All of us staff and volunteers on Saikat’s campaign have been having a blast each week canvassing and talking to voters at farmers markets. I really don’t want anyone to miss out — especially YOU!

Please sign up for a Saturday canvass event here. Or sign up for a Farmers Market leafleting event here.

And that includes TOMORROW! Meet us for canvassing at:

Dolores Park, at 19th and Dolores — Sept. 13, 11:00 AM.

We’ll get you out on the doors really fast. Bring a friend, go out in a pair. Or go alone, or with another volunteer as you choose.

Here’s Saikat on why canvassing is so important — and some scenes of what to expect:

We have a huge goal to achieve: We’ve got to talk to at least 100,000 voters at their doors plus tens of thousands more at events. And I don’t mean just saying hi and waving. We’re identifying supporters, who we will turn out to vote, and undecided voters, who we will inform about Saikat and why he’s running.

It’s all part of a tech- and data-enhanced operation that we’ve been building for months, but the most important part is YOU. It all comes down to talking with our neighbors and other San Franciscans about the issues that matter to them, and giving them a reason to hope for change.

OK, thanks for reading! Hope to see you tomorrow or soon!

In solidarity,

Zack Exley
Campaign Manager
Saikat for Congress

Our office opening party is about to begin! If you’re not attending in person, you can still join us on Instagram. We’ll start streaming shortly after 5:00pm PT, and the event will start at 6:00pm.

But join a little early in case we get started early!

Zack Exley
Campaign Manager
Saikat for Congress

Join us for our office warming party this Tuesday, July 29th at our new campaign HQ, 800 Irving Street! Doors open at 5:00pm with food & mingling, and the event will kickoff at 6:00pm.

Click here to RSVP. (As I send this, more than 300 people have already signed up!)

Meet Saikat, our campaign team, and fellow supporters. If you can't attend in person, we'll also be streaming the event on our Instagram so you can join live from anywhere in the world!

Details:

• Food: Come hungry! We'll have delicious food catered by one of our local favorites, Beit Rima.

• Family-Friendly: Kids are warmly welcomed! There will be a dedicated children’s area stocked with plenty of markers and paper.

• Transit: Our office is conveniently located right on the N Muni line and within a couple blocks of several bus routes.

• Accessibility: Our office is accessible for everyone.

If you have any questions about the event, email us at team@saikat.us

Can’t wait to celebrate with you!

Zack Exley
Campaign Manager
Saikat for Congress

PS: We’re still looking for volunteer and paid graphic designers! We frequently need help creating flyers, online graphics, and more. Interested in joining our design team? Show off your skills by creating an Instagram invite graphic for our party (1080px x 1350px, 4:5 aspect ratio). You can use any images you like from our media kit, and we encourage you to bring your own creative flair. Check out Saikat’s videos and our previous posts for inspiration—but don’t hesitate to innovate!

Submit your graphic directly to team@saikat.us. (Please do not reply to this email.)

Last week’s campaign update was packed with volunteer and campaigning opportunities — and tons of people stepped up to help. Thank you!

We still have a specific ask for local folks and another for people willing to help from anywhere:

In SF:

We still need help setting up and furnishing the office. If you’re interested, please sign up here. Specifically, we need help:

• Locating free or inexpensive used office furniture in SF (there is so much!).

• Picking up and delivering furniture (in your vehicle or helping someone else).

• Decorating the office and generally making it look nice!

• Setting up a studio with a nice background for Saikat’s videos and voter video calls.

All over the country:

No matter where you live, you can help Saikat ban stock trading in Congress. We can do this by lobbying members of Congress in our local districts in conjunction with a “discharge petition” that any member of Congress can introduce. To learn more about this strategy click here — and sign up to be a citizen lobbyist on this issue.

An overwhelming majority of voters AND members of Congress agree on this. The only reason it hasn’t been banned is because party leadership on both sides, including of course our own Nancy Pelosi, won’t allow it to come up for a vote. We can get around that with a discharge petition. You can watch Saikat explaining this strategy here.

