Digital Ground Game canvassing event aims to mobilize Gen Z voters
By Abraham Fayad
On the weekend of Oct. 17-18, Digital Ground Game brought volunteers to metro Detroit as part of a 2026 nationwide canvassing tour.
One hundred volunteers knocked on 17,175 doors over the weekend and reached 2,186 voters in a district that was decided by only 1,600 votes in 2022. Digital Ground Game is a 501(c)(4) that recruits and organizes volunteers through online communities. The door knocking ran from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both days in an effort to turn out the vote for U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and the Democratic candidate in congressional district MI-10, Christina Hines. The district that narrowly voted Republican in 2024.
Online personalities are a deliberate part of the draw. Streamers Destiny, MrMouton and ImReallyImportant hosted live shows on both days and gave the opportunity for volunteers to meet with their favorite creators. ImReallyImportant called the El-Sayed–Mike Rogers Senate contest “the marquee race” and said he hoped his attendance would provide another incentive for local fans to show up.
“Obviously, Destiny is the big draw,” he said. “So I just want to help juice the turnout.”
He described canvassing as “customer service for voting” and sees the job as less about persuasion than reminding people the election is coming. There is value in "showing them that we're excited for it." Many, he added, "are people who don't have an outlet for politics."
Digital Ground Game executive director Bryce Peevers was more direct about his goal. “Trying to change election outcomes, trying to make sure that Republicans lose, I’ll be honest with you,” he said. He also presents canvassing as a potential remedy for the broader lack of civic engagement. “Engaging in politics is something that not a lot of people do past voting, if they do [vote],” he said.
“Everybody talks about how the internet is continuing to polarize people and pull people to the sides. And the easiest way to break that is go talk to voters.” He also added that seeing more young people going out there to volunteer for candidates they're excited about helps make that candidate “feel a little bit more real” to voters.
The tour was funded through community fundraising by the involved streamers' communities. More than $430,000 was raised across two live-streamed fundraising drives. The first stop was in Cleveland in September and Detroit was the second stop. The last two stops are Bucks County, Pennsylvania on Oct. 24 and San Antonio from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1.
The organization spent weeks digging through polls and researching local news to identify districts where they could have the biggest impact. Digital Ground Game plans to use the lessons learned on this tour to have an even bigger impact in the 2028 elections.
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