Saturday in Rome: Knock Doors With Us & Flip NY21!

Direct Voter Contact is the Whole Game Now

Saturday, We Start Canvassing!

Saturday, August 22nd, 1:30 pm
IMV’s 2026 Canvass Launch in Rome
209 N. Washington Street, Rome

This is where direct voter contact begins.   We win elections by talking to voters one at a time at their doors, answering questions, sharing information about our candidates, and helping people make a plan to vote.

We’ll have slate cards for voter education, walkable turfs, training, and opportunities to pair up so everyone can have a good experience. 

Let us know you're coming!

Learn Deep Canvassing in Herkimer County on Sunday

If you are busy Saturday or Rome is too far from home, head to Herkimer on Sunday, August 23rd at 3:00 pm.  Blake Gendebien’s team will provide training for deep canvassing at the Herkimer Dem office at 535 Albany Street in Little Falls. We will begin canvassing after the training. All are welcome to come and learn and practice this crucial skill for the election.

Our IMV slate cards for Herkimer County are not ready, but you can still get a start with knocking doors, especially if you call Herkimer County home. Blake has huge momentum in rural areas and small towns across NY21. People know he’s the real deal once they hear about him, and once they hear from you why you're going to vote for Blake.

Questions about Canvassing with IMV?

What about NY22?
What about places like Utica, New Hartford, Kirkland, and re-electing John Mannion to Congress? 

Have no fear!  The NY22 coordinated campaign office (meaning all candidates working together including Congress, state leg Dems, and county candidates) in Utica opened last month, and our IMV slate cards for that half of Oneida County are at the printer!  Just start blocking off times in your schedule for the coming weeks, because we WILL be asking you to knock doors!  

What about areas that are hard for door knocking?  

That’s where we are going to ask volunteers to set up local postcard parties to write and mail postcards to voters in rural areas. And the campaigns will be phonebanking as well to rural areas and even apartment complexes.  

There is a way to reach every voter. And there is a way you can get involved.  But remember that the best way is door knocking, and most of us need to knock doors if we want to win.
 

Curious About Canvassing? 

Canvassing is one of the most effective ways to connect with voters because it creates a real, two-way conversation.

Watch From Outrage to Organizing to Power for a broader introduction to organizing and electoral work. The workshop covers campaign basics, voter psychology, and how activists build influence.

For a practical overview, watch Knocking on Doors: An Activist’s Guide to Canvassing. It explains what first-time canvassers can expect, the different roles volunteers can take, and basic canvassing best practices.

Then come give it a try with us Saturday in Rome — training and partners will be available!
 

Indivisible National is Matching Your Donation to IMV in August!  

Indivisible’s matching fundraising campaign kicked off August 1 and goes through the end of the month. During the month of August, donations to IMV’s Act Blue account will be matched dollar to dollar up to $500.  Go to our website donation button or click here to make a contribution.  Thanks for all you do to support IMV!

Madison County Democratic Committee invites you to "Celebrate Our Candidates"

Tuesday, August 25, 4:00-7:30ish - at Foothill Hops Farm & Brewery 5024 Bear Path Rd/Rt 46 in Munnsville. Meet with John Mannion, Mandi Drake, Vicki Davis, Ihor Semko, Al Stirpe, and Phillip Fleming. Live music, DNA Taco food truck, cash bar. Free admission, all welcome.
 

Jon Lipe Town Halls 

Thanks to everyone who showed up in Rome on Tuesday for Jon Lipe’s first August town hall!  Tonight is his second town hall–in Utica–and next Wednesday in Deerfield, is his third.  Please attend and let Jon see some friendly faces in the audience! 

Utica
Thursday, August 20, 6:30pm
The Other Side
2011 Genesee Street, Utica

Deerfield
Wednesday, August 26, 6:30pm
Deerfield Fire Dept. Banquet Hall
5476 Trenton Road, Deerfield

These meetings are free and open to the public. No pre-registration or RSVP is required.

Please mark your calendars and invite your friends and family. The schedule is also posted to his website (www.lipeforassembly.com), so please feel free to share that URL. 
 

Register for IMV's September Meeting 

Thursday, September 10th, 7:00 -8:00 pm on Zoom. 

 John Zogby & Electoral Politics.  For our September IMV meeting, we’ll hear from John Zogby, international pollster and analyst, about what he thinks the most salient messages are for voters in the 2026 midterms (that’s information we need when we’re doing direct voter contact at the doors!!), and what he sees on the horizon for electoral politics.

The first 100 people who register and show up for the Zoom get a great experience and John Zogby’s insider perspective on voter opinion.  Register for the meeting here.

A Call to Action from Indivisible National

Join Hands Off Our Vote 2026

Hands Off Our Vote is Indivisible’s national program to ensure all eligible voters get to cast their ballot, and that those ballots get counted. We’ll help you be ready to respond to any attacks, and we’ll shine a light on the bad actors threatening our basic constitutional rights.

By signing up you’ll get notified of key voting deadlines in your state, get updates on any threats to your voting rights and learn how to counter them, and be ready to mobilize in defense of your vote. You’ll also play an important role in rapid response moments whenever and wherever they try to pull those dirty tricks. We have tremendous power to protect our elections in 2026.

Sign up here to get started and join the Hands Off Our Vote movement.

Climate Crisis Working Group

Women’s Water Walk: Stop the Constitution Pipeline

If you are concerned about the renewed threats of the Constitution Pipeline, over 100 miles of fracked gas pipeline, you can join the Women’s Water Walk. 

On September 19, 2026 they will begin a two-week, 113 mile prayer walk led by women through towns along the route of the proposed Constitution Pipeline in New York State. You can walk for a week, a day, or even an hour. The section closest to us will be through Oneonta. Find more information at this link: https://www.womenswaterwalk.org/ 

A Tribute to Dick Meili, LTE Chair

Local Democratic Committees and IMV received the news late last week that Richard (Dick) Meili had passed away suddenly from a heart attack.  Dick was the founding chair of IMV’s Letters to the Editor working group. Tirelessly, and in his no-nonsense way, Dick did every political action needed, year in and year out, for the Democratic Committee and for IMV, petitioning, canvassing, and showing up for rallies and other events. 

“It is a loss for the whole community. Dick was a tireless worker and leader for the Democratic Committee, for candidates, and for IMV. I will miss his self-deprecating humor, his sharp mind, and his ability to communicate democratic principles or policies in a way that everyone could relate to and understand. We've lost a good man,” wrote Jennifer Geiger.

“Activism works. So what I'm telling you to do now, is to act. Because no one is too small to make a difference.”
- Greta Thunberg

Take action Satuday by canvassing with us.  See you in Rome!

Website: indivisiblemv.org
Follow us on Bluesky: @Indivisiblemv.bsky.social, on Instagram's Threads.net/@indivisiblemohawkvalley, on X (Twitter) using @indivisiblemv and of course on our Facebook page and IMV Activism Group.