The political tsunami unleashed by Virginia and New Jersey voters on Washington’s ruling elites this past week has them mouthing ludicrous excuses and reaching wrong conclusions.
Here is something those elitists do not grasp: there’s no stopping the power of grassroots activism.
Virginia’s Convention of States volunteers demonstrated that and nowhere more convincingly than in House of Delegates District 85 (Virginia Beach).
The race featured an incumbent challenged by a novice candidate, who happened to be a Convention of States leader, former COS District Captain Karen Greenhalgh.
Our volunteers went to work. They knocked on doors. They made phone calls—more than 1200—to likeminded citizens who need prompting to get to the polls. Known as “low propensity voters,” they often sit out state elections even if they more regularly vote in higher-profile national races.
It paid off! Karen won her seat by a mere 147 votes, out of more than 28,000 cast. Her margin of victory was just one-half of one percent. A recount is likely, but she’s the winner for now and likely to remain so.
While we cannot know our effect on each person contacted, this much we can say: if just one-in-ten contacts we made resulted in a vote for Karen, our efforts alone put her over the top.
In two out of three other districts that COS Action volunteers similarly campaigned, the pro-COS candidate won. COS Virginia’s grassroots engagement has demonstrated it can be decisive in tight races.
Click here to learn more about our efforts in Virginia. To join the team in your state, sign the petition below!
