedback – let me know if there are particular topics or issues you’d like us to cover.
📊 Deep Dive
Last week, Sister District hosted a virtual downballot strategy briefing, where we unveiled our brand-new Downballot Voter Toolkit to an audience of hundreds of donors, volunteers, partners, researchers and lawmakers. The toolkit provides free resources, including static and video ads available for download, to combat roll-off and encourage voters to vote all the way down the ballot.
For those who missed the briefing, here’s a quick overview of the toolkit contents:
Research Overview & Key Barriers:
- Based on the survey research we conducted in partnership with Data for Progress, we share key findings about the roots of roll-off behavior: who roll-off voters are, and the main attitudes about states and state-level voting that this group of voters commonly holds.
- This work helped us identify the biggest barriers for roll-off voters, such as lack of confidence and low agency — a needed step in developing effective messaging.
Messaging Guidance:
- We provide insights we learned from our own testing and general principles from prior messaging research to help craft messages that resonate with voters.
Top Performing Messages:
- Reproductive Freedom: One of our strongest messages underlines the authority that state legislators have over the crucial issue of abortion. Many voters care deeply about this issue, but do not realize that state legislators have the most power to determine reproductive freedom.
- Our Votes Can Make the Difference: This message drives home the idea that races at this level of the ballot can be extremely close. Sometimes fewer than 100 votes can flip seats and even entire chambers. In state legislative races, every vote absolutely matters. This message helps voters over the hurdle of feeling like their vote for state legislature doesn’t matter (low agency).
The Ads:
- The video ad, “Determination,” motivates and empowers voters to vote all the way down the ballot.
- Six static ads (images) are also available for use. All ads were created and tested by our collaborators at A—B Partners.
To access the ads:
- Just complete the download form on the toolkit page, and upon submission you’ll be immediately directed to a folder containing the static ads and video. They are free and available to download!
To watch a recording of the briefing, click here
Do you have any questions about this deep dive? Have an interesting study or report you’d like us to highlight? Hit reply and let us know!
📝 Data Digest
- Read more about our downballot roll-off research in The Grassroots Connector.
- I wrote a guest post for Shannon Watts’ substack on the importance of this year’s state legislative elections and what they mean for the future of abortion policy.
📢 Special Announcements
September 23, 2024 at 8 pm ET – Why States Matter: Voting Downballot in 2024
- Join Sister District, The Downballot and Daily Kos for a virtual event highlighting why voting downballot in 2024 is so critically important.
- Special Guests:
- Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones
- Virginia State Sen. Danica Roem
- Author and historian Heather Cox Richardson
- Moderators: Sister District Co-Founder Gaby Goldstein and The Downballot’s David Nir
October 15, 2024 at 7 pm ET – Fireside Chat: A Conversation with David Daley
- Join Sister District for a conversation with David Daley about his new book Antidemocratic: Inside the Far Right’s 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections.
- The conversation will be moderated by Gaby Goldstein, Co-Founder of Sister District. There will be ample time for audience Q&A.
See you next month!
In solidarity,
Gaby
P.S. Your generosity fuels our work. Donate now to empower us to build progressive change.
