Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Election Day! Live updates from HD90


Fairness Fund Organizer Andrea Jansa will be sending live updates from house district 90 throughout the day. Please stay tuned for the latest information.

12 p.m. update
Matt and I were sent out this morning to Batavia, Iowa, in Jefferson County, about 10 miles west of Fairfield. We had door hangers and a list of 41 doors to knock on.

We stopped by the Batavia Community Center to introduce ourselves to our poll watcher before we headed out to the neighborhood.

As we were finishing up, we stopped back at the polls where 41 votes had come in so far today. For a town of fewer than 500 people, that's not too bad for the first 5 hours of election day. Especially when so many absentee ballots are already in the bank!

2:30 p.m. update

Update from Brad Clark, Fairness Fund Treasurer
I'm in Fairfield today to help get out the vote for our endorsed candidate, Curt Hanson. I've been knocking doors with Fairness Fund organizer Craig at the Maharishi School, encouraging folks to get out and vote.

After a quick lunch, I thought I'd send a short update before getting back at it this afternoon. We have another round of doorknocking before meditation begins at the school at 5:00 pm.

From what I'm hearing, there has been a steady stream of voters throughout the day. Speaker of the House Pat Murphy called this morning to thank the Fairness Fund and all those who've contributed to our efforts in HD90. The morale on the ground is good and we're hoping for a victory celebration this evening!

4:30 p.m. update from Andrea
Matt and I have been canvassing Utopia Park near the Maharishi University of Management for the past few hours. Utopia Park is basically some student housing and labeled by the entrance sign as "The Homes By the Domes."

What a friendly neighborhood! Everyone is so nice...even after we've accidentally knocked on their door twice after their absentee ballot has already been picked up. This neighborhood is generally very supportive of Curt, so every chance we get to make sure they've made it to the polls is well worth it in our book.

Having technology right at our finger-tips out in the field has been a largely valuable tool. After receiving word from our office in Des Moines about a potential supporter who contacted them, we were able to get that information right over to the Democratic Headquarters in Fairfield. Every vote counts!

7:00 PM Update


We just spoke with Andrea and Brad who are on the ground in HD90. Both are in the middle of an intense last minute push to get voters to the polls before they close at 9:00. Turnout appears to be high by special election standards and our organizers are making sure every last supporter gets to the polls. All indicators point to a tight race. Fingers crossed that Hanson can pull out a victory!