The Voter Project - Sharing Stories from Voters in Congressional Districts Across America

Irving Calderon is a 27-year-old from Austin and the sole Dreamer and DACA recipient in his family. As the 2018 midterm election cycle draws to a close, Irving talks about coming to terms with his status, the frustrations of myths surrounding immigrants, and the importance of advocacy in the ongoing search for a permanent legislative solution.

16-year old Sydna Kennedy and her mom, Melissa Harris, are a rare breed in Modoc County in rural, conservative northern California: progressives. In this episode, we talk about voting, activism, and what life is like advocating against gun violence in an area of the country where the local sheriff's office gets funding from the NRA.

Mary Ibarra is a Texas native from the Rio Grande Valley and Swing Left's Central Field Director. We talk about her organizing work for Democratic campaigns in Texas, Nevada, Colorado, and Georgia, her role as a congressional aide for Congressman Lloyd Doggett, the challenges facing progressives and America today, and what she loves most about organizing and knocking doors.

Originally from Zimbabwe, 20-year-old Amanda Musvosi came to California when she was 7 and grew up surrounded by family with a strong appreciation for civic engagement and free and fair elections. Today Amanda is taking her passion for democracy and health care and motivating others to become more involved through her work as a Swing Left fellow in CA-07.

Originally from Trinidad, Jendayi London lives in Florida's 27th district and is a student at the University of Miami, where she took a class with FLA-27 Democratic primary winner Donna Shalala. We talk about immigration, growing up with a mom in the military, the struggles of minority communities, and her work this summer with Swing Left in TX-31, where MJ Hegar is running to defeat U.S. Rep. John Carter.

Grace Curtiss is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, a university fellow for Swing Left, and a great ambassador for Democratic candidates in two districts.

In particular, Grace supports Angie Craig in Minnesota's 2nd District and Dean Phillips in Minnesota's 3rd District, both of whom won their respective Minnesota primaries on August 16th.

In this interview, we cover a variety of topics, including why she has chosen to support those two candidates, what she learned from her time as an exchange student, and much more.

This week's episode is with student leader Gary Enrique Bradley-Lopez of Wyandotte County in Kansas.

As chair of the Wyandotte County Young Democrats and second vice president of the Kansas Young Democrats, Gary is passionate about helping communities of color get out the vote and become politically and civically engaged. He is also a passionate supporter of Sharice Davids, who just won the crowded Democratic primary in Kansas' 3rd congressional district.

This week's episode is with Abby Karp, a resident of Guilford County, North Carolina, and a volunteer for Swing Left.

Abby is a longtime political activist working to help elect Democratic candidate Kathy Manning to the congressional seat in North Carolina's 13th District.

This week's episode is with Rebecca Shukla, one of the founding activists on Swing Left's team in Texas' 7th congressional district, where she is working to elect Democratic candidate Lizzie Pannill Fletcher. Swing Left helps volunteers support progressive candidates in their closest swing district in a country-wide effort to take back the House in 2018.

In this interview, Rebecca talks about her work with Swing Left, what she's hearing from voters on the ground, and why she's supporting Lizzie Pannill Fletcher.

This episode's interview is with Joe Helle, Democratic candidate for District 89 of the Ohio House of Representatives. The primary took place May 8, 2018. Joe talks about his candidacy, the importance of communication in politics, and his own experience as a voter, when he discovered he had been purged from Ohio's voter rolls when he came back from military service in Iraq and Afghanistan.