Women's group launches campaign to spur female turnout for Democrats
September 2, 2020
Supermajority, a women’s group founded by progressive leaders, is launching a multimillion-dollar effort this fall to activate female voters, a critical constituency for Democrats as they aim to retake the White House.
The group is rolling out its “What Women Want 2020” agenda on Wednesday, focused on tying a policy platform to racial justice and gender equity. That messaging push will be backed up by a $10 million effort, including digital ad buys, which will focus on turning out young women and women of color in three key swing states: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
“We know women have an outsized role in this election, [and] we’re harnessing our electoral power,” said Juanita Tolliver, political director of Supermajority. “That’s why we’re making this heavy investment in not only mobilizing but organizing and educating women.”
The group’s ad rollout coincides with a national organizing campaign, “Supercharge: Women All In,” launching on Sept. 26 with a virtual event featuring actress Eva Longoria, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former HUD Secretary Julian Castro. The effort will use text messages, phone-banking and letter-writing to mobilize women of color in battleground states.
Supermajority was founded in April 2019 by several high-profile progressive leaders, including Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood; Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Global Network; and Ai-jen Poo, executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. The group’s goal was to train and mobilize 2 million women ahead of the 2020 election.
Women voters, particularly women of color, are the backbone of Joe Biden’s coalition. The former vice president regularly leads Donald Trump by double-digits among female voters, creating a large gender gap that has widened over the summer. Trump’s election in 2016 spurred large numbers of women to protest, starting with the 2017 Women’s March the day after Trump's inauguration, run for office and vote for Democrats in subsequent elections leading to historic gains for female candidates in the 2018 midterms.
Tolliver said Biden’s selection of Kamala Harris as his running mate, a historic pick as the first woman of Black or South Asian heritage on a national party ticket, has “sent enthusiasm through the roof” among Supermajority's constituencies.
Supermajority’s “intersectional messaging frame,” which it will use to communicate with women of color, was shaped by national surveys conducted with 20,000 registered female voters from June 25-Aug. 2, according to a memo shared with POLITICO. Health care and the economy are top priorities for women across racial groups.
Source: https://www.politico.com/
