SASK VOTES 2024: What does it look like inside a campaign office?

From the candidates at your door to the pamphlets in your mailbox it’s almost impossible to hide from Saskatchewan’s election campaign.

You might have even noticed campaign offices popping up in your community. But have you ever wondered what goes on inside?

It’s not all work and no play. Constituents and volunteers know how to get the job done, but have fun while doing it.

Listen to 980 CJME’s Nicole Garn talk about the campaign offices she visited:

Saskatchewan Party fuel up

Sask. Party candidate Laura Ross‘ campaign office is in an old restaurant, which is perfect because her team loves to cook homemade meals.

Laura Ross loves the team of volunteers at her campaign office. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

Sherry Simpkins, Ross’ campaign manager, said the office is used for volunteers to socialize, brainstorm and fuel up.

“We’re really fortunate to be on this campaign team because Laura and her husband love to cook for us,” she said. “We get people out by saying, ‘tonight is jambalaya night.’ So we’re looking forward to tonight’s meal and then we hit the doors.”

She also makes sure to keep their snack counter stacked.

“There’s hot chocolate, lemonade crystals, rice crispy cakes,” Simpkins said.

“We have a Keurig, hot water for tea, an ice maker, a water cooler and a little coffee bar. You want this to be a place where people just feel like they can come and grab a coffee, get their maps and hit the road.”

The snack counter also features a special collage of volunteers and their pets, courtesy of volunteer Renee Klein.

“As people come to door knock, Renee’s been taking photos of them,” Simpkins said.

“So we’re calling it the ‘Ross’ knock of fame.’ When we rented our photocopier and we wanted to see if it worked, Renee grabbed a picture off her phone and out comes Willow. She hasn’t been out door knocking, but she is on our knock of fame, Willow the cat.”

Volunteer Renee Klein began taking photos of her fellow volunteers to put on Ross’ knock-of-fame wall. She also printed out a picture of her cat Willow. Klein calls her “Princess Willow.” (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

Simpkins said the team does their best to make the office a fun space.

“We just make the space work,” she said.

“You’re here for a month, you’re here for a purpose and you’re going to live here. We co-habitate happily with each other and find our little places and get the job done.”

While Simpkins and Ross are no stranger to the campaign run, this is Klein’s first time.

Laura Ross (centre) and her team meet multiple times a week to brainstorm and doorknocker. Sherry Simpkins (left of Ross) and Renee Klein (right of Ross) love working with on Ross’ team. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

“I’m in my political era,” she said. “I haven’t been involved in politics at all. So this is new to me, but we’re having a good time.”

She enjoys the door-knocking process, even if some people she encounters might not be so nice. But she doesn’t let it bring her down.

“It does suck, because you’ll have like 20 supporters, and they all just be the greatest,” she said. “But then you’ll have one really mean person that’ll kind of dull the night, which is tough. You just have to remember what you’re doing it for, to be as cliché as possible.”

She helped organize the team with its large chalkboard calendar.

Large calendar on the wall at a political campaign office

Volunteer Renee Klein keeps the team organized with their calendar on the wall. She says the most important part is obviously the meals of the day. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

It helps keep track of important events and, of course, the meal of the day.

“The most important thing about this is our menu,” Klein said with a laugh. “So lasagna, sweet and sour meatballs, was really good. And then just the one beside it over there that just kind of has, like important days, like our door hanger drops. So we got different kind of literature that we’ve been putting on the doors.”

She also keeps track of how many doors get knocked in a day.

In just two days the team knocked on over 800 doors.

Ross said she loves getting out on the doorstep and meeting her constituents. She also loves her team is filled with both young and veteran volunteers.

“I love my team,” she said. “They are dedicated. They really understand what it takes to win, and they’re prepared to roll up their sleeves and make it happen.”

Volunteers hand out pins to potential voters. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

Green Party keeps things eco friendly

The Green Party campaign’s office might look a little different, but it doesn’t make it any less efficient.

The party meets in different locations like member’s houses, local parks, on Zoom and sometimes a 1970s camper van.

Green Party Leader Naomi Hunter said the van has a special story behind it.

