This came in last week from our partner, Iowa CCI Action Fund! Great tidbit at the bottom about how people are sharing their voter guide way beyond their expectations. Sharing this (with their permission) in their own words, lightly edited:
Hi MVP friends -
We’ve created and distributed our first-ever Voter Guide! Below is the email that went out to launch the guide and promote the webpage.
We also made paper copies (12-page booklets with congressional district/statehouse race-specific inserts) for certain areas/households, especially those that line up with our recent canvassing efforts. Unless otherwise noted, these guides went to Democrats and Independents (who are likely aligned with us on public education or climate issues) who are less likely to turn out in midterm elections. Here’s a quick breakdown of where those went:
CD1:
• Mailed to 2,105 households in state House District 100, a race that the Republican won in a special election in 2025 by 175 votes
• Mailed to 1,837 households in Davenport
CD2:
• Delivered via canvass to 1,958 households in Mason City (House District 59), a race that the Republican won in 2024 by 371 votes
• Mailed to 1,614 households in Decorah, Cedar Rapids, Mount Vernon, and Waterloo
CD 3:
• Delivered via canvass to 783 households in Johnston (house district 43), a race that the Republican won in 2024 by 639 votes
• Delivered via canvass to 1,768 Democrats and Independents likely to be with us on the issues in four Des Moines precincts. These precincts have the highest concentration of communities of color and the lowest voter turnout in the Des Moines area.
CD 4:
• Delivered via canvass to 795 households in Marshalltown (House District 52), a race that the Republican won in 2024 by 568 votes
We also mailed the voter guide to our Iowa membership list, plus recent/active prospects, totaling just under 3,300 households.
People are loving it — making copies on their own and distributing them; someone told me they were at a bar Friday night and there were copies on all the tables.
WE HAD NO IDEA this was happening. Lots of stories like this — people using it to educate their first-time voter kids/neighbors/church friends, taking it to political fundraisers (hilarious), pushing it out on social media … we weren’t expecting the hype it’s getting.
Graphic: Iowa CCI Action 2026 Voter Guide banner
Why does this matter? Well, it matters because margins in Iowa are likely to be razor-thin up and down the ballot, which leaves no room for drop-off.
In 2022, Iowa turnout fell about 8% from 2018, with the steepest drops in Democratic-leaning counties. The way we fix that this year is by having trusted local messengers talk about the issues these key tipping-point Democratic voters care about, in their own words, on their own doorsteps.
If we win in Iowa, we will have Iowa CCI Action to thank in part.
