CHESAPEAKE — Local Democrats and civic organizations say an extensive canvassing and door-to-door voter outreach campaign over recent election cycles resulted in significant increase in voter turnout in at least one of Chesapeake’s racially diverse communities.
Now they’re hoping to replicate a similar success across other communities.
In the 2022 election, only 25% of the roughly 2,400 registered voters in the Georgetown precinct turned out to vote, while the citywide turnout was 49%, according to Chesapeake’s election registrar. The residential makeup of Georgetown, just east of South Norfolk, is about 46% Black, according to U.S. Census data.
Georgetown’s voter turnout in the following years grew to mirror citywide turnout. In 2023, 37% of Georgetown’s registered voters cast a ballot, right at the citywide turnout of 38%. In the 2024 presidential election, Georgetown’s turnout was 66%, while the city’s was 67%.
Local Democrats and the civic organization New Chesapeake Men for Progress credit the higher turnout to their increased canvassing efforts and voter engagement in recent election cycles, as well as an emphasis on local issues and candidates. They’re now looking use that engagement model in other minority neighborhoods with low voter turnout to increase participation in November.
“When you don’t vote, you give away your power,” said Jim Lang, previously a party official with the Chesapeake Democrats. “When you don’t vote, then the people who are making decisions about your lives are people who have been put in office by the parts of the city that did vote. And that translates into a direct consequence.”
Turnout is generally lower for non-presidential elections. But all Virginia House of Delegates seats are up for grabs this year, including five that comprise parts of Chesapeake. Constitutional offices such as the sheriff, commonwealth’s attorney, treasurer and commissioner of revenue also will be on the ballot.
757 Votes: The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press 2025 election guide
The canvassing strategy
George Reed, director of New Chesapeake Men for Progress and a South Norfolk resident, is credited as the mastermind behind the latest canvassing strategy. He’s advocated for racial and partisan diversity across leadership in a city he said has been run primarily by Republicans and white leaders. The group is encouraging votes for Democrat-backed candidates.
After assuming a more active role in the local Democratic party in 2023, Reed said he pushed to increase canvassing across seven minority neighborhoods. In the following election, voters elected two new council members and one school board member backed by Democrats. Those winning candidates also added racial diversity to the city council with three Black members on the nine-person board. He touts Georgetown’s turnout as part of that success.
This time, Reed is broadening efforts and working with volunteers to reach at least 8,000 minority voters across nearly a dozen precincts, including Jolliff, Jolliff Middle School and Providence, which have the biggest share of minority voters, he said. While phone banking, text messaging and mailers are effective, he said knocking on every door is the “gold standard.”
Reed and Lang have been canvassing with volunteers nearly every Saturday for months — knocking on thousands of doors, providing candidate information and talking with voters when possible. Among the neighborhoods they’re hitting are Colonial Park, Sunnybrook Terrace, Cedar Grove, Crestwood and Eva Gardens.
“These are big pockets where minority votes are, and they have not been coming out to vote,” Reed said.
George Reed hangs some political literature on the door knob of a home in Chesapeake, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. Reed and members of the New Chesapeake Men for Progress along with civic league members canvassed voters to promote Democrats in the upcoming election and to increase voter turnout. (Bill Tiernan/For The Virginian-Pilot)
On a sunny, crisp Saturday this month, about a dozen volunteers broke into small groups to canvass near Southwestern Middle School, knocking on doors across the Sunnybrook Terrace and Cedar Grove neighborhoods. It was the second time efforts were focused within the Jolliff and Jolliff Middle School precincts, where an estimated combined 6,000 voters reside, organizers said.
At each door, volunteers placed an informational packet with information about the election and Democrat-backed candidates. Throughout the lunchtime canvassing effort, volunteers were able to speak directly with about 10 voters. Reed and Lang said if they can get two to five people to come to the door each time, they consider it a success.
When Reed has the opportunity to speak with voters, he emphasizes the need for diverse leadership and to elect Democrats who will provide residents with more representation.
Virginia Republicans say they are using similar methods for their candidates. Mark Peake, the state GOP chair, said the party identified roughly 600,000 Republican voters across Virginia earlier this year who have a track record of skipping non-presidential elections. They’ve deployed about 15 field representatives and are working directly with party chairs to organize door-to-door canvassing across the commonwealth.
Part of the messaging for Republicans, Peake said, is advocating against liberal policies, which he cited as higher energy costs and more focus on the rights of transgender individuals and the LGBTQ+ community in schools if Democrats take the majority this election.
Increased civic league participation
In addition to increased voter turnout, Reed said the canvassing efforts have an added benefit of increasing civic league participation and boosting synergy within communities.
“(Canvassing) has become a real catalyst to really get civic leagues acclimated and involved in their communities in ways that they weren’t used to doing, and they’re making improvement,” Reed said. “They have learned how to reach out to City Council, these commissioners in the city, and voice that voices to get things done in that community. That has been one of the important results from us doing canvassing.”
George Reed of Chesapeake holding a photo of the Sunnybrook Terrace neighborhood in Chesapeake Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, where members of the New Chesapeake Men for Progress and some Chesapeake civic league members would canvass voters to promote Democrats in the upcoming election and to increase voter turnout. (Bill Tiernan / For The Virginian-Pilot)
Georgetown has been successful in that realm as well, according to George Wilson, president of the Georgetown Community Civic League. Wilson said the neighborhood banded together after the 2022 election to revive its civic league, which is now meeting regularly after engagement tapered off during the pandemic.
And it’s led to more information directly from city leaders and political candidates, increased engagement with law enforcement, and a greater sense of pride in the community, Wilson said. Now residents are working directly with New Chesapeake Men for Progress and other organizers to broaden voter engagement.
“(Lo) and behold, Georgetown came in and voted extremely well, and we were very proud of that,” Wilson said.
Wilson said though Georgetown is made up of a diverse population even in terms of political parties, he’s only been approached to date by the volunteers promoting Democrat-backed candidates. He added that while local Republicans and candidates have visited Georgetown’s civic league meetings, he hasn’t been asked directly by them to canvass and promote their ticket.
Nonetheless, he welcomes similar efforts from local Republicans, as “we are a neighborhood of people of different races, of different ages, of different financial assets.”
The goal, Lang said, is to have people in office who are responsive to residents’ needs.
“The only way that we see that we can bring that about is if we can get them to realize that when they pass on voting, they’re passing on controlling their future,” Lang said.
Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com
