Want the Phone Calls, Full Mailboxes To Stop? Vote

With 10th Congressional voters receiving a barrage of phone calls, knocks on the door and brochures in their mailboxes not to mention all the commercials, one professional affiliated with a campaign has some advice. Vote early.

The campaigns of Rep. Robert Dold (R-Kenilworth) and Democratic challenger Brad Schneider are looking at every day between today and Nov. 6 as election day as they accelerate their efforts to persuade voters to choose their candidate.

Earlier: Party Leaders Weigh in on 10th District Attack Ads

“Our message to voters is that if you want us to stop calling, knocking on your door and mailing you information, please vote early,” Dold campaign spokesperson John McGovern said.

This works for Schneider supporters as well. Once a person identified as a Schneider voter casts a ballot, the campaign makes every effort to cross them off the contact list, according to press secretary Staci McCabe.

Both campaigns have been busy the past months identifying people likely to vote for Dold or Schneider respectively and if all vote, the final outcome will be very close, according to information provided by McGovern and McCabe.

“Since June, volunteers have connected with thousands of voters—making more than 550,000 phone calls and door knocks,” McCabe said. The field operation is being done both by the Schneider campaign and the Democratic Congressiional Campaign Committee, which has one of its 12 Illinois offices in Northbrook near Schneider headquarters.

How many potential voters have been identified by Dold’s effort? “Working in conjunction with the Illinois Victory program, the Dold campaign has contacted over 550,000 voters in the 10th District during the last five months,” McGovern said. Illinois Victory is a Republican run voter turnout program, according to McGovern.

Early voting has changed the focus of campaigns with people voting over a two-week period in Illinois rather than on one day.

“With early voting and vote-by-mail already underway, every single day between now and November 6 is election day,” McCabe said. “We know this race will be won on the ground with direct contact—reaching voters, sharing Brad's message—and we're confident that our strong grassroots organization will put us over the top this November."

McGovern takes a similar view to the early voting dynamic. “Early voting has pushed forward the persuasion phase of the campaign, and consequently, the GOTV portion of our campaign operation began weeks earlier,” he said. “We feel confident that we have identified our voters and collected the data necessary to maximize the turn-out of Dold supporters at the polls."

With an election promising to be this close, one retiring politician has some strong words of advice to everyone. “When the race is going to be razor thin it’s up to everyone to go out and vote,” state Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) said. She is not running for reelection after 14 years in the Illinois General Assembly.

Cook County voters can get early voting information from the Cook County Clerk’s website and those in Lake County can go to the Lake County Clerk’s website.