Colorado Republican Party staff canvasser Mitch Woomer hangs literature criticizing President Barack Obama on a front door still decorated for Halloween, while campaigning for Republican candidates in the Englewood suburb of Denver. Woomer was part of a beefed-up ground strategy applied by the Republicans in Colorado for the 2014 midterm elections.ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – In the suburbs south of Denver, a tight-knit group of Republicans hatched plans this spring to counter the “Bannock Street Project.”
Named for the successful push at the polls that saved Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet in 2010, the “Bannock Street Project” is what Democrats called this year’s voter turnout operation for Senate candidates. It’s a name that also came to symbolize how Democrats had bested the GOP in getting out the vote in recent elections.
This year, the GOP vowed not to be left behind. Field workers began in May to knock on the doors of Republican-leaning swing voters, identified by mining demographic data, to talk about the party’s Senate candidate, Rep. Cory Gardner. They followed up with handwritten notes. They kept at it for months.
On Election Day, it paid off. Republicans celebrated not just Gardner’s win, but victories in more than enough races to win control of the Senate.
“We built a battle plan to match them house to house,” said Chris Hansen, Gardner’s campaign manager.