So you want to volunteer for down-ballot races…

12 min readSep 25, 2020

Every Friday from now until polls close, we’ll post specific opportunities to volunteer in a couple states you might be interested in.

Help support other RFS candidates in their November 3 elections! Find all remote volunteer opportunities on the RFS Candidate Map and select “Volunteer Now.” Over 100 candidates are looking for remote volunteers.

With one weekend left until Election Day, our focus for your volunteer time and effort is on states important for down-ballot elections and the electoral college: Ohio and Kansas. Like we’ve said before, where we have the opportunity to get more Democrats excited about voting for local candidates, we can also make sure to get more votes in for federal office/top of the ballot races.

POSTED THURSDAY, OCT 29: OH & KS

Ohio

Democrats need 8 seats to the flip the state senate and 12 seats to flip the state house — doing so would undo decades of voter suppression laws and particularly harsh anti-abortion laws.

Laurel Johnson, OH House, District 3, is running against a Republican incumbent. Sign up here to call voters.
Cate Berger, OH House, District 41, is running to flip a Dayton seat from red to blue. Sign up here to call and text voters.
Dara Adkison, OH House, District 57, is running against a Republican incumbent. Sign up here to call voters.
Rachael Morocco, OH House, District 67, is a pediatrician running against a Republican incumbent. Sign up here to call and text voters.
Mark Fogel, OH Senate, District 6, is running to flip a seat from red to blue in Dayton. This seat has been held by a Republican since 1985 (when Mark was 5 years old)! Sign up here to call voters.

Kansas

We need to win just one seat in the Kansas House or 3 seats in the Kansas Senate to break the Republican Supermajority in the Kansas Legislature. Doing so would allow the Democratic Governor Laura Kelly to veto Republican gerrymandered redistricting plans — gerrymanders they have promised to do on recently released video.

Cole Fine, KS House, District 15, is challenging an incumbent Republican, who won in 2018 by only 236 votes! Send an email to help with calling and texting voters.
Brandon Woodard, KS House, District 30, ran and won in 2018 as a RFS candidate and is running for his first re-election — and it’s a tough race! Sign up here to call voters.
Lindsey Constance, KS Senate, District 10, is challenging an incumbent Republican who used to be a TV meteorologist for 40 years. He is an “official climate change skeptic” and does not believe in evolution. Lindsey is a STEM teacher and co-founder of Climate Action KC. Sign up here to call voters.
Rachel Willis, KS Senate, District 20, is running to flip a seat from red to blue. Send an email to call and text voters.

POSTED FRIDAY, OCT 23: MN & NY

Minnesota

Democrats took control of the MN state house in 2018 — now we need to flip the state senate to ensure we are in the driver’s seat when redistricting begins.

Mindy Kimmel, MN House, District 16B, is running against a 12-year incumbent Republican to represent her rural district with infrastructure, broadband internet, and healthcare for farmers. Sign up here to call voters.
Kelsey Waits, MN House, District 54B, is running to be the first woman elected to this seat, and the first Democrat since 1984 (before she was born). Sign up here to call and text voters.
Esther Agbaje, MN House, District 59B, is running to expand the representation of young people in color. Sign up here to send text and make phone calls.
Sara Flick, MN Senate, District 25, is bringing her experience in economic development to flip a key seat from red to blue. Sign up here to call voters.
Justin Stofferahn, MN Senate, District 38, is a self declared policy nerd running against a Republican incumbent in the northeast Twin Cities metro area. Sign up here to call and text voters.

New York

After Democrats took control of the state senate in 2018 for the first time in 40 years, we are now trying to win a supermajority to give Democrats ultimate leverage.

Steven Polgar, NY Assembly, District 3, is taking his experience in public service to the ballot and running against a Republican incumbent. Sign up here to call voters.
Jen Lunsford, NY Assembly, District 135, is a working mom who wants to represent working parents in Albany running against an incumbent Republican. Sign up here here to call and text voters.
Andrew Gounardes, NY Senate, District 22, is a 2018 elected RFS candidate in a tough re-election campaign. Sign up here to call voters on October 25.
Samra Brouk, NY Senate, District 55, is running to flip an open seat from red to blue in Rochester. Sign up here to call voters.
Jeremy Cooney, NY Senate, District 56, is running is running to flip an open seat from red to blue in Rochester. Sign up here to call voters.
Michelle Hinchey, NY Senate, District 64, is running to flip an open seat from red to blue and bring support for working people to her upstate district. Send an email to sign up to call voters.
Karen Best, Yonkers City Court Judge, is running to be the youngest judge on the court and the first Black woman in this position. Send an email to call and text voters.

POSTED FRIDAY, OCT 9: TX, MI, & WI

Texas

Democrats have a chance to win Texas’s 38 electoral votes, a U.S. Senate seat, and most importantly, flip the Texas state house by winning just 9 seats. If we do that, we can win sustainable Democratic power.

