10 Days Out: HRC's Historic Effort to #TurnOUT Millions of LGBTQ and Equality Voters Enters Final Push

HRC publishes new USA Today ad urging Americans to make their voices heard on November 6

WASHINGTON - October 26, 2018 -- Today, with only 10 days until the critical midterm elections, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, entered the final push of its campaign in key states and races to #TurnOUT 10 million LGBTQ voters and millions more allies across the country. HRC also published a new full page ad in USA Today; all Gannett papers, including The Cincinnati Enquirer, Detroit Free Press, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Arizona Republic, and more; and the Washington Blade and Los Angeles Blade urging voters to turn out for pro-equality candidates and make the difference on November 6.

"With 10 days until Election Day and early voting already under way in 34 states and the District of Columbia, HRC is kicking its unprecedented GOTV efforts into high gear in the final sprint towards November 6," said HRC Senior Vice President of Policy and Political Affairs JoDee Winterhof. "This is the most consequential election of our lifetimes, and with each new attack on our civil rights by Donald Trump and Mike Pence, HRC members and volunteers are more energized to turn resistance into action at the ballot box. HRC's historic investment in this midterm is set to make the critical difference in electing pro-equality leaders at all levels who will put Americans first and pull the emergency brake on the hateful Trump-Pence regime."

For more than a year, HRC has been on the ground building support for pro-equality candidates with priority investments in six key states - Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - and in over 70 congressional districts nationwide. The critically important work is a part of a coast-to-coast campaign to mobilize voters for the midterm elections called HRC Rising, which represents the largest grassroots expansion in the organization's 38-year history.

Since launching HRC Rising last July, HRC has helped more than 30,000 people register to vote, trained nearly 1,600 local advocates nationwide as volunteer leaders and logged more than 20,000 hours volunteering for HRC-endorsed candidates. HRC President Chad Griffin has traveled to more than 30 of the most competitive congressional districts in 18 states, and more than 145 HRC staff are on the ground leading GOTV efforts in 23 states, training hundreds of local organizers and volunteers across the country and educating voters about HRC-endorsed candidates. This cycle, HRC has endorsed a record 478 candidates up and down the ballot.

Earlier this week, HRC mailed hundreds of thousands of HRC members and supporters in support of 69 pro-equality U.S. House candidates in 25 states, and 24 pro-equality statewide candidates in five states. The new mail pieces focus on encouraging Equality Voters to vote early, mobilizing them to turn out on or before November 6th, and educating them on the records of HRC-endorsed candidates and their anti-equality opponents on LGBTQ rights, health care, reproductive freedom and more.

HRC's Equality Votes PAC has also funded a seven-figure mobilization effort to engage and turn out voters through digital advertising, direct mail, text and phone. The digital and direct mail buy is more than $3 million across U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and gubernatorial races in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, Nevada, Texas, and Wisconsin.

The estimated 10 million LGBTQ voters across the nation have proven to be one of the most important voting blocs in the nation. And with support for LGBTQ equality at historic heights, HRC has used sophisticated analytics to identify and mobilize 52 million "Equality Voters" nationwide who support LGBTQ-inclusive policies including marriage equality, equitable family law, and laws that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The immense power of LGBTQ voters and allies has been proven time and time again in recent years, including during the challenging 2016 cycle. In a watershed moment for the LGBTQ community, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory was the only incumbent governor of either party to lose re-election and the only incumbent governor to lose re-election in North Carolina's history - in large part due to his  discriminatory, anti-LGBTQ HB2 law. The power of Equality Voters was also made crystal clear in 2017 when a wave of pro-equality and openly LGBTQ candidates were elected in states across the country. In Alabama, HRC-endorsed candidate Doug Jones claimed a historic victory over his opponent - the notoriously anti-LGBTQ politician Roy Moore. In Virginia, voters sent a resounding message rejecting the politics of hate and fear by electing pro-equality candidates up and down the ballot.

Supporters in any state can text "VOTER" to 30644 to verify their voter registration, find their polling place, and receive election reminders. For more information on how to get involved and sign up to volunteer, visit HRC's Equality Voter Action Center.

The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work, and in every community.