The Democratic National Committee (DNC) released a new outreach program intended to bolster the party and turn out likely voters.
The initiative, called “Local Listeners,” aims to “engage over one million infrequent voters across key, battleground congressional districts and states during the first quarter of 2026,” a press release states. The program serves as the DNC’s “most aggressive voter engagement effort at the start of a midterm year and modernizes how Democrats are talking to voters.”
Volunteers for the program will participate in a seven-week training program focused on connecting with voters, and learning “active listening” as well as “having difficult conversations about politics.” They will also be trained to obtain qualitative information from conversations to inform the DNC about areas of value to the voter.
DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement that “Local Listeners is a massive voter contact operation built on a simple but powerful idea: If we want to keep earning back the trust and support of voters, we have to listen to them.”
“This program modernizes the way we are talking to and hearing from the voters that we need to win elections now and for years to come. The Democratic Party is done with waiting until the last minute to engage voters — these conversations need to happen early and often,” he continued. “And the win-win with this program is that we’re also training thousands of volunteers to be voices for our Party on the frontlines of their communities.”
DNC Deputy Executive Director Libby Schneider similarly told Politico that Democrats “didn’t lose to Donald Trump,” they “lost to the couch.”
“We saw our voters, many of our important voters, stay home. Obviously, that is a trend that cannot continue,” Schneider said.
