GOTV for a local campaign: the highest-ROI 72 hours
May local elections are won or lost in the final stretch. Here's how to identify your supporters, bank their votes early, and run an Election Day chase that wins.
Most local campaigns spend months building name ID and then leave the final 72 hours to chance. That's backwards. In a low-turnout Texas May election, get-out-the-vote (GOTV) is the single highest-ROI work you'll do all cycle — because the universe is small, every supporter you turn out is a measurable percentage of the result. This guide breaks down exactly how to identify your supporters, bank their votes during early voting, and run an Election Day chase that closes the deal.
Key takeaways
- GOTV isn't persuasion — it's turning out people who already support you. The two jobs are different and shouldn't be mixed in the final week.
- In May races, early voting is your friend: bank supporter votes before Election Day so you're not gambling on a single Saturday.
- Build a chase list — only people you've ID'd as supporters who haven't yet voted. Never burn turnout effort on unknowns or opponents.
- Texas polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 1, 2027. Your Election Day plan should be built backward from 7 p.m.
What exactly is GOTV in a local race?
Get-out-the-vote is the final phase of a campaign where you stop trying to win people over and start making sure your already-identified supporters actually cast a ballot. The distinction matters: persuasion grows your share of the vote, GOTV grows your turnout. In a small May electorate, a few hundred banked votes can decide an at-large school board or city council seat — so the discipline of only chasing known supporters is what separates winning field programs from busy ones. If you haven't yet built that supporter list, start with our guide to building a voter universe.
GOTV starts with a clean ID program
You can't get out a vote you never identified. GOTV is the payoff for months of door-knocking, calling, and texting where you tagged each contact as a 1 (strong support), 2 (lean), 3 (undecided), 4 (lean opponent), or 5 (opponent). Your chase universe is your 1s and 2s.
How early should your GOTV program start?
Earlier than most first-timers think. Your supporter-ID work should be largely done before early voting opens in late April — GOTV is execution, not identification. Once early voting begins, your whole posture shifts: every day you're pulling the early-vote roster, marking off supporters who have already voted, and re-targeting the rest. The campaigns that win don't wait for Election Day; they treat the entire early-voting window as a rolling GOTV operation.
| Phase | When (May 1, 2027 cycle) | Your job |
|---|---|---|
| Supporter ID | Now through mid-April | Knock, call, text — tag every voter 1–5 |
| Early-vote chase | Late April (early voting) | Bank your 1s and 2s; pull rosters daily |
| Election Day chase | Saturday, May 2 (7a–7p) | Chase un-voted supporters until 7 p.m. |
| Post-close | After polls close | Thank volunteers; log results |
Why does banking early votes matter so much?
Because a supporter who votes early is a supporter you never have to worry about again. In Texas, a large share of the local electorate now votes during the early period rather than on Election Day. If you wait until that single Saturday to turn out your base, you're betting your entire race on one day's weather, work schedules, and youth sports tournaments. Bank the vote instead: as you ID supporters, immediately push them to vote early, then mark them off your chase list the moment they do. For the mechanics of running this rolling program, see our early vote chase program guide and the early voting in Collin County overview.
Pull the early-vote roster every day
Most Texas counties publish a daily list of who has voted early (not how they voted). Match it against your supporter file each morning so you stop contacting people who've already cast a ballot. Mandate does this matching automatically so your walk and call lists shrink to only the people who still need a nudge.
Mandate runs your GOTV chase automatically.
Tell Mandate who your supporters are and it builds your early-vote chase list, removes everyone who's already voted, and routes the rest to your field app, dialer, and texting — voter data, field, marketing, and Texas-ready compliance in one login.
How do you run the Election Day chase?
Election Day is a tightly choreographed sprint with one goal: every identified supporter who hasn't voted yet gets a ballot in the box by 7 p.m. Run it like this:
- 1.Start with a clean chase list. Before polls open, remove everyone who voted early. What's left is your Election Day universe — only your 1s and 2s who still haven't voted.
- 2.Open with a morning reminder. A friendly text or call at 8–9 a.m. with the polling location and hours. Low effort, high return.
- 3.Knock the midday round. Send volunteers door-to-door to un-voted supporters early afternoon. A face at the door converts far better than a phone.
- 4.Escalate in the evening. From 5–7 p.m., hit anyone still un-voted with calls and a final knock. Offer a ride if transportation is the blocker.
- 5.Stop contacting people who vote. Continuously update your list so volunteers never waste a knock on someone who already cast a ballot.
Don't turn out the wrong people
GOTV math only works if you chase supporters. If your IDs are sloppy and you turn out undecideds or soft opponents, you can literally help your opponent win. Tight, accurate IDs are the foundation — protect them.
How many supporters do you actually need to turn out?
Work backward from your win number. Estimate turnout from the last few May elections, figure out roughly how many votes it takes to win, then set a supporter-ID and turnout target that clears it with margin. This is the math that should drive every door and call — if you don't know your number, you're guessing. Our guides to how many votes it takes to win and Collin County voter turnout walk through the arithmetic.
The bottom line
GOTV is where disciplined local campaigns separate from hopeful ones. Identify your supporters early, bank their votes during early voting, and chase the rest until 7 p.m. on Election Day — and never spend turnout effort on anyone you haven't confirmed is with you. Do that and a small, motivated field program can win a May race outright. To run the whole chase from one login, explore Mandate's platform or apply to bring it to your race.
Frequently asked questions
When does GOTV start for a Texas May election?
Your supporter-identification work should be largely done before early voting opens in late April. GOTV itself runs through the entire early-voting window and peaks on Election Day, Saturday, May 1, 2027, when polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
What's the difference between GOTV and persuasion?
Persuasion is convincing undecided voters to support you, which grows your share of the vote. GOTV is making sure people who already support you actually cast a ballot, which grows your turnout. In the final week you should focus almost entirely on GOTV.
Should I focus on early voting or Election Day?
Both, in sequence. Bank as many supporter votes as you can during early voting so you're not gambling on a single Saturday, then chase only the supporters who haven't voted on Election Day. Banking early votes is the safer, higher-yield strategy.
How do I know which voters to chase on Election Day?
Your chase list is only voters you've identified as supporters (1s and 2s) who have not yet voted. Pull the daily early-vote roster to remove anyone who already voted, and never spend turnout effort on undecideds or opponents.
Run your whole campaign on one platform.
Mandate builds your voter universe, walk lists, GOTV, and Texas-ready compliance — start to finish, in one login. Tell us your race and we'll map it.
Keep reading
All resourcesBuilding an Early-Vote Chase Program
Close local races are won by the campaign that banks its supporters early and chases the stragglers. Here's how to build an early-vote chase program step by step.
How to Build a Voter Universe for a Local Race
A county voter file is 1.3 million people. Your race is decided by a few thousand. Here's how to cut a raw file down to the universe that actually wins.
How Many Votes Does It Take to Win a Local Election?
Your opponent isn't the whole town — it's a few thousand May voters. Learn the win-number method that tells you exactly how many votes you need and how to build toward it.
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