Swing Left Leads “Ground Truth” Voter Listening Program with Reps. Pat Ryan and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
100+ volunteers participate in “deep listening” canvass in Kingston, NY as Democrats test a new model for rebuilding trust with voters.
MARCH 9, 2026 — Yesterday in Kingston, New York, more than 100 volunteers knocked on doors alongside Representatives Pat Ryan and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as part of Ground Truth, a new voter listening initiative from Swing Left, one of the largest drivers of grassroots action helping Democrats win competitive races nationwide.
Swing Left created Ground Truth based on a simple premise: to win elections and build durable power, Democrats must first rebuild trust. And trust starts with listening. Ground Truth modernizes how the Democratic Party talks to voters by mobilizing grassroots volunteers to knock every door and engage voters in longer, two-way conversations well before Election Day, capturing what voters are actually experiencing using new technology Swing Left helped design. Those insights are then made available to campaigns and state parties so they can better understand voter concerns and shape their outreach well before Election Day.
“Swing Left is partnering with Congressman Pat Ryan and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on our signature program, Ground Truth, to help create a cultural shift in the Democratic party – one grounded in grassroots leadership and listening deeply to all voters across ideological divides, including Democrats in our base and swing voters not yet on our side,” said Yasmin Radjy, Executive Director of Swing Left.
Swing Left is scaling Ground Truth in 33 competitive congressional districts across the country as part of its effort to help Democrats win back the House in 2026. The canvass in NY-18 marks the initiative’s first use outside these swing districts. NY-18 is a purple district that Rep. Ryan initially won in a 2022 special election by 2.4% and Kamala Harris won in 2024 by 2%. Swing Left supported Rep. Ryan’s campaigns in 2022 and 2024. Now, to integrate Ground Truth’s innovations at scale and drive a cultural shift in how Democrats listen to voters, Swing Left is partnering with prominent Democratic leaders who influence the party’s broader ecosystem. Their participation helps demonstrate the model’s value and strengthen how Democrats everywhere connect with and serve voters.
“We need to reimagine how our party operates — that means going everywhere and listening to everyone. Ground Truth is what Democratic representatives and candidates in every district should be doing,” Rep. Pat Ryan said. “Rather than giving folks canned talking points, this is a way to actually learn from the people we’re elected to serve. Most importantly, this is how we can take that information and use it to organize, make decisions, and ultimately deliver results for the American people.”
“The conversations this kind of canvassing enables are transformative not only for the person opening the door, but also for the canvasser. We’re in a moment where engaging with genuine curiosity and openness feels almost countercultural,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “The Ground Truth volunteers I met shared story after story about how surprised voters were that someone wanted to take time to hear their perspective. That says a lot about where our politics is right now and how much work we have to do to change it."
A New Model for Voter Contact
Ground Truth reflects a growing challenge for Democrats nationwide: a widening trust gap with voters, particularly in communities that campaigns often overlook because they fall outside traditional targeting models.
Instead of focusing narrowly on likely voters in the months before an election, the program aims to reach every voter in a district, including voters within the Democratic base as well as voters who may not currently support the party.
Volunteers conduct longer, two-way conversations at the door and over the phone. Using technology developed with Swing Left, they capture what voters say about the issues affecting their lives.
Those insights are then aggregated and shared with campaigns and state parties. The goal is to help campaigns identify persuadable voters earlier, understand what people actually care about, and design outreach that reflects the realities of the communities they represent.
“Rebuilding trust isn’t about deciding whether the party should move left or right,” Radjy said. “It’s about pushing our politics closer to the ground — closer to what voters are experiencing and what they care about. Listening is where that starts.”
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About Swing Left
Since launching in 2017, Swing Left has mobilized grassroots volunteers to help Democrats win competitive races across the country. Its one million members have raised more than $140 million for Democratic candidates and organizations and reached more than 50 million voters through door knocks, phone calls, and letters.
Swing Left focuses exclusively on general election races in the most competitive districts to help Democrats win governing majorities where they matter most. The organization does not take ideological or policy positions.
For more information, visit www.swingleft.org and www.ourgroundtruth.org.