We already have 33 districts covered! Once we get to 100, that’s when we’ll start making waves — with your help — to see which member of Congress will step up to initiate the discharge petition.

OK, thanks again for your time and attention! I’m pasting in last week’s update in case you missed it.

Oh, and one more thing: if you replied to last week’s email, we didn’t get it! Still working on the settings here. If you ever need to reach us, please email team@saikat.us

Zack Exley
Campaign Manager
Saikat for Congress

___________________________

Hi there!

At some point in the past few months, you signed up for updates from Saikat’s campaign for Congress. Have you noticed not getting spammed with breathless fundraising appeals? We’ll never do that. We want these emails to allow you to connect to the campaign, and for Saikat and our campaign team to connect with you about important events and opportunities.

We’ve been laying the foundation for a campaign that can do what many say is impossible: win an election against Nancy Pelosi and transform the Democratic Party to fight for the issues that matter most to San Franciscans and Americans.

And now, we’ve got some results to report and upcoming events to tell you about:

1. We just kicked off our field campaign, which we would love for you to join! (Check voter contact on that form.) Our goal is to talk with 100,000 voters at their doors, and even more on the street and at events like farmers’ markets, neighborhood festivals, and other public events. That is an enormous goal. For comparison, per capita it is five times* greater than Zohran Mamdani’s insanely impressive 247,000 conversations on the doors. We need to reach more voters per capita in SF because our primary will have about five times higher voter turnout than the New York mayoral primary. To win, we need to organize on an even greater scale than Zohran’s campaign did.
   
   Volunteer teams will be out talking with voters every weekend and soon on weekdays too. I just went canvassing on Monday and it was amazing how many people were home even in the afternoon and were eager to talk. This is definitely the best city for door knocking I’ve ever experienced (and my sample is large!). We’re looking for a handful of detail-oriented natural optimizers to volunteer in the early days to help develop the most effective and efficient program possible. Sign up here to apply to be a part of this crack team. We’re also going to be hiring a small number of paid full time canvassers. Use that same link to apply!

2. Since we launched on March 1st, Saikat has been talking with SF voters almost every weekday on Zoom and in person. He’s done more than 100 Zoom calls with small groups. We’ve learned so much from these calls and have really been moved by the incredible values and deep desire for change of the voters in our city. San Francisco people are amazing! If you’re an SF resident, sign up to attend a call here. If you’re outside of SF, keep an eye on your inbox and Saikat’s social media accounts for national calls and livestreams.

3. We’re launching weekly public events covering every neighborhood of the district. Keep an eye on our Instagram for announcements, and we’ll be emailing invites too. We want these events to be mostly discussions with Saikat and figures from the neighborhoods where the events take place (followed by open Q&A). Please email us at team@saikat.us if you have a suggestion for someone to lead a conversation in your community.

4. We’re ramping up our media schedule, but Saikat’s already appeared on dozens of mainstream national and local news shows as well as podcasts and YouTube shows. Did you happen to catch him on the Ezra Klein Show? The Majority Report? Or CNN’s Kaitlan Collins? We have a long list of the big shows that we’d love for Saikat to go on. But we’d love to hear about your favorite small or medium size podcast or YouTube show that we should book Saikat on. Email suggestions to team@saikat.us

5. We’ve been building social media followings on all platforms. If you’ve ever tried to put yourself out there on social media, you know it’s incredibly difficult and awkward at first. I think Saikat’s doing an amazing job. But this isn’t just about Saikat — we’re featuring the stories of San Franciscans. And we’d like to be doing that every week. If you have a suggestion for a person, organization or business to feature, please email your suggestion to team@saikat.us.

6. Saikat just launched his national campaign ban stock trading in Congress in a video yesterday. This is something that we can accomplish even before Saikat is elected by lobbying across the country for a “discharge petition.” Click here to learn more about how this campaign will work, and sign up to lobby your local member of Congress.

