Steven Reed was elected the first black Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama in November 2019 in a hugely significant moment for the state. A graduate of Morehouse College and a former probate county judge, Reed took 67% of the vote to win from retiring Democratic mayor Todd Strange. At his inauguration speech he said: "Today, we are assembled here because we chose destiny over division. Today, we are assembled here because we chose the future over fear. Therefore, because our hearts and our actions, I stand here in a position that many of those who were sold on the banks of the Alabama River, just a few feet from here, could only have imagined. This is a culmination of those distant dreams."
How the campaign used Ecanvasser
The Reed campaign used Ecavasser’s voter outreach tools and canvassing apps to talk to voters throughout Montgomery in 2019. Volunteers logged into the app to capture voter information and hone in on people who pledged to vote for Reed. Using sophisticated technology in conjunction with traditional organizing methods were a winning strategy for the campaign that prided itself on being a grassroots-led initiative that built on an overwhelming need to see real change at the highest level in the city.
Outcomes
Steven Reed’s win became one of the biggest political stories of the 2019 cycle and became a touchstone campaign for Democrats who were looking for alternatives to what they were seeing on the national stage. With such a resounding margin of victory it seems Steven Reed’s campaign has clearly broken through any glass ceiling for black people seeking the highest offices in the state.
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Listening to our current users, we are aware that there can be an internal struggle of team management when it comes to organizing quickly. To get people out on doors, the back and forth over Whatsapp, Messenger, and (insert other apps here) can be endless. We aim to streamline this process for you with Ecanvasser. Now organizers can commit via the Walk app (their canvassing app!) and get notified in the run-up to the event so that they don’t forget. By building it into the door knocking process life has gotten a lot easier for campaign managers.