Eliz Markowitz, TX House, District 28, challenging an incumbent Republican in Katy. Sign up here to call voters.
Erin Zwiener, TX House, District 45, running for re-election after winning as a 2018 RFS candidate by fewer than 2,700 votes. Sign up here to call and text voters.
James Talarico, TX House, District 52, running for re-election after winning as a 2018 RFS candidate by fewer than 2,500 votes. Sign up here to call voters in English or Spanish.
Lorenzo Sanchez, TX House, District 67, running against a Republican incumbent to be the first LGBTQIA+ Latino elected to the state legislature. Sign up here to call voters.
Lydia Bean, TX House, District 93, challenging an incumbent Republican in Arlington. Sign up here to call and text voters.
Elizabeth Beck, TX District 97, a veteran running against a Republican incumbent in Fort Worth. Sign up here to call voters.
Joanna Cattanach, TX District 108, running for the second time against the Republican incumbent — in 2018, she lost by only 220 votes in a recount. Sign up here to call voters.
Celina Montoya, TX House, District 121, running a second time as a RFS candidate against the Repulican incumbent to be the first Latina to represent the district. Sign up here to call and text voters.
Natli Hurtado, TX House, District 126, challenging the Republican incumbent in Houston. Sign up here to call voters.
Gina Calanni, TX House, District 132, as a RFS candidate in 2018, Gina won this seat from the Republican incumbent in 2018 by 113 votes. Let’s make sure she stays in office! Sign up here to call voters.
John Bucy III, TX House, District 136, ran and won in 2018 as a RFS candidate and is running hard to keep his seat. Sign up here to call voters.
Akilah Bacy, TX House, District 138, running to flip an open seat from red to blue. Sign up here to call voters.
Audrey Spanko, TX Senate, District 1, challenging an incumbent Republican. Sign up here to call voters.
David Chincanchan, Austin City Council, District 2, taking his experience as the Hispanic Caucus’ representative on the Executive Committee of the Texas Democratic Party to City Hall. Send an email to the campaign to call voters, text voters, and send postcards.
Pooja Sethi, Austin City Council, District 10, would be the first South Asian city councilperson. Sign up here to call and text voters.
Wesley Lawrence, El Paso City Council, District 4, would be the first LGBTQIA+ candidate elected to this office. Sign up here to call voters and send postcards.
Alicia McClung, Dallas ISD Board of Trustees, District 8, will be the first career educator elected to the board. Sign up here to call and text voters.
Natalia Cornelio, Harris County Judge, 351st District Court, would be the only Latina on the court in the largest county in Texas that has 45% Latinx population. Sign up here to call voters and send postcards.

Michigan

Democrats need to flip 4 seats in the state house and win the state’s 16 electoral votes — if we flip the chamber, we can protect the integrity of Michigan’s independent redistricting process in 2021.

Christopher Slat, MI House, District 17, challenging an incumbent Republican in Monroe. Sign up here to call voters.
Laurie Pohutsky, MI House, District 19, running for re-election as a RFS candidate — in 2018 she won by only 224 votes. Sign up here to call voters.
Ranjeev Puri, MI House, District 21, running for an open seat. Sign up here to call voters and send postcards.
Mari Manoogian, MI House, District 40, elected in 2018 as a RFS candidate, Mari is running for her first re-election. Sign up here to call voters.
Abigail Wheeler, MI House, District 66, a firefighter/EMT and college student challenging a Reblican incumbent. Sign up here to call voters, text voters, and send postcards.
Chokwe Pitchford, MI House, District 79, challenging an incumbent Republican in Benton Harbor. Sign up here to call voters.
Mai Xiong, Macomb County Commission, District 2, running to be the first Hmong American elected in Michigan and the first Asian American elected to the board. Sign up here to call and text voters.
Amani Johnson, a 2018 RFS alum who is running this year for Southfield School Board, At Large. Sign up here to call voters.

Wisconsin

Democrats need 3 seats to flip the state senate and 14 to flip the state house — we also need to prevent the GOP from winning supermajorities that would allow them to override vetoes by Democratic governor Tony Evers.

Kristina Shelton, WI House, District 90, running to take her activism from Black Lives United and Women’s March to the State house. Sign up here to call voters and send postcards.
Amanda L. White Eagle, WI House, District 92, running to be the first Indigenous woman to the WI state legislature and challenging a Republican incumbent. Sign up here to call and text voters.

POSTED FRIDAY, OCT 2: FL & GA

Florida

Democrats only need to flip 4 seats in the state senate and 14 in the state house to control the chambers. For the first time in decades, Democrats are contesting every state house race in Florida, which will run up the score and help the entire ticket.

