Every election cycle, volunteers do get-out-the-vote (GOTV) work, reaching people through postcards, phone calls, texts, canvassing, and social media to encourage them to head to the polls. It doesn't take much: a short, personal message can be the nudge someone needs to vote, especially in a close race.
Indivisible Hawai'i's Blue Wave team leads that work here at home. "Blue Wave" is the term used nationwide for grassroots efforts to elect more Democrats, and it's already helped flip Senate seats nationwide (see the full track record below).
For 2026, the Blue Wave team picked six states to focus on: Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, and Ohio. Because Hawaiʻi is so far from the mainland, our volunteers focus on what can be done remotely rather than in-person canvassing. Below, you'll find who's running in each race, why it made the list, and how you can get involved.
Why these six states: Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, and Ohio
The Blue Wave team tracks race ratings using 270toWin, which pulls its data from Cook Political Report. Focus4Democracy's endorsement criteria helps identify which candidates in those races are worth backing.
- A flippable U.S. Senate seat put Alaska, Maine, Michigan, and Ohio on this year's list.
- Iowa's Senate seat is open, since the Republican incumbent isn't running for reelection, and 270toWin already rates the state "leaning red" rather than "safe red." Focus4Democracy has named Josh Turek as a candidate worth supporting, and Iowa's two flippable U.S. House seats make the case even stronger.
- Rural Nebraska voters, including many lifelong Republicans, are frustrated by rising fertilizer and fuel costs and are reconsidering their vote this year, one reason Blue Wave leads believe the Senate seat is flippable. The state also has a flippable U.S. House seat, and 270toWin rates it "likely red" rather than "safe red."
Why postcards go further in small red states
Two things make a postcard go further in a state like Alaska or Nebraska than in a larger, more contested state:
- Fewer voters, bigger share. These states have small overall populations, so each voter reached is a larger slice of the total electorate needed to swing a statewide race. Many of these Senate contests will likely be decided by just a few thousand votes.
- Less mail, more attention. Voters in heavily targeted swing states are used to being flooded with campaign mail and tend to tune it out. Voters in traditionally red states like Alaska and Nebraska get far less of this outreach, especially mail encouraging them to vote Democratic. A friendly, personal postcard from Hawai'i (a place most people already love) is more likely to stand out, get read, and be remembered.
Our postcarding partners, Activate America and Progressive Turnout Project, supply the voter addresses in these swing states and districts.
Alaska: Mary Peltola for Senate
Mary Peltola, Alaska's former at-large U.S. Representative and the first Alaska Native person elected to Congress, is challenging Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. Cook Political Report rates the race a toss-up. Peltola has also significantly outraised Sullivan in recent fundraising reports, a sign of real momentum in a state that hasn't elected a Democratic senator in decades.
Iowa: Josh Turek for Senate, Christina Bohannan and Sarah Trone Garriott for the House
Iowa's open Senate seat is one of the year's most closely watched races. State Representative Josh Turek, a two-time Paralympic gold medalist and Council Bluffs Democrat, won the June 2026 Democratic primary. He faces Republican U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson in November. Cook Political Report has shifted its rating on the seat from "likely Republican" to "lean Republican" since Turek's win.
Former President Barack Obama endorsed Turek in late July, releasing a video of the two playing basketball together and closing with, "Now the ball's in your court, Iowa." It's exactly the kind of race where GOTV outreach can make a difference.
Two Iowa House races round out the state's targets. In the 1st District, Christina Bohannan, a University of Iowa law professor, is making her third run against Republican incumbent Mariannette Miller-Meeks after losing by fewer than 800 votes in 2024. In the 3rd District, Sarah Trone Garriott, an Iowa state senator and ordained Lutheran pastor, is challenging Republican U.S. Representative Zach Nunn in one of the most competitive districts in the country.
Maine: Troy Jackson for Senate
Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger and former Maine Senate president, became the Democratic nominee against longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins in late July 2026, after original primary winner Graham Platner withdrew from the race. Jackson enters the race with strong establishment and grassroots support, and both parties consider Maine's Senate seat pivotal to control of the chamber.
Michigan: Democratic primary on August 4
Michigan's open Senate seat (vacated by retiring Senator Gary Peters) will be decided in a November race that's rated a toss-up. Before that, Michigan Democrats choose their nominee in an August 4 primary, now a two-way contest between U.S. Representative Haley Stevens and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed after State Senator Mallory McMorrow suspended her campaign. Michigan's House races in the 4th, 7th, and 10th districts are also on the primary ballot that day.
Learn more about Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed ahead of the primary.
Because the nominee isn't yet decided, we'll hold off on House-district-specific outreach guidance for Michigan until after August 4.
Nebraska: Dan Osborn for Senate, Denise Powell for the House
Nebraska's Senate race is now a head-to-head contest between Republican Senator Pete Ricketts and independent candidate Dan Osborn, a steamfitter and former union organizer. Democrat Cindy Burbank won the May primary but withdrew from the race in July to clear the way for Osborn, and the Nebraska Democratic Party has endorsed his campaign. Osborn ran a surprisingly competitive independent campaign against Senator Deb Fischer in 2024, and this cycle's one-on-one matchup with Ricketts is considered a real opportunity to flip the seat.
Denise Powell, a small business owner and public school advocate, is running for Nebraska's open 2nd Congressional District, known as the "blue dot" for its history of splitting from the rest of red-leaning Nebraska in presidential elections. Cook Political Report rates the race "lean Democrat" against Republican Brinker Harding.
Ohio: Sherrod Brown for Senate, Greg Landsman and Marcy Kaptur for the House
Former Senator Sherrod Brown is running to reclaim the Senate seat he lost in 2024, facing Republican incumbent Senator Jon Husted in a race both parties are treating as one of the most expensive of the cycle.
Ohio's House map also includes two Democratic incumbents defending seats redrawn to favor Republicans. In the 1st District, Greg Landsman faces Republican Eric Conroy. In the 9th District, Marcy Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in congressional history, faces a rematch against Republican Derek Merrin.
Blue Wave's track record
Postcards are the easiest part of Blue Wave's work to count, but they're not the whole story. Since 2018, Blue Wave volunteers across Hawaiʻi have also made phone calls, sent texts, and spread the word on social media, alongside writing hundreds of thousands of postcards to voters in competitive races nationwide. The results back up why these six states made this year's list.
In 2020, Blue Wave's 218 volunteers wrote more than 80,000 postcards that helped flip Senate seats in Arizona, Colorado, and Georgia. By 2024, that effort had grown to 700+ volunteers writing over 185,000 postcards in a single cycle. Even in races we didn't win, the impact showed up in the margins: in Tennessee's 7th Congressional District, sustained organizing narrowed a 22-point Republican lead to just 9 points in 2025.
Read the full Blue Wave track record for the complete year-by-year breakdown and what seven years of Blue Wave work has taught us.
How to help
Ready to help flip these races blue? Visit IHSN's Flip Congress Blue page for postcarding, phone banking, text banking, and other ways to get involved, or sign up for an in-person postcard party near you.
Race ratings and candidate information current as of July 29, 2026, and sourced from Cook Political Report, 270toWin, Ballotpedia, and campaign websites linked above. Because primaries and candidacies can shift quickly, we'll revisit this page if any of these races change materially.
