Volunteers throughout the state are working tirelessly to get Californians to vote by or on Sept. 14.

For McKenna Jenkins, it means spending most of her free time working to stop the recall. She is one of the thousands of volunteers encouraging voters to keep Gov. Gavin Newsom in office.  

“We even have volunteers from all over the country and the world,” Jenkins explained. “This matters not just for California Democratic politics, but this sets the precedent for every state moving forward.”

The 24-year-old is the media relations director for Fem Dems, one of the 23 clubs within the Democratic Party of Sacramento County, or DPSC, that have joined forces to get other Democrats to participate in the special election.

“It’s essential we keep him in office to continue his pathway of pushing progressive, equitable policies that makes California the frontrunner on being the best state,” Jenkins added.

The young Democrat explained that while the pandemic has impacted her ability to campaign in person this year, she can still reach a lot of registered voters through different online platforms.

“Thousands of volunteers all over the country use the Slack channel called ‘Stop the Recall,’ where we have different channels and pages for people to talk and ask questions,” Jenkins said.

On average, Jenkins said she can reach 2,000-4,000 voters by text per day. She also pointed out she is participating in several online phone banking events several times a week.

Tracie Stafford, chair of the DPSC, said grassroots efforts like these are crucial.

“This is very serious, and it’s not about whether you support Gov. Newsom – it’s about defeating a recall that will turn this state upside down – that’s what this is about,” Stafford noted.

According to a new UC Berkeley poll, Democrats outnumber Republican voters nearly 2-to-1 in the Golden State. Still, one of the challenges Stafford explains her party is facing is many people not paying attention to the election.

“This is not a slam dunk,” she emphasized. “The polling is very close, so it’s important that we treat this recall with the urgency that is needed.”

The newly elected chair represents close to 400,000 registered Democrats in Sacramento County.  

“If we don’t beat this recall, we’re going to be reliving Trump-era policies right here in California, and that is problematic,” Stafford said.

Stafford added she is grateful for all the volunteers like Jenkins, who are doing their part to help increase voter turnout in a short amount of time.

“This will be go, go, go all day, every day. Some volunteers will be spending upwards of 8 to 10 hours a day working on this,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins feels optimistic all the hours she has dedicated to stopping the recall will pay off come Sept. 14.