By Amanda McDougald Scott
GCDP, Chair

Happy New Year! I hope your year is off to a great start, and that you spent your time ringing in the new year exactly the way you wanted.

I also hope that every single one of you who helped out in the 2023 Greenville Municipal elections is proud of the work that you did.  Because of our work together, we were able to accomplish a record-breaking turnout of 24.5 percent. 

This letter is a bit longer than usual because I want to give you an overview of some of the accomplishments from the past year. 

First, we have raised more money than any other GCDP administration in GCDP filing history: $94,011. Below are some details about how some of that went to directly support candidate campaigns, which does not include operating costs.

Operating costs help us provide services, a space for candidates, volunteers, and elected officials to gather, and more. These funds are important—which is why we want to also let you know to save the date for our 2024 Tastings on the Town, which will be held on April 4, 6-9 pm at Revel. Sponsorships are open! Click here to sponsor today!

Straight Ticket Democratic Voters

We held six block parties encompassing eight precincts (some precincts were combined) to focus on improving voter engagement and turnout. The block-party precincts were chosen based on low voter turnout in 2019, with the goal of improving turnout in 2023.  Although participation varied between events, every block party included both live and robocalls into each precinct to invite voters.  Improvements in straight ticket voting were made in one of the eight precincts: Greenville 6, with a 10 percent increase.  The same number of voters voted straight ticket in Greenville 26, and there was only a 2 percent voter difference in Greenville 21.  Even better news is that gains in straight ticket voters were made in areas in which the GCDP focused its get out the vote (GOTV) efforts. Although the GCDP strived to touch all precincts in the Greenville municipality, strategic prioritizations based upon resources and our target universe were made. Below is a sample of the 22 precincts in which we either held either a small difference in voters from 2019 OR we made gains.

Split Tickets

We know, based on the fact that Councilwoman Dowe won and former Councilwoman Shain lost this year, that many Democrats split their tickets. These numbers are a bit more difficult to discriminate, however, we await more details. Once we get the data from the SCDP, we will know how many of our targeted voters who do not usually vote in municipal elections voted in the 2023 election.Both campaigns worked hard, and the GCDP focused on turning out the base for both candidates.

Candidate Support Accomplishments

We have accomplished much over the past year, including (but not limited to) the ability to contribute to our municipal candidates in the 2023 municipal race. Our contributions were at a level previously unseen from a monetary standpoint, and an impressive rate from our volunteers. Estimates of the amount spent on some of those activities were:

• GOTV Activities: $12,116
• Mailers: $11,412
• Estimated Total:  $23,528

Volunteer efforts accomplished:

• More than
  • 9,000 texts4,530 canvass attempts
  • 5,014 phone calls
• Five block party robocalls
• One Election Eve, 3 Election Day robocalls.

Priority 6 and Protect 6

We will not realize any statewide victories until we are able to demonstrate wins with quality candidates in Greenville and Spartanburg Counties. This is why we have launched Priority 6, a program with Spartanburg County to help our candidates realize success in 2024 and beyond. Bolstered by Priority 6, we have been recruiting, advising, supporting, and coordinating efforts with our candidates to get them up and running for 2024. Participating candidates may buy in to services provided by the GCDP to help them get started, maintain support, and coordinate with other campaigns in 2024. This is a service that has already provided value to our 2024 candidates, and each participating candidate has lauded its helpfulness in navigating the process and more.

We needed additional help to guide our candidates in this effort that we share with Spartanburg. Therefore, we hired a consultant from Orangeburg who brings a wealth of knowledge and depth of understanding and experience in South Carolina politics. Please welcome Phil Ford and Emily Mayer of Ford and Ford whenever you get a chance.

Priority 6 launched in 2023 to help our 2024 candidates, and also aimed to propel our 2023 candidates to success. We encouraged our 2024 candidates to get out and help our 2023 candidates, which some of them did. Thank you to our 2024 candidates who participated for taking seriously—and learning from—our 2023 campaigns. 

Protect 6 is an initiative that provides the same services for the six seats that we must protect in 2024. We already have wonderful incumbents in each of these six seats, and do not want to lose our Democratic strongholds. Both Priority and Protect 6 are voluntary programs that are designed to help Greenville and Spartanburg Counties move forward.

You can help support Priority and Protect 6 by donating here!

Conclusion

I hope you agree that we have a lot to be proud of, and have a lot of work yet to do. We have worked diligently to put into place infrastructure, and will continue to do so into 2024. However, first, let us celebrate our accomplishments. Help us by donating or volunteering today!

I am looking forward to working together for a successful 2024. I know we will make progress with some of the gains we have already made, as well as those to come.