Zeiger sends personal notes to voters

Home City News Zeiger sends personal notes to voters

With less than five weeks until the November election, voters are inundated with negative TV ads, junk campaign emails, and mailers that only get looked at on their way to the recycling bin.

Hillsdale alumnus Hans Zeiger is breaking through the clutter by personally reaching out to voters to secure his re-election bid.

Starting in 2010, when he first ran for the Washington State House of Representatives, Hans Zeiger and his volunteers began hand-writing postcards to constituents to make a personal connection. In 2010, Zeiger and his volunteers sent 18,000 postcards and in 2012 his campaign sent 19,000 more. He anticipates eclipsing those numbers for this election.

“I hope to communicate whatkind of legislator I am [through writing personal notes],” Zeiger said.

Along with a personal note on every postcard, Zeiger includes his phone number so the constituent is able to respond to the message.

“I actually get a lot of calls thanking me for the postcard,” Zeiger said. “With so many mailers going out during election time, people on the receiving end appreciate the personal touch.”

His constituents are not the only ones who appreciate the personal approach. His volunteers enjoy participating in the unique campaign tactic.

“Volunteers like it just as much as the people on the receiving end,” Zeiger said.

Zeiger hosts postcard parties where volunteers meet like-minded peers, eat pizza and soda, and write individualized notes to constituents. According to Zeiger, volunteers enjoy this much more than phone banking and other volunteer activities.

Volunteers can also write postcards on their own time. One committed volunteer, a retired school teacher, loves writing postcards. She “literally writes hundreds of postcards,” Zeiger said.

With more people today getting rid of their landlines, candidates are having to get creative to reach their voters. Zeiger’s postcard efforts may be the solution since everyone is required to have an address to vote.

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