7. We published our comprehensive platform page — and we’d love your feedback. At the bottom of the page, you can suggest better ways to explain our policies — or to tell us what we’ve got wrong or left out.

8. We just hired our chief organizer, Oscar Arbulu — a San Francisco native, former Marine, progressive vets organizer, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s former field director and campaign manager! I’m really excited about the amazing leadership skills, integrity, team culture, and vision that he is bringing to the campaign.

9. Last, but not least, we just got an office! It’s at 800 Irving St, in the Inner Sunset. You may know it as a bank (or as Mayor Lurie’s campaign HQ), and it’s now ours! We’re holding an office warming party on Tuesday, July 29th at 6:00PM. Come on over for some amazing “Arabic comfort food” from Beit Rima, sign up to volunteer, and meet Saikat, the rest of the campaign team, and other supporters.
   
   Oh, and if you have any furniture you’d like to donate, or if you’d like to help transport some or help decorate and organize the whole space, that would be amazing! Please fill out this form to let us know how you can help.

That’s it for our updates and announcements. In future emails, we’ll be sharing insights into campaign strategy, news from our events and organizing, Saikat’s media appearances, opportunities to get involved, and more.

One last thing: I already told you one kind of email you will never get on this list: breathless emails demanding urgent donations. We’ll send a few reminders to donate if you wish before big deadlines, but that’s it.

But there’s one other kind of email you will never get from us: emails from Saikat that Saikat did not actually write.

Most campaigns outsource their “email programs” to firms who write the emails that come from the candidate. I’ve been around long enough to remember how amazing it was to be able to connect with supporters directly through email on campaigns. For a brief moment, it was a medium through which candidates and movement leaders could make a direct connection with activists and voters. But almost immediately, email became just another consultant-driven channel spewing out words signed by candidates who have nothing to do with them.

That is not going to happen on our campaign. When you see an email from Saikat, or me, or any one of our staff, you can be sure the email is really coming from that person. Saikat and all of us know what a privilege it is to get some of your attention, and we’ll never take it for granted.

OK, thanks for reading! Hope to see you soon!

In solidarity,

Zack Exley
Campaign Manager
Saikat for Congress

At some point in the past few months, you signed up for updates from Saikat’s campaign for Congress. Have you noticed not getting spammed with breathless fundraising appeals? We’ll never do that. We want these emails to allow you to connect to the campaign, and for Saikat and our campaign team to connect with you about important events and opportunities.

We’ve been laying the foundation for a campaign that can do what many say is impossible: win an election against Nancy Pelosi and transform the Democratic Party to fight for the issues that matter most to San Franciscans and Americans.

And now, we’ve got some results to report and upcoming events to tell you about:

1. We just kicked off our field campaign, which we would love for you to join! (Check voter contact on that form.) Our goal is to talk with 100,000 voters at their doors, and even more on the street and at events like farmers’ markets, neighborhood festivals, and other public events. That is an enormous goal. For comparison, per capita it is five times* greater than Zohran Mamdani’s insanely impressive 247,000 conversations on the doors. We need to reach more voters per capita in SF because our primary will have about five times higher voter turnout than the New York mayoral primary. To win, we need to organize on an even greater scale than Zohran’s campaign did.
   
   Volunteer teams will be out talking with voters every weekend and soon on weekdays too. I just went canvassing on Monday and it was amazing how many people were home even in the afternoon and were eager to talk. This is definitely the best city for door knocking I’ve ever experienced (and my sample is large!). We’re looking for a handful of detail-oriented natural optimizers to volunteer in the early days to help develop the most effective and efficient program possible. Sign up here to apply to be a part of this crack team. We’re also going to be hiring a small number of paid full time canvassers. Use that same link to apply!
   

