Can Rhode Island Voters Make a Difference in Swing States?

A national campaign is targeting Democrats to help fund voting efforts in key battleground states

Rick Brooks, a volunteer for the Movement Voter Project, speaks during a recent event at the Blue Room in Cranston.
Rick Brooks, a volunteer for the Movement Voter Project, speaks during a recent event at the Blue Room in Cranston.
Ian Donnis/The Public’s Radio
Share
Rick Brooks, a volunteer for the Movement Voter Project, speaks during a recent event at the Blue Room in Cranston.
Rick Brooks, a volunteer for the Movement Voter Project, speaks during a recent event at the Blue Room in Cranston.
Ian Donnis/The Public’s Radio
Can Rhode Island Voters Make a Difference in Swing States?
Copy

A recent get-together of more than 50 people at the Blue Room, a bar and music venue in the Pawtuxet Village section of Cranston, was part of a national campaign called the Movement Voter Project. The idea is to raise money from supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in predictably blue and red states — and funnel it to grassroots groups to mobilize voters in the swing states that will decide the November election.

“The approach in MVP is completely different,” said Rick Brooks, one of the dozen or so volunteers organizing the Movement Voter Project in Rhode Island.

Brooks said the project is a far more targeted approach than old standbys like mailing postcards to out-of-state voters or opening a campaign office in a strip plaza for a few months before an election.

“They’re investing in organizations that have been in existence, that have credibility, have a track record and are going to be there a day after the election, win or lose,” Brooks said.

The groups getting money through the Movement Voter Project focus on issues popular among Democrats like abortion rights, immigrants’ rights and voting rights.

This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.

Barrington businessman points to bridge failures and payroll woes as proof Rhode Island needs a reset, entering the race as an independent
Says coastal regulators violated their own rules when they approved scaled-down scallop farm
What does the livelihood of the New England fishing industry have to do with the war in Iran? It turns out, quite a lot
Though Mayor Brett Smiley said he plans to veto the Providence Rent Stabilization Act, city councilors appear to be one vote short of a veto-proof supermajority. Councilor John Goncalves, who has not taken a public position on the legislation, is seeking to delay the vote
Mayor Roberto DaSilva points to school investments, new housing projects, and a post-bridge recovery as key to easing costs and reshaping the city’s future
Museum curator Melaine Ferdinand-King says the museum will highlight the cultural and historical contributions of Black Rhode Islanders