Churchill County: A Lot Less Red
I've just posted about how the Obama campaign did overall in Nevada.
In summary - we rocked, and turned the state from slightly red to solidly blue.
Our particular focus for the past month has been running the Obama campaign in Churchill County, a very rural county with just the single "city" of Fallon at its heart, and the Fallon Naval Air Station (where the Top Gun training school is now located!) nearby.
The rest of the county is VERY sparsely populated, and very rural. The county population is estimated to be around 27,000 people, and there are currently 12,238 registered voters. This makes Churchill the 8th most populous county in Nevada (out of 17).
Democrats have traditionally done well in Clark County (Las Vegas), and the race has always been close in Washoe County (Reno). But the rest of Nevada has always gone overwhelmingly Republican, and losing big in the rural counties is what dashed Kerry's chances of winning the state in 2004.
The Obama campaign is the first Democratic presidential campaign to ever put any substantial effort into the rural counties, and it seems to have paid off. The goal was never to win the rurals, but to just make them a little less deep red.
We accomplished that.
Here are the results for Churchill County:
Some more interesting data...
The biggest impact that we have had on Churchill County though is impossible to quantify with numbers.
A month ago, there was only a single local volunteer showing up to do the weekend canvassing. The local Democrats were demoralized and disconnected from each other, and they felt overwhelmed and alone in the sea of red around them.
Few would admit publicly to being a Democrat, and particularly not to being an Obama supporter.
One of my favorite stories came while getting gas early Election Day morning. The woman in front of me in line at the Chevron was showing off her "I Voted" sticker to the clerk saying how great it felt to be voting today. The woman turned and noticed my Obama button, and while the clerk was at the far end of the counter running her card she leaned over and whispered to me - "I voted for your guy. I would never say it out loud in this Republican town, but I think he is the best candidate for the job..."
She hadn't whispered softly enough however, and the clerk overheard her.
"I don't care who hears me say it - Obama is the best man for the job and he is the change we need!"
The woman in line was literally floored to discover that she was not alone. The two of them started comparing notes about their support for Obama, and the woman in front of me (a mid-40's woman!) admitted that she had actually lied to her father that morning and told him she was voting for McCain to avoid provoking him.
We heard and witnessed countless similar stories - of people not only choosing to support Obama, but many for the first time deciding to be "out" about their support for a Democrat.
By bringing the local community together, we opened the door for local Democrats to "come out of the closet", and the results have been amazing to watch. Neighbors discovered to their amazement that they were not the only one on their street supporting Obama. One of our precinct captains discovered by coming out at work that over half of his coworkers were also voting Obama - and each one of them had been convinced they were the only one in the office. And so on...
We really felt a transformation happening to the Democrats in the town. From that single volunteer a month ago, this final weekend we had just as many locals as Californian volunteers working the streets. And we had even more locals providing support in other ways, including housing, food, rides, and more.
We witnessed the local Democratic community coming alive and getting connected with each other in ways that had formerly seemed impossible in deep red Fallon.
And I am confident that these new connections and this local energy and enthusiasm will be paying off for years to come.
I could not be more proud of the work that serolynne and I accomplished together over this past month. We are an incredible team, and we brought together and coordinated amazing local and Californian volunteers.
The net gain in votes may have only been a drop in the bucket compared to the totals for the entire state.
But the bucket is filled a drop at a time, and I am proud to have played my part.
The Fallon, NV Obama Campaign Headquarters & Team - Nyla, Keith, Rocky, Cherie, Chris
In summary - we rocked, and turned the state from slightly red to solidly blue.
Our particular focus for the past month has been running the Obama campaign in Churchill County, a very rural county with just the single "city" of Fallon at its heart, and the Fallon Naval Air Station (where the Top Gun training school is now located!) nearby.
The rest of the county is VERY sparsely populated, and very rural. The county population is estimated to be around 27,000 people, and there are currently 12,238 registered voters. This makes Churchill the 8th most populous county in Nevada (out of 17).
Democrats have traditionally done well in Clark County (Las Vegas), and the race has always been close in Washoe County (Reno). But the rest of Nevada has always gone overwhelmingly Republican, and losing big in the rural counties is what dashed Kerry's chances of winning the state in 2004.
The Obama campaign is the first Democratic presidential campaign to ever put any substantial effort into the rural counties, and it seems to have paid off. The goal was never to win the rurals, but to just make them a little less deep red.
We accomplished that.
Here are the results for Churchill County:
- In 2000, Bush defeated Gore in Churchill County by 4,046 votes (70% to 25%) with 74% voter turnout.
- In 2004, Bush defeated Kerry in Churchill County by 4,630 votes (71% to 26%) with 77% voter turnout.
- In 2008, McCain defeated Obama in Churchill County by just 3,337 votes (64% to 33%), with 87% voter turnout.
Some more interesting data...
- Churchill County was 5th in the state with early voting (45% of registered voters), and 6th in the state for overall turnout (87%).
- The overall turnout percentage in Churchill was up 13%, the third largest increase in the state. The percent voting early was up 53%, the 7th largest increase in the state.
- The raw number of Democratic voters was up by 29%, the 7th largest increase in the state.
- The percentage of the total electorate voting Democratic was up by 24% in Churchill county, the 5th highest jump in the state. As a baseline for comparison - the jump was only 13% in Clark County, and 18% in Washoe. The investment in the rurals really paid off here!
The biggest impact that we have had on Churchill County though is impossible to quantify with numbers.
A month ago, there was only a single local volunteer showing up to do the weekend canvassing. The local Democrats were demoralized and disconnected from each other, and they felt overwhelmed and alone in the sea of red around them.
Few would admit publicly to being a Democrat, and particularly not to being an Obama supporter.
One of my favorite stories came while getting gas early Election Day morning. The woman in front of me in line at the Chevron was showing off her "I Voted" sticker to the clerk saying how great it felt to be voting today. The woman turned and noticed my Obama button, and while the clerk was at the far end of the counter running her card she leaned over and whispered to me - "I voted for your guy. I would never say it out loud in this Republican town, but I think he is the best candidate for the job..."
She hadn't whispered softly enough however, and the clerk overheard her.
"I don't care who hears me say it - Obama is the best man for the job and he is the change we need!"
The woman in line was literally floored to discover that she was not alone. The two of them started comparing notes about their support for Obama, and the woman in front of me (a mid-40's woman!) admitted that she had actually lied to her father that morning and told him she was voting for McCain to avoid provoking him.
We heard and witnessed countless similar stories - of people not only choosing to support Obama, but many for the first time deciding to be "out" about their support for a Democrat.
By bringing the local community together, we opened the door for local Democrats to "come out of the closet", and the results have been amazing to watch. Neighbors discovered to their amazement that they were not the only one on their street supporting Obama. One of our precinct captains discovered by coming out at work that over half of his coworkers were also voting Obama - and each one of them had been convinced they were the only one in the office. And so on...
We really felt a transformation happening to the Democrats in the town. From that single volunteer a month ago, this final weekend we had just as many locals as Californian volunteers working the streets. And we had even more locals providing support in other ways, including housing, food, rides, and more.
We witnessed the local Democratic community coming alive and getting connected with each other in ways that had formerly seemed impossible in deep red Fallon.
And I am confident that these new connections and this local energy and enthusiasm will be paying off for years to come.
I could not be more proud of the work that serolynne and I accomplished together over this past month. We are an incredible team, and we brought together and coordinated amazing local and Californian volunteers.
The net gain in votes may have only been a drop in the bucket compared to the totals for the entire state.
But the bucket is filled a drop at a time, and I am proud to have played my part.
The Fallon, NV Obama Campaign Headquarters & Team - Nyla, Keith, Rocky, Cherie, Chris