2. Since we launched on March 1st, Saikat has been talking with SF voters almost every weekday on Zoom and in person. He’s done more than 100 Zoom calls with small groups. We’ve learned so much from these calls and have really been moved by the incredible values and deep desire for change of the voters in our city. San Francisco people are amazing! If you’re an SF resident, sign up to attend a call here. If you’re outside of SF, keep an eye on your inbox and Saikat’s social media accounts for national calls and livestreams.
   

3. We’re launching weekly public events covering every neighborhood of the district. Keep an eye on our Instagram for announcements, and we’ll be emailing invites too. We want these events to be mostly discussions with Saikat and figures from the neighborhoods where the events take place (followed by open Q&A). Please email us at team@saikat.us if you have a suggestion for someone to lead a conversation in your community.
   

4. We’re ramping up our media schedule, but Saikat’s already appeared on dozens of mainstream national and local news shows as well as podcasts and YouTube shows. Did you happen to catch him on the Ezra Klein Show? The Majority Report? Or CNN’s Kaitlan Collins? We have a long list of the big shows that we’d love for Saikat to go on. But we’d love to hear about your favorite small or medium size podcast or YouTube show that we should book Saikat on. Email suggestions to team@saikat.us
   

5. We’ve been building social media followings on all platforms. If you’ve ever tried to put yourself out there on social media, you know it’s incredibly difficult and awkward at first. I think Saikat’s doing an amazing job. But this isn’t just about Saikat — we’re featuring the stories of San Franciscans. And we’d like to be doing that every week. If you have a suggestion for a person, organization or business to feature, please email your suggestion to team@saikat.us.
   

6. Saikat just launched his national campaign ban stock trading in Congress in a video yesterday. This is something that we can accomplish even before Saikat is elected by lobbying across the country for a “discharge petition.” Click here to learn more about how this campaign will work, and sign up to lobby your local member of Congress.
   

7. We published our comprehensive platform page — and we’d love your feedback. At the bottom of the page, you can suggest better ways to explain our policies — or to tell us what we’ve got wrong or left out.
   

8. We just hired our chief organizer, Oscar Arbulu — a San Francisco native, former Marine, progressive vets organizer, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s former field director and campaign manager! I’m really excited about the amazing leadership skills, integrity, team culture, and vision that he is bringing to the campaign.
   

9. Last, but not least, we just got an office! It’s at 800 Irving St, in the Inner Sunset. You may know it as a bank (or as Mayor Lurie’s campaign HQ), and it’s now ours! We’re holding an office warming party on Tuesday, July 29th at 6:00PM. Come on over for some amazing “Arabic comfort food” from Beit Rima, sign up to volunteer, and meet Saikat, the rest of the campaign team, and other supporters.
   
   Oh, and if you have any furniture you’d like to donate, or if you’d like to help transport some or help decorate and organize the whole space, that would be amazing! Please fill out this form to let us know how you can help.

That’s it for our updates and announcements. In future emails, we’ll be sharing insights into campaign strategy, news from our events and organizing, Saikat’s media appearances, opportunities to get involved, and more.

One last thing: I already told you one kind of email you will never get on this list: breathless emails demanding urgent donations. We’ll send a few reminders to donate if you wish before big deadlines, but that’s it.

But there’s one other kind of email you will never get from us: emails from Saikat that Saikat did not actually write.

Most campaigns outsource their “email programs” to firms who write the emails that come from the candidate. I’ve been around long enough to remember how amazing it was to be able to connect with supporters directly through email on campaigns. For a brief moment, it was a medium through which candidates and movement leaders could make a direct connection with activists and voters. But almost immediately, email became just another consultant-driven channel spewing out words signed by candidates who have nothing to do with them.

That is not going to happen on our campaign. When you see an email from Saikat, or me, or any one of our staff, you can be sure the email is really coming from that person. Saikat and all of us know what a privilege it is to get some of your attention, and we’ll never take it for granted.

OK, thanks for reading! Hope to see you soon!

In solidarity,

Zack Exley
Campaign Manager
Saikat for Congress