Voice of San Diego is chronicling both campaigns’ last-minute get-out-the-vote efforts. For a look inside David Alvarez’s Election Day outreach, click here.
Jonathan Herrera’s one of over 400 people working today to get Councilman Kevin Faulconer elected mayor.
After finishing his morning classes at Mesa College, the 28-eight-year-old Rolando Park resident swings through campaign headquarters to talk to others getting out the vote for Faulconer about how things are going and get a list of likely Faulconer voters in a particular precinct.
“We’re past the point of trying to garner support,” said Herrera, a paid Faulconer campaign staffer. “No, we’re about getting people to the polls now, buddy.”
His likely voter list — compiled based on responses from precinct walks, phone banks and data mining over the course of the campaign — has 18 names on it. Here he is checking his list:
A list at the Wesley United Methodist Church at El Cajon Boulevard and 54th Street shows two people had already voted. It’s Herrera’s job to get the other 16 names to the polling place by 8 p.m.
He’ll hit all 16 doors over the next hour. Fourteen aren’t home — it’s the middle of the day on a Tuesday, after all — so he leaves door hangers with directions back to the church. Two voters who are home say they’re definitely voting for his guy.
In the next few hours, he’ll check back at the polling place to see if anyone else from his list voted. Maybe they saw the door hanger he left, or stopped by to vote on their way home from work. If not, he’ll keep making contact until they vote, or the polls close.
Since the campaign began, he’s been out knocking on doors and talking to voters over 100 times, he said. He says he loves walking through neighborhoods, seeing what people really need, and trying to get people involved in improving their situation.
“Local politics is definitely where it’s at,” he said. “But it’s not always easy being Latino and Republican.”
Earlier in the campaign, when he wasn’t talking exclusively to high-likelihood Faulconer voters, he said people would often open the door, see him and say, “sorry, I’m a Faulconer supporter,” or “don’t worry, I’m already voting for (David) Alvarez.”
He said he found bucking people’s expectations refreshing.
“I want all parties to fight for my goals,” he said. “I really believe San Diego is going to be at the forefront of a new GOP, with a big tent.”
After making his way through the list and talking to just two would-be voters, Herrera said he was heading back to get another precinct list. Then he said he’d circle back to the area of Talmadge we had walked to see how many people still needed to vote, and make the rounds again.
Correction: An earlier version of this post misidentified Herrera as a volunteer. He is a paid campaign staffer.