GOP volunteers from all over Indiana took to the streets on Saturday as part of the National Day of Action, the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) second big ground game event of the year.
Working in conjunction with the Indiana Republican Party (INGOP), Republican events across the Hoosier state brought out friends and neighbors to train and recruit new volunteers building upon a data-driven field operation for November.
“We had a great statewide turnout with 10 trainings and 85 new Republican Leadership Initiative fellows trained, building on the success of last month’s event,” said Michael Joyce, the RNC’s Communications Director in Indiana. “Ongoing events like this are how we build out our ground game for November. We start by training a core of activists, who then have the tools to train others, who in turn train volunteers.”
For all the talk of building a blue wave, Republicans have a major breakwater in place – historic fundraising and major investments in data and field operations. Party officials say they plan to spend upwards of $250 million on ground operations during the 2018 midterm cycle alone.
Republicans currently hold a major fundraising advantage over Democrats, giving them an edge on the ground. For Indiana, that means campaigns armed with the most up-to-date information possible and a volunteer army with thousands of engaged, skilled activists ready to defy history in November.
“We have people on the ground in more than two dozen states — more than we’ve ever had at this point in any cycle in party history,” said Joyce. In Indiana, a majority of the trainings were led by volunteers, building a volunteer army as we ramp up for November. This year alone, we’ve seen a big increase in participation with our intensive Republican Leadership Initiative program.”
To date, the Republican Leadership Initiative (RLI) program has trained more than 250 fellows. Those fellows form the core of neighborhood-based teams that add layers and grow as the cycle progresses. When crunch time arrives this fall, INGOP and RNC will have trained volunteers ready to knock on doors in their own neighborhoods.
“Democrats may think they can ride a blue wave into November, but we’re just getting started,” said Joyce. “Our volunteers are energized and already pounding the pavement, working harder than ever before to defy history in November and retire Sleepin’ Joe Donnelly.”