“A party member and former candidate sadly did pass away this year, a friend of (candidate) Victor (Lau’s) wife,” she said. “This this van was one of the things that she left behind. It’s been all cleaned out, and now it’s got this couch, a cozy chair, power bar.”

She said it’s a great place to get work done.

“I’ve spent tons of nights out here already going through charts and sending out press releases,” Hunter said. “It’s been a great organizing space. And then it doubles as a place you can sleep if you need to.”

Green Party leader Naomi Hunter and candidate Victor Lau pose with a wooden election sign inside their 1970s campaign van. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

Hunter said the election fee jumping from $100 per candidate to $500 made things more difficult for the party.

“So not only would a campaign office be unachievable for us — other than what we are able to do for free here in Regina, in this van and in Saskatoon in my living room — but absolutely everything else that might make us more visible to the public is impossible,” she said.

With what the party can do, it tries to stay eco-friendly. This includes making reusable yard signs.

“My reasoning for doing this was because it is more environmentally friendly,” she said.

“One of the things that bothers me about elections is that there is so much waste. If you go out and look at the landfill after any election, those Coroplast signs that do not biodegrade are everywhere. So I really would urge all politicians (to do this), not for the sake of finances, but just for the sake of trying to find ways to make all elections a little bit greener.”

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Lau said the door knocking process had been successful.

“The people are pretty friendly,” he said. “… I think there is a sense that there’s change in the air. I think they’re looking around, shopping around for, you know, what? What are the future opportunities? What party could bring about real change? And that’s what we’re trying to offer.”

Hunter urges people to get out and vote, even if they don’t vote Green.

NDP flurry of activity

The wind warnings in Regina on Saturday didn’t stop the NDP volunteers from door knocking.

They arrived in droves, filled their pockets with snacks and pamphlets and hit the road.

Sally Housser, NDP candidate for Regina University said this is pretty standard for the office.

“The day starts and there’s this mad flurry of activity,” she said. “Volunteers come in. They get kind of their marching orders for the day. This is the neighborhood. Here’s who you’re going with.”

Housser has some tips for volunteers on the campaign trail.

With an average of nearly 20,000 steps a day, it’s important to have good quality, orthopedic shoes and she always has protein bars and dry shampoo with her at all times while on the campaign trail.

This is Sally Housser’s first time running in an election. However, this isn’t her first rodeo. She spent a lot of time with Jack Layton during his time with the NDP. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

Once the group of volunteers hit the road, it was time for other volunteers to continue management tasks.

This is where Evelyn Riggs works her magic. She is the campaign manager for three NDP candidates.

It might sound like a lot of work, but she has a team to help her.

“Well, you make sure that you have people designated in different areas,” she said. “That’s why we have a volunteer coordinator for the three. So that then, you know, we’re not stepping on toes.”

One role she takes very seriously is taking care of the volunteers.

“They are the people who work the hardest on the doorstep and on phones,” she said. “They’re going out and dropping leaflets. (We make sure) they are well cared for.”

Evelyn Riggs poses for a photo at her desk

Evelyn Riggs is managing three NDP candidates this election. She says having a large team helps with her workload. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

This isn’t Riggs’ first rodeo. She’s worked on a few campaigns in previous elections.

She said it’s important to stay organized. She keeps her brain engaged by playing Sudoku every morning.

But she also emphasizes the importance of having fun.

“This is also a place where people can make new friendships and new acquaintances,” she said. “Lifetime friendships come out of campaigns. I know that, and I have, because I’ve been doing it for a number of years.”

Someone who’s been volunteering with the NDP for years is Val Byers.

She was practically born into politics — her father was an NDP MLA.

“I’ve been an NDP volunteer my whole life,” she said. “I grew up in an NDP household, so that’s what I’ve done.”

A woman wearing a Moe's Gotta Go pin smiles for a photo

Val Byers wears a ‘Moe’s Gotta Go’ pin. She said people often start conversations with her about it. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

She continues to volunteer because she believes in the NDP.

“We just want to make Saskatchewan a better place to live,” she said. “It’s been tough for a lot of people, and everything is so expensive now, and we need to change that in Saskatchewan.”

She enjoys door knocking and meeting people. She also does grocery runs for the group. That day she was buying party supplies for the official office party for volunteers, donors and campaign members.