2023 showed us that abortion is the winning strategy in 2024.
This year’s August and November ballot referendums in Ohio showed us small-town organizing works. Rural and small-town voters from different backgrounds, ages, and walks of life united under a common goal – protecting and expanding abortion access in Ohio.
For us, the results in Ohio are no surprise. At RuralOrganizing.org, we know that rural and small-town voters care about reproductive rights and democracy, and in red Ohio counties, many voters crossed party lines in significant numbers to protect abortion access.
The victory in Ohio validates RuralOrganizing.org’s long-standing philosophy: traditional organizing, as in having conversations directly with your neighbors, is the best investment. And two, when abortion is on the ballot, abortion wins.
Rural Organizing was crucial in the passage of this constitutional amendment that enshrines into Ohio law the right for every individual to make their own choices when it comes to reproductive choice. A cornerstone of our approach was the strategic door-to-door campaign and conversations from placing yard signs. Our canvassers and Vocal Locals engaged in meaningful conversations with voters, bringing the conversation about abortion access to people’s doorsteps.
- In three months, we recruited over 1,100 “vocal local” volunteers.
- Our “Vocal Locals” placed over 11,000 yard signs in the state of Ohio.
- Each volunteer placed, on average five pro-abortion signs
- We knocked over 30,000 doors in Athens County and surrounding areas.
A broad and diverse coalition of Ohioans came together to hold anti-abortion politicians accountable for their antidemocratic actions through the Yes on 1 campaign, and RuralOrgaizing.org was the trusted messenger in rural communities when it came to abortion access.
RuralOrganizing.org’s Yes on 1 Campaign
Localized Field Hits Home
With 13 locally hired field organizers, we focused our canvassing efforts on the key county of Athens, Ohio, where we have been organizing in partnership with Indivisible Applachian Ohio for the past few years. Knocking doors in almost every precinct in Athens, we expanded our work into adjacent counties of Hocking, Meigs Morgan, Perry, Washington, and Vinton, where we knocked in select precincts with a high density of small-town voters. With over 30,775 attempts that resulted in 6,848 conversations, our contact rate was nearly 20%, the sixth-highest contact rate of any group in Ohio.
Yard Signs (and a few billboards) Prompted Thousands of Conversations
Our 2023 Ohio field experiment showed that local visibility is the key to building power in rural communities. Recognizing the power of visual communication, the Ohio Sign Squad strategically placed yard signs throughout their communities. We recruited over 1,400 “vocal local” volunteers in three months who placed 11,000 signs across 65 counties. Per our final Sign Squad evaluation, these signs served as a physical representation of the campaign and acted as conversation starters, generating over 40-60K local conversations like this local conversation that ended up on Ohio Reddit. We also connected some of our Sign Squad members to Buckeye State Rural, a regional group known for their billboard campaigns, who helped Alana Yeoman erect these billboards in Darke County (see image below.
“THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR WORK. IT REALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE, ESPECIALLY TO GET THESE IN AREAS THAT MIGHT NOT HAVE HAD ACCESS TO GETTING SIGNS AND PUTTING THEM OUT. THE INFLUENCE OF GETTING SIGNS OUT IN THE RURAL AREAS IS IMMEASURABLE.
— Linda Diamond, Sign Squad Member
Small-Town GOTV Texting
Finally, we ran a small GOTV texting program texting over 25K sympathetic abortion access supporters who had not voted ahead of the November 8th election. We texted into rural counties where we were canvassing or have interest in expanding our canvassing program for 2024. Counties included Athens, Meigs, Jackson, Vinton, Scioto, Morgan, Washington, Mahoning, Columbiana, Trumbull and Ashtabula.
The fight for reproductive freedom continues.
At RuralOrganizing.org, it’s been our life’s work to push the paradigm about abortion in rural America, and as the 2024 elections loom on the horizon, the battle for reproductive rights takes center stage. In a world where autonomy and choice are paramount yet in a country fraught with far-right candidates running on abortion bans, our campaign will serve as a rallying cry, urging small-town activists and organizers to come together and amplify their voices in the upcoming elections. There are millions of rural Democrats in battleground states excited to place yard signs and talk to their neighbors: in 2024, we must empower these local Democrats to win over their neighbors.
Join us for our 2024 political program launch on Thursday, November 30th at 2 PM ET!
Register for the call to learn more about our 2023 Ohio yard sign campaign and how you can leverage yard signs to make a difference in your community in 2024!
