Canvassers including Feldman (below) at Dixwell HQ kick-off.
Laura Glesby Photos
Abby Feldman is about to move to Philadelphia for October to knock on doors for Joe Biden — and she’s a little nervous about uprooting her life for a month.
But if there was ever an election to temporarily pull up stakes for, this upcoming presidential race is it, she said. “The time is now.”
Feldman, a New Haven Rising community organizer who’s no stranger to canvassing, will have the support of a team of fellow UNITE HERE canvassers from New Haven who have been dispatched to campaign for Biden in Florida, Nevada, Arizona, and Pennsylvania — all swing states in the Nov. 3 election. The canvassers will be living in separate accommodations and won’t be sharing vehicles, to be safe during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a rally that merged grassroots activism with party-based political organizing, Feldman and others from UNITE HERE unions (which represent Yale University workers) and local Democratic Party leaders Saturday kicked off a final push of canvassing, phone-banking, and text-banking for Democratic candidates running for offices from the State Senate to the presidency. Ten canvassers present Saturday plan to work in other states this month.
Around a hundred people showed up to the event, which took place outside the Democratic Party’s new New Haven headquarters in Dixwell Plaza.
They gathered directly across from the forthcoming Q House community center on Dixwell Avenue.
“Election Day is the entire month of October,” said Democratic Town Committee Chair Vin Mauro (pictured). He urged the crowd to talk to their friends, family, and neighbors to ensure not only that they are planning to vote, but that they have plans to either vote safely in person or navigate the unusual absentee ballot process this season.
City Clerk Mike Smart said he has received 11,000 absentee ballot applications. Ballots started to get mailed out on Friday. Smart noted that drop boxes for absentee ballots will be available outside the Hall of Records at 200 Orange St. as an alternative to in-person voting or voting by mail.
Smart also advertised part-time job opportunities to assist with the election, noting that his staff is working around the clock.
Speakers stressed the high stakes of the presidential election.
“It’s about education being on the ballot,” said Mayor Justin Elicker. “It’s about science being on the ballot. It’s about the environment being on the ballot. It’s about healthcare being on the ballot.”
New Haven Rising organizer Scott Marks zoomed in on the impact of state and national policy on New Haven neighborhoods.
“The life expectancy in Newhallville — that’s my hood, that’s where I grew up — is 11 years lower than the life expectancy in East Rock or Westville. The same racism leaves unemployment higher in our neighborhoods of need, the Black and Brown neighborhoods,” he said. “Folks have been denied the quality of life or access to education. If there was ever a time to step up and talk about a different America, that time is right now.”
Marks noted that the unions have sent people door to door for months. “No one has gotten sick,” he said.
He gave a quick demonstration of safe canvassing techniques in the time of Covid in a role-playing moment with Edgewood Alder Evette Hamilton.
“I want to talk to you about voting, but I can’t talk to you if you’re not wearing a mask,” he explained to Hamilton from six feet away.
If the resident refuses to wear a mask, he added to the rally’s crowd, canvassers should politely walk away.
Looney, Winfield, and Cabrera.
The politicians and organizers also rallied for four party-backed candidates for state legislature seats, all of whom are running in contested elections.
State Senate President Martin Looney, who is running to represent the 11th district against Republican candidate Jameson White and independent candidate Alex Taubes, highlighted legislative victories under his 27-year tenure — including, more recently, the raise to a $15 Connecticut minimum wage.
On a national level, he noted President Trump’s suggestion that he may not peacefully transfer power should Joe Biden win the election this November. “The only way to combat that is to work to get as decisive a victory as we can,” he said.
State Rep. Al Paolillo, who’s running against Republican candidate Erin Reilly to continue representing the 97th state House district, stressed that political victories are impossible without grassroots organizing. “We do better in this city” because of organizations like New Haven Rising, he said.
State Sen. Gary Winfield running for reelection to the 10th District seat against Republican candidate Carlos Alvarado and independent candidate Jason Bartlett. He said is looking to accomplish what others have deemed “impossible.” He cited the police accountability bill he worked to pass in the state legislature this past summer as something that was once dismissed as unachievable.
“I’ve encountered people who are like, ‘It doesn’t matter,’” Winfield told the Independent of voting.
“There’s some validity to what they actually feel,” he said, noting the voter suppression across the country that has already begun to loom over the November elections. But “there’s a reason they’re trying to take your vote. Don’t give away that power.”
Democrat Jorge Cabrera, who is running to represent the 17th State Senate district against incumbent Republican incumbent George Logan, reminded the crowd that he lost his last election to Logan by just 77 votes. He recalled feeling horrified as Logan voted against measures such as the $15 minimum wage and paid family leave. This past summer, Logan spoke movingly at a Black Lives Matter rally, then led an effort against the police accountability bill that Winfield championed, Cabrera said.
“You can’t show me one face in the community and then another one in the Capitol,” he said.
Turning to a national legislative election, Local 34 President Laurie Kennington advocated for U.S. Rep Rosa DeLauro, a longtime union ally “who is one of the toughest fighters in Washington,” Kennington said. DeLauro is running for re-election against Republican Margaret Streicker and Green Party candidate Justin Paglino.
And Richard Furlow, the majority leader on the Board of Alders representing Westville and Amity, gathered his local legislative colleagues together as he rallied the crowd. “We’ve gotta get more funding into New Haven,” he said — partly by voting for candidates who will bring money to New Haven, and partly by pressuring Yale into employing more residents and paying higher taxes to the city.
Downtown/Yale Alder Eli Sabin echoed these words. “I’m here to talk about this number,” he said, pointing to the $157,722,490 that New Haven Rising argues Yale should be paying in taxes to New Haven.
Yale University announced a nearly $1 billion increase in its endowment last week, Sabin noted. “Meanwhile, our communities are struggling with a public health crisis and putting food on the table.”
After the rally, attendees dispersed to gather lawn signs and begin canvassing in New Haven for Winfield and Cabrera.
Joy Rice, who recently founded a day care center called Ross Hill Learning Academy, said she showed up because “we need change.”
As a small business owner, she said, she has felt the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic that she believes Donald Trump has mishandled. Parents are scared to send their kids to day care, fearing the virus, she said, and the recession hasn’t helped.
“We’re small businesses that sometimes suffer. We are the one who are the core of our community,” she said.
Shannel Evans’ sweatshirt: “Your voice matters.”
Law Student Frankie Hedgebeth, who heard about the event through New Haven Rising and came with two friends, joked that “we were excited about this event because we could leave the house.” It felt good to do something in person that could help towards the election, he added.
Newhallville activist Addie Kimbrough (pictured) worked with Democratic Registrar Shannel Evans at a voter registration table.
“Our Black ancestors — they died for this,” she said. “They gave us the right to vote.”