Voter Outreach

Braving the bitter cold to talk to constituents at the St. Pats 4 All parade in Sunnyside.

As both a lawyer and an educator, I enjoy the opportunity to educate folks about their voting rights and responsibilities. It’s an honor for me to have people take a moment out of their busy lives to share their thoughts and concerns. I try to personally meet and greet as many Municipal District 2 voters as I can each day, but it’s impossible to speak with every single registered voter in time before the Primary in June. So how can a political candidate reach as many constituents as possible in a short period of time?

The bulk of campaign fundraising undoubtedly goes to canvassing and voter outreach. During the petitioning period, we must get signatures from voters registered to our party in order to get on the ballot. Judicial candidates need a few thousand signatures to be “challenge proof”. I have quite a bit more to say about this process later. 😳

So how do we know where to find registered voters? Simple. Voter registration information is publicly available. There is a cottage industry of making this information more accessible and targeted for candidates’ needs. This is very expensive though, and cost-prohibitive to low budget grassroots campaigns like mine. All of my databases have been gifted to me by district leaders, politicians, and other candidates who know me personally and believe I am the best candidate for this race.

There are lists publicly available that contain your full name, address, phone numbers, emails, date of birth, ethnicity, occupation, and how many times you’ve voted. Candidates mostly use these lists for walk sheets so they can go door to door. Some candidates do phone banking, where they have a group of volunteers or paid staff to go down the list to call. Others outsource this to companies who do those annoying robo calls, texts, and spam emails.

What I have found to be most effective in reaching the greatest amount of voters with the least amount of cost is sending out emails. I do this personally, in small batches, and I believe I am the only judicial candidate doing this for the 2025 race. This is something that Glenda Hernandez and I did last year and it was very effective. She actually got on the bench and I received over 23k votes, defeating one of the machine candidates.

I really enjoy getting replies to these emails. Most are positive and delightful, but even the nasty ones let me know that I am reaching the inboxes. I decided to write this post to explain how vital voter outreach is to ensure democracy of a fair and free election, and to educate folks on how candidates get your contact information. Some people have expressed concern about their privacy rights, and I get this. I am also on these voter lists, along with my family. As a matter of fact, Mamdani’s team came to my home last week. Out of all the candidates running for various positions, I am surprised that only one has reached out so far (besides, of course, my friends who are running).

I don’t like being stopped on the street when I’m trying to get somewhere. I don’t like random knocks on my door. I certainly detest robo calls and texts. Unsolicited mail and email bother me the least. I think this is true for most folks. I don’t have money for mailers. Emails are free. So apologies to anyone who is annoyed by my voter outreach methods. I don’t want to intrude upon your daily lives, but it’s the only way to let you know that I am running for judge.

I don’t have the Democratic Party machine churning out my messaging. I don’t have multiple non-profits campaigning for me (that would be a violation of 501(c)3 laws, if anyone still cares about ethics). I have myself and my supporters, and if you don’t want to be contacted a second time you only have to say so and you will be taken off our list.

It is not easy to run for office, especially when you are not part of “the club” of power and political corruption. I feel strongly that it is my civic duty to run. The People deserve a meaningful choice in who will represent them on the bench.