About us

ALLIES FOR DEMOCRACY is a grassroots group based in Baltimore County, Maryland, working to mobilize voters since 2018. Questions or comments? Reach us at alliesfordemocracy@gmail.com.

A brief history

Allies for Democracy grew out of Colleen Ebacher’s 2018 campaign for a seat on the Baltimore County Council.  Following that election, Colleen and several  volunteers from her campaign undertook research to determine where their collective talents could be put to the best use going forward. 

(Above: Allies for Democracy volunteers canvassing in York County, PA. Photos by Caroline Gutman, courtesy of the Baltimore Banner)

With Maryland being a reliably blue state, they concluded that Allies could have its greatest impact by concentrating its efforts on elections in Pennsylvania, the swing state with the most electoral college votes (20) and the neighbor closest to its primarily Baltimore County and Baltimore City volunteers. Eventually, Allies decided to primarily focus its efforts on South Central Pennsylvania, particularly the Harrisburg and York metropolitan areas. With that in mind, it initially named itself Allies for Pennsylvania.

April 2019:  Allies conducts canvasses