Dear friends and allies -
It’s that time again: The September edition of MVP’s newsletter — The Power Move — is here. 💪💪🏽💪🏿
This month: Early 👏 Voting 👏 Has 👏 Started 👏!!
I love voting, and I especially love voting early. There’s just something about knowing that I did my civic duty (well, at least one part of it!), that I can encourage others to vote early by letting them know how easy it is, and that my single vote joins millions of others to create a massive movement that can determine the future of our country.
I’m not alone. MVP also thinks voting early is awesome — for all the reasons I mentioned and because this year, we have to show up in massive numbers to make the midterms too big to rig.
Early vote fever is already catching on!
According to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, more than 650,000 people nationwide have already voted, and an astounding 48 million mail-in ballots have been requested. In Virginia, early voting has tripled 2022’s turnout pace. MVP partner New Virginia Majority hosted an early vote rally and canvass launch on September 19, the first Saturday of early voting, and is educating voters online about important early vote dates. Minnesota, where partners like Unidos MN are providing bilingual early vote information, is seeing an increase in early voting numbers over 2022.
This early voting enthusiasm — and a host of other factors — will help MVP decide where to invest over the next five weeks, so, hopefully, we have not just a Blue Wave, but a Blue Tsunami.
But as MVP Executive Director Billy Wimsatt recently explained, we have an investor’s dilemma for how to get there.
Taking the Senate as the prime example, should MVP invest the vast majority of our final resources into flipping Maine, Ohio, Iowa, Texas, and Alaska — all of which look increasingly winnable but not at all in the bag? Or should we try to expand the map to include “stretch” states like Nebraska and Kansas, or even Mississippi and Florida?
The truth is that we are hedging our bets, and the more money we have, the more we can invest in both our core and stretch states. But we aren’t there yet.
In these final weeks, we need to raise as much money as possible to send directly to groups on the ground to get them over the finish line. Here is a sampling of what “finish-line funding” can do in a few key Senate flip states:
- Ohio: $100,000 can add four more campus organizing programs to help elect Democrat Sherrod Brown to the Senate.
- Maine: $40,000 can add 10 additional organizers to mobilize mobile home park residents for Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson.
- North Carolina: $25,000 can mobilize young people on three more college campuses during homecoming for Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper and state Supreme Court incumbent Justice Anita Earls.
Ready to help create the Blue Tsunami 🌊🌊 to take back our country?
Donate here.
Need a little more inspiration? Read on to see how MVP partners are working to win big this November.
With Blue Wave wishes and Blue Tsunami dreams,
Annie
Annie Lipsitz, MVP Donor Communications Manager
(On behalf of the MVP team)
MVP Partners Doing What They Do Best 🏅
We have five weeks until Election Day, and with early voting already underway, MVP partners are putting the pedal to the metal … or rather, the knocks to the doors, the volunteers to the phones, and the voters to the polls! 🚀
Photo: Canvassers with Michiganders for Money Out of Politics (MMOP) knocking doors in Detroit to mobilize voters in support of Prop 2, a ballot measure to restrict corporate money in state politics.
Michigan: It’s voters’ turn to MMOP up. 🪣
This year, the stakes of Michigan’s elections are high. There’s a competitive U.S. Senate race where a win for Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed would help us flip the whole chamber. And we have the chance to regain a Democratic state trifecta by flipping the state House while holding the governor’s office and the state Senate.
Thanks to the relentless effort of MVP partner Michiganders for Money Out of Politics, or MMOP, there’s also a measure on the ballot (Prop 2) that, if passed, would go a long way toward getting money out of Michigan politics. The best part: With Democratic and progressive voters galvanized by the measure (80% of Democrats polled strongly or somewhat support Prop 2!), it could have a gravity-defying, reverse-coattails effect on key elections we need to win.
Read how on MVP’s blog here.
Photo: Maine Labor Climate Council and Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson, talking with mobile home residents about the issues facing working-class voters.
Maine: Workin’ for the Working Class to Flip the Senate ⚒️
Defeating GOP incumbent Susan Collins and flipping this Maine Senate seat is one of MVP’s top priorities this year. Despite Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson leading in (many but not all) the polls, winning this Senate race is not in the bag. He needs all the help he can get from on-the-ground groups who have built trust and relationships with the voters he needs on his side: working-class Mainers.
MVP partner Maine Labor Climate Council (MLCC) has been organizing working-class Maine voters all year through the Contract with Maine’s Working Class — a contract between candidates and the voters they aim to represent that includes 11 demands centered on the needs of working-class voters. The Contract has proven supremely effective in galvanizing working-class Mainers for Jackson. Bonus: It’s been so effective that it’s even caught fire in Texas. That’s what we call feeding two birds with one (adaptable) scone!
Read the full story of how MLCC is workin’ for the working class to flip the Senate here.
Screenshot: A scene from MVP’s new video “Where North Carolina Goes”, showing Down Home North Carolina organizers demonstrating against Republicans in the state legislature.
North Carolina: Watch, Cry, Cheer, Win! 🎬
From helping elect Democrat Roy Cooper to the U.S. Senate to reelecting Justice Anita Earls to the North Carolina Supreme Court to blocking a GOP supermajority in the state legislature, the stakes of North Carolina’s 2026 elections couldn’t be higher.
MVP and our partners just released a brand new video: Where North Carolina Goes. It tells the story of how our partners’ organizing work has primed them for victory this November.
MVP partners Siembra NC, Carolina Federation, and Down Home North Carolina have been preparing all year to win races up and down the ballot. But don’t take our word for it.
Ready to feel inspired? Watch Where North Carolina Goes now.
Screenshot: A grid of Instagram posts from MVP partner Political Integrity PAC.
