Positive Women’s Network-USA held another successful voter engagement campaign season that saw our local power grow exponentially. 

We are living in a moment that calls for real, meaningful relationships with our friends, families, neighbors, and communities. Connection is how we build trust to know what’s real in a world of misinformation and false narratives pushed by artificial intelligence (AI). 

In this country, voting is one of the most accessible tools that we have as a collective. Voting is not going to make all of our problems go away; we’re living under fascism and we’re very clear about that. Voting has never solved all of our problems in a capitalist society.  Even when people turn out by the millions across the country, elections are stolen. So, while voting is still free, we will use it as a tool for power building. 

Our theory of change is that the power lies within the people most impacted by oppression and if you give them the information and resources, they will create solutions that work best for them. This means that after the election we have to continue holding electeds accountable, regardless of political party.  

To be clear, elected officials on both sides have disappointed us—like the 8 democrats that voted to end the shutdown & sold out the American people to restart the government in exchange for empty promises. In Texas, we’re let down by Governor Greg Abbott. After the passing of Representative Sylvester Turner, constituents have been left without representation for over 8 months because Governor Abbott didn’t call a special election sooner. This absence in congressional district 18 allowed for HR 1, the Big, Ugly Murder Bill, to pass cutting important health care resources, bankrolling ICE to kidnap people from the streets, and giving tax breaks to billionaires. 

Since we can’t count on the legislators in Congress to look out for the everyday person, we must focus our efforts locally and hold elected officials at the state and city levels accountable. We must do this to ensure that folks on the ground are safe in ways they feel and see. In Pennsylvania, for example, we’ve seen the defunding and elimination of harm reduction resources like Safe Syringe Programs, regulating mobile service providers out of existence, and banning overdose prevention centers in Philadelphia, by our own city councilors! For years, these services have taken care of community members who need them most.  

This campaign, we hired 109 folks,

• over 75% are BIPOC
• Nearly 34% are PWN members
• About 10% are gender diverse or trans people

In Colorado, the chapter spoke with voters in the North Denver and Pueblo area to build community at a time when people have been devastated by the Big, Ugly Murder Bill. Voters had an opportunity to talk about how HR 1 has impacted them and had space to process the grief from the fallout. Voters were relieved to hear from our people and express what they’ve been hearing, seeing, and feeling. From news cycles that stoke division and fear to real concerns about about the future of Coloradans, PWN-CO focused on creating opportunities for community—especially BIPOC, trans and cis women, gender diverse, and transgender people living with HIV—to come together out of isolation and create a powerful base that is cared for and ready to fight.

• # Attempts on phones and doors: 7,202
• # Reached, contacts made: 479
• # Supporters identified: 120

PWN Colorado campaign lead and chapter member:

[My proudest moment] is building confidence in us, that we can pivot on a dime if needed and y’all believe in us. Also, when staff is like, “hey I need to do x real quick. Y’all got this for a bit.” 💖 [Another proud moment was] definitely bringing in a second generation of my fam to PWN and all the great conversations this experience brings 🙌🏽

In Pennsylvania, we talked with voters in the Kensington area of Philadelphia about what real safety means to them. In addition, we talked to folks in Allegheny County to get out the vote. Since 2020, the chapter has been talking with voters in North Philly about the over-criminalization of our communities. Black and brown, LGBTQ+, and low income Pennsylvanians are consistently over-policed over seeking abortion care, drug use, and for living with HIV. The chapter’s work builds on our past campaigns focused on harm reduction and ending the practice of criminalizing people because of a health condition ( including drug use, abortion, and HIV).

PWN-PA has been canvassing and phonebanking in North Philly (Ward 11) since 2020. The chapter has also added other areas over time to deepen their connection in the community (expanding canvassing & phone banking in North Philly and phone banking in West PA). This year, we expanded into Kensington to ask community members what real safety means to them. 

We have been fighting hard against anti-harm reduction legislation, such as mobile service provider bans. In Spring 2025, we were able to get Bill No. 240665, from anti-harm reduction city council member Quetcy Lozada, amended even though it passed. This campaign, PWN-PA spoke with community members in Kensington who have been directly targeted by the City Council in an effort to scrub Kensington—a 60% Puerto Rican community—and gentrify it into another unrecognizable neighborhood.

PWN-PA believes that if we can grow a powerful base of North Philadelphians, then we can build a community of people committed to ending the criminalization of people based on a health condition, including HIV, and mobilize them to take action to protect their community. 

• # Attempts on phones and doors: 88,000
• # Reached, contacts made: 5,000
• # Supporters identified: 551

Valentina, PWN-PA Canvasser: I was knocking doors in Kensington and I was talking to a woman in her 60s. She told me she lived in the neighborhood for the past 15 years and has voted. She said she never had someone explain the process of voting to her before. She was registered but never knew how to vote. We talked through it together and she made a plan to vote. I gave her my number in case she needed anything else. I got a call from her on election day; she told me she had finally cast her first vote!

In Texas, we spoke with voters in congressional district 18 (CD18) about the special election to fill the long vacant seat in their district, and the impact this vacancy played in passing the Big, Ugly Murder Bill. Community members were able to share with us the impacts they’ve been feeling and witnessing since the passing of this harmful bill. 

Phone bankers asked voters how they have been feeling with a constant crisis-driven news cycle to understand their biggest concerns and make a commitment to voting in the special election.

In Harris County, we saw the second highest turnout in history for an off cycle election—roughly 20k voters away from beating the record turnout in 2023. The PWN-GHA chapter was a part of this history and they plan to continue the work of building deeper lasting relationships. The chapter’s slogan this season perfectly encapsulated the campaign message of holding elected officials accountable: Our Values. Our Votes. Keep the Promise…Let your word be your bond.

• # Attempts: 152,000
• # Reached/contacts: nearly 25,000 
• # Conversations: nearly 2,500
• # Supporters Identified: 1200

Deborah, PWN TX-GHA chapter leader and phone banker: 

A lot of people didn’t even know there was an election, or had so much going on in their own lives with hardships that they were just fighting for survival. 

We know midterm elections are coming in 2026. We are preparing. There will be a lot of misinformation and most likely an overwhelming amount of news around the elections. We want you to know that PWN will be here – as a space to be in community with one another and break through the noise so we know our power is real and we are capable of fighting for a world that protects Black, Indigenous, people of color, trans people, immigrants, people living with HIV and everyone pushed to the margins.