A rising sophomore at Duke and a leader of Swing NC Duke, Thomas has volunteered with FLIP NC about 10 times, both as a phone banker and as a phone bank captain. He grew up in Maryland around politics – his father worked for President Obama at the USDA for eight years. But this election marks the first time Thomas has been super involved in voter outreach. “With so much at stake, I felt like I had to do my part and help out,” he says.
Read this Q&A with Thomas and then sign up to join him for an upcoming virtual phone bank – he co-leads the “College Edition” phone banks with fellow Duke student Ryan Champaigne. The “College Edition” phone banks are designed to reach registered voters ages 17 to 22 in competitive NC House districts across the state. Most of these voters have not yet voted in their first election and may have questions about how and where to vote. (You do not need to be a college student to join the “College Edition” phone banks, but we would like to limit participation to volunteers of a similar age to those we’ll be calling.)
How did you find out about FLIP NC?
[Co-founders] Amy and Briana gave a talk at Duke University, where I'm currently a student. I thought their organization sounded extremely impactful, so I reached out to them about getting involved.
What has surprised you most about our voter outreach?
FLIP NC makes an enormous effort to adapt their strategy based on volunteer input. It has been surprising and awesome to see that my suggestions can have real and immediate impacts on how FLIP runs their voter outreach.
If you've participated in other voter outreach efforts, how are FLIP NC's different?
FLIP is all volunteer, and there's a sense of everyone in the organization learning and adapting together that isn't there with more hierarchical groups. After volunteering with FLIP a few times, you quickly start to feel like you are a part of the community, which is really great and makes volunteering more meaningful.
Have a funny story or touching moment to share? Maybe something that happened while you were making calls?
My best FLIP NC memory was after leading the first college phone bank, just hearing how grateful all of the volunteers were to us for creating such a fun and easy volunteer experience. Helping other people make an impact is a great feeling.
What's your top tip for someone who is new to voter outreach?
Be patient with yourself! Phone banking can feel a little tough and scary at first, but the more you do it, the better you'll get. You'll feel like a pro in no time!
What is really motivating you to get involved? Obviously, you want to FLIP NC, but tell us a bit about the "why."
The NC GOP is everything that is wrong with politics; it is regressive, racist, cruel, and has no regard for the well-being of the people of North Carolina. It's time to get them out of office and get some better people in.
How are you feeling about the 2020 election? Optimistic?
Extremely optimistic. Seeing how energized so many people are about this election has been truly inspiring. If we keep putting in work now, we'll see the results in November.
Other than politics, what’s a passion of yours?
Soccer. I played at an extremely competitive level my whole childhood, and I still play and watch soccer all the time today.
Who do you admire in politics?
AOC. She fights for what she believes in and doesn't let anyone tell her what to do. She advocates for what is best for the people, not what is "politically feasible.” In just a couple years in Congress, she changed the dialogue about the kind of change we need – she’s inspired people all over the country.
What would you say to someone who is feeling totally dejected by our current state of politics? And how do you stay in the fight?
I would tell them to look at the poll numbers. Democrats can easily take back the presidency, Senate, and NC state legislature in 2020. It all just comes down to how hard people like us work to turn out the vote. I stay in the fight because we can't afford to lose – there is simply too much at stake.
Tell us about a political moment that inspired you, whether it was a personal conversation, a speech given by a president, or a recent "blue wave" moment.
I was inspired by Jamaal Bowman's recent primary victory in New York over longtime incumbent Elliot Engel. Engel is a corporate Democrat – a number of Republican groups helped finance attack ads on Bowman, who is a champion of the people. He advocates for the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and other progressive policies that meet the scope of the problems our country faces today. Despite going in as an underdog, Bowman absolutely destroyed Engel in the primary, in part due to the efforts of the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led movement fighting for the Green New Deal that I am a member of. Together, Sunrisers made over 1 million calls into Bowman's district. We showed that people power is stronger than corporate power. It was very inspiring.
