The Ed Markey for U.S. Senate campaign demonstrated its grassroots power and statewide reach over the past weekend as it hosted an evening of virtual house parties with over 300 supporters and volunteers, joining from 35 different Zoom locations organized by supporters, for supporters, including in Dorchester, Somerville, Cambridge, Tufts University, Harvard University, and Northeastern University.
Senator Markey spoke to the virtual grassroots group as Suffolk County District Attorney Rachel Rollins, State Representative Nika Elugardo, and State Representative Tricia Farley Bouvier–all of whom have endorsed the Senator–also made appearances throughout the event. The house party also featured live music from Wheatus lead singer, and progressive activist, Brendan Brown.
“This is another example of our grassroots organizing success,” said Campaign Manager John Walsh. “Our campaign is based on relational organizing — friend-to-friend and neighbor-to-neighbor engagement. During this challenging time, we continue to organize in new and innovative ways, and our house parties are part of the enthusiasm and dedication of our supporters. And while we can’t yet have house parties in the traditional sense, we can still come together.”
The Markey Campaign’s grassroots organizing has adapted to the public health crisis through social media, livestreams on the work Senator Markey is undertaking to combat the coronavirus pandemic, benefit concert, and digital outreach.
After winning 70 percent of the support at local city and town caucuses earlier this year–a significant grassroots achievement–the Markey campaign then turned in over 27,000 nomination signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office.
The campaign’s digital team has also designed a breakthrough grassroots tool allowing anyone interested in becoming involved with the Markey Campaign to create and distribute their own supporter page at: support.edmarkey.com. After launching the tool earlier this spring, hundreds of supporter pages identifying thousands of supporters have been created.