Joshua Hicks, FL House, District 11: challenging a Republican incumbent in Jacksonville. Sign up here to call voters.
Anna Eskamani, FL House, District 47: a RFS 2018 candidate running for re-election in Orlando. Sign up here to call voters.
Jessica Harrington, FL House, District 64: chance to flip an open Tampa seat from red to blue. Sign up here to call voters.
Cindy Polo, FL House, District 103: a RFS 2018 candidate running for re-election in the Miami area . Sign up here to call voters.
Franccesca Cesti-Brown, FL House, District 115: challenging a Republican incumbent in Miami. Sign up here to call voters.
Nicole Hamm, Jacksonville City Council, District 4: running to to have a Democratic majority on the council in over a decade. Sign up here to call voters, text voters, or send postcards.
Luisa Santos, Miami-Dade County School Board, District 9: running to be the first Latina elected to this seat. Sign up here to call voters.
Caprice Johnson Edmond, Pinellas County School Board, Seat 7: running as an experienced educator and parent to lead the 8th largest school board in Florida. Sign up here to call or text voters.
Dan Helm, Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections: help elect a lawyer experienced in voter protection to oversee elections in Tampa-St. Pete. Sign up here to call or text voters.

Georgia

Along with two U.S. Senate seats up for grabs, Democrats need 8 wins to flip the state senate and 16 to flip the state house — doing so would help undo intense voter suppression laws.

Jasmine Clark, GA House, District 108: help re-elect this 2018 RFS alum and scientist to represent the Atlanta suburbs. Sign up here to make calls with the campaign or here to help make calls with Sister District volunteers.
Aaron “Adot” Whitely, Chatham County Commission, District 6: running to bridge the generations and bridge the community and government. Send an email to help make phone calls.

POSTED FRIDAY, SEPT. 25: PA & NC

Pennsylvania

We have the opportunity to break Republican majorities in the Pennsylvania state legislature this fall by flipping 9 House seats and 4 Senate seats.

Redistricting, rights for working people during the COVID-19 pandemic, natural resource use, and reproductive rights legislation are on the line.

Kolbe Cole, PA House, District 10: challenging a Republican incumbent and would be the first woman and the first African-American elected to the seat. Sign up here to call or text voters.
Harold Hayes, PA House, District 18: challenging a Republican incumbent. Sign up here to call voters.
Sara Innamorato, PA House, District 21: won as a RFS candidate in 2018 and is running for re-election. Sign up here to text unengaged voters and convince them their vote matters.
Lissa Geiger Shulman, PA House, District 30: challenging a Republican incumbent. Email her team to call, text, and/or send postcards.
Jessica Benham, PA House, District 36: would be the first out LGBTQIA+ member of the state house and one of the few autistic elected officials in the country. Sign up here to call and/or send postcards to voters.
John Padora, PA House, District 37: challenging a Republican incumbent. Sign up here to call text, and/or send postcards.
Brittney Rodas, PA House, District 105: challenging a Republican incumbent. Sign up here to call voters.
Lindsay Drew, PA House, District 106: challenging a Republican incumbent. Sign up here to call voters.
Joanna Bryn Smith, PA House, District 120: challenging a Republican incumbent. Sign up here to call voters.
Napoleon Nelson, PA House, District 154: running to be the first African-American elected to this seat. Sign up here to call and/or send postcards.
Jennifer O’Mara, PA House, District 165: won as a RFS candidate in 2018 and is running for re-election. Sign up here to call or text voters.
Rick Krajewski, PA House, District 188: running unopposed and helping others in Philly turn out the vote. Sign up here to call voters.
Michelle Siegel, PA Senate, District 27: challenging a Republican incumbent and champion of rural voters. Sign up here to call voters.

North Carolina

North Carolina Democrats are fighting to flip a U.S. Senate seat, 5 seats in the state senate and 6 seats in the state house. The NC GOP has aggressively gerrymandered their congressional map — they won 77% of the state’s congressional seats with just 50% of the vote

Emily Bunch Nicholson, NC House, District 1: challenging a Republican incumbent. Sign up here to call voters.
Brian Farkas, NC House, District 9: challenging a Republican incumbent. Sign up here to call voters.
Sydney Batch, NC House, District 37: won as a RFS candidate in 2018 and is running for re-election. Sign up here to call voters.
Aimy Steele, NC House, District 82: challenging a Republican incumbent and running to be the first Black elected legislator in her county. Sign up here to call voters.
Terry Brown Jr., NC House, District 92: running for an open seat, where he would be the youngest African American man elected in the county. Sign up here to call and/or text voters.
Wesley Harris, NC House, District 105: won as a RFS candidate in 2018 and is running for re-election. Sign up here to call voters.
Sarah Crawford, NC Senate, District 18: running to flip an open seat from red to blue. Sign up here to call voters.
DeAndrea Salvador, NC Senate, District 39: running to flip an open seat from red to blue. Sign up here to call voters.
Greg Rouse, North Carolina District Court Judge, 8th Judicial District: if elected, this prosecutor will be the only African American male to sit on the bench in this district. Sign up here and let the team know if you want to call and/or text voters.
Kristen Powers, Alamance County Board of Commissioners: would be the youngest commissioner and the first openly LGBTQIA+ member. Sign up here to call voters.
Dorian Palmer, Burke County Board of Commissioners: would be the only African-American and only Democrat on the board, and the youngest! Sign up here and indicate if you want to call and/or text voters.

Looking to get involved in your home state? Head to www.runforsomething.net/volunteer-for-something to get involved.