Listen to Win: Empathetic Conversations Training with SwingLeftHoCoMD

Politics is about persuasion—reaching out, person to person, and bringing others along. But persuasion doesn’t mean you’re rattling off statistics, arguing about policy, or convincing someone to do a 180º on the spot. In fact, persuasion starts with listening.

In a fractured political environment, it is both more challenging and more important to engage with those who might not vote like us (or not vote at all!). We know talking with voters works, but more often than not, Democratic campaigns start too late and target too narrowly. They underinvest in persuasion conversations, and ignore 1 in 4 potential voters because they’re unlisted or mislisted in the data Democrats rely on. Swing Left's new Ground Truth canvassing program will change that. By starting early and having empathetic listening conversations with every voter, we’re uncovering concerns that campaigns need to address, earning trust in communities that might feel overlooked, and making sure Democrats are speaking to what people actually want. That’s how we help Democrats flip the House in the 2026 midterm elections.

This new approach to voter contact means we’ll be talking with all kinds of people, and we know that can be intimidating. Whether you’re knocking on doors in a swing district, simply talking with a friend, or anything in between, honing your empathetic listening skills will help us engage in productive conversations—and ultimately change the hearts and minds we need to win.

Come learn more about how empathetic listening conversations work, and how you can get involved now to win in 2026.

—

In 2024, Democrats lost the House by only 7,309 votes, handing Republicans the narrowest majority in nearly 100 years. Winning the House in 2026 is doable—and it’s the most impactful thing we can do to stop Trump. A House victory will give Democrats a critical federal lever: more power and more oversight to investigate government actions and political corruption, effectively stopping the MAGA legislative agenda in its tracks. Check out Swing Left’s strategy to win back the House: swingleft.org/house