By Chase Smith
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced on Wednesday a new voter contact and volunteer training program that aims to reach more than 1 million infrequent voters in the first quarter of 2026, as both parties gear up for the midterm elections.
The initiative, called Local Listeners, is designed to target likely Democratic supporters who voted in 2020 but did not vote in 2024, the party said in a news release. The DNC described it as its most aggressive voter engagement effort to start a midterm year, with an approach centered on listening to voters early in the cycle.
Under the program, volunteers will take part in a seven-week training course that includes sessions on active listening and “having difficult conversations about politics,” according to the DNC. The party said volunteers will also be trained to collect qualitative information from voter conversations, which it said will be shared with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to help inform messaging in targeted congressional districts.
The DNC said it plans to expand its in-person organizing early in the election cycle, including holding the first National Voter Registration Week of Action of the year in March. The party also said the program will include state party-led events and community service events hosted by local Democratic chapters and clubs.
The DNC said more than 2,000 volunteers have already signed up, and that 93 percent of them are volunteering for the first time since 2024. It said Local Listeners will aim to engage more than 1 million likely Democratic supporters in battleground districts by conducting more than 250,000 phone conversations, holding more than 50 in-person events, and registering “thousands” of new voters in priority congressional districts.
“Local Listeners is a massive voter contact operation built on a simple but powerful idea: If we want to keep earning back the trust and support of voters, we have to listen to them,” Ken Martin said in the DNC release. “The Democratic Party is done with waiting until the last minute to engage voters—these conversations need to happen early and often.”
Martin also criticized Republicans in the same statement and said the program would focus on issues such as “affordability, freedom, a shot at the American Dream.”
Republicans criticized the DNC’s new initiative and broader message.
Kiersten Pels, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, said in a statement to The Epoch Times: “Ken Martin and Democrats think a new outreach program can paper over their extreme, out-of-touch agenda, but voters aren’t buying it. Under President Trump, gas and energy prices are down, paychecks are going further, and mortgage rates are falling. Republicans don’t need gimmicks—our outreach is built on practical, common sense solutions that actually improve people’s lives.”