National: Let’s make AI stand for accountability and integrity. 🤖
AI is emerging as one of the most powerful and disruptive technologies in human history. MVP partners are helping build the beginnings of the mass movement needed to ensure its benefits are shared and its threats averted. Now, this movement is hitting the midterms.
MVP partners Political Integrity PAC and the Working Families Party are working to make “AI” stand for “accountability” and “integrity.” They're doing it with a candidate pledge called The AI Pact and by backing candidates who support reining in Big Tech.
Check out the full story about what they’re doing here.
What’s Hot at MVP: Fall Edition 🍂
Even though the outside temps are cooling, MVP is still hot hot hot 🔥. So don’t wrap that scarf too tight as you read on about what’s been heating up at MVP.
Graphic: MVP just released “Beyond the Autopsy” — a new report and action plan to reform the Democratic Party.
“Dear Democrats, Let’s Do Better. Yours Truly, MVP”
After our 2024 losses, we made reforming the Democratic Party a central pillar of our work. MVP spent a year interviewing people across the Democratic ecosystem about how to improve and renew the Party, and we just published the results in a new report, “Beyond the Autopsy.”
“Beyond the Autopsy” isn’t just another think piece about why and how we must reform the Democratic Party or a list of “good ideas” for someone else to consider. It’s an 8-part action plan for the whole Democratic coalition: party insiders, elected officials, donors, independent organizations, and movement funders like us. We're funding it immediately with an initial $1 million investment.
Read the action plan and let us know what you think! Also, check out MVP Executive Director Billy Wimsatt in conversation with Jess Craven, author of the popular political Substack, “Chop Wood, Carry Water,” about the report, our movement, and so much more.
Graphics: Silver Bulletin, U.S. Senate Polling Averages as of 9/24/2026.
We are obsessed with flipping the Senate.
Y’all — we can flip the Senate this year. This is not a joke! It’s actually possible. Why do we think so? Check out the recap of our September national briefing — Swinging for the Senate — to find out.
Spoiler alert: MVP Executive Director Billy Wimsatt shares which races are close, which are toss-ups, and which are stretches — but all still winnable with enough investment. And MVP partners in Maine and Texas dig into the powerful work they are leading and what’s needed to secure victory in these two must-win states.
Check out the recap here.
Photo: MVP Philanthropic Advisor Burke Stansbury (far left) with three donor organizing volunteers with MVP’s Washington State Hub.
Take Action with MVP 🎯
With less than five weeks until Election Day, there’s no time like the present to get involved with MVP. Check out ways to plug in below.
Organize Donors With MVP
Once you’ve donated to MVP (😘), help us organize even more donors to raise even more money for our partners by volunteering with us! There are so many opportunities, from hosting house parties to making calls to thank donors just like you. The only experience you need is a love of democracy and a deep desire to win the midterms! Sign up »
October 15: National Briefing - The Final Push to Win the Midterms
Join MVP for our final briefing before Election Day — The Final Push to Win the Midterms. Get the inside scoop from MVP staff (we are letting our partners focus on what’s most important: winning the midterms!) on what’s happening on the ground in key states. You’ll hear early voting updates, electoral analysis, and what our partners are doing in the final two-week push to make our 2026 victories too big to rig. RSVP »
October 22: Health and Democracy With Dr. Atul Gawande
Love healthcare and democracy? We do too! Join MVP and legendary surgeon, writer, and public health leader Dr. Atul Gawande for an MVP volunteer-organized pre-Election Day conversation about why winning the midterms is critically important to improving our healthcare system and protecting our democracy. RSVP »
November 4: National Briefing - What Just Happened?!
We can’t wait for Election Day, and we really can’t wait for the day after Election Day. Join MVP on Wednesday, November 4 for our post-Election Day national briefing — What just happened?! We won’t have all the answers, but MVP staff and partners will be popping in to let us know what happened on Election Day, celebrate our wins (we are ✨ manifesting ✨), and tell us what’s left to do to count votes, secure the results, and safeguard our victories. RSVP »
Graphic: Screenshots of MVP-supported online creators using innovative ways to engage voters and get them out to the polls.
A Moment of Movement Joy
This year, the most joyful thing of all will be winning the midterms and putting the kibosh on MAGA authoritarianism. For our Moment of Movement Joy, we’re bringing you a few creative ways our partners are working to do just that.
Digital Organizing Even Luddites Can Enjoy! 🤳
Don’t know the difference between a meme and a GIF? That’s OK! MVP, in partnership with One Pennsylvania and Creator Congress, has been working with a cadre of online creators who will make you laugh, dance, and jump for democratic joy with all their innovative ways of engaging voters online.
🏈 Love football? Check out this video for Philadelphia Eagles fans about why they need to show up to the polls this year.
🤡 Had enough of Elon “Manipulation” Musk? This creator is out telling the truth about Elon’s schemes and dreams to harvest your election information.
🐶 Dog person? Watch this pup tell you all about voting by mail.
✅ How ‘bout the tiniest thing you can do with the biggest impact (including, as of this writing, 619 shares on Instagram)?
🎃 Want seasonal political hot takes? Check out this NC creator’s full moon, fall, and Halloween-themed voter guide.
🤫 Perhaps you prefer voting info to also calm you down? This ASMR creator has just the hushed-but-informative message for you. (ASMR = “autonomous sensory meridian response” … Yep, we had to Google it for you!)
🌶️ Or maybe you want to spice things up by remembering that Hot People Vote.
Whatever form it takes, we’re 💯percent here for it! We’re so proud of all of our partners who are out in these concrete, asphalt, and internet streets doing whatever it takes to get voters to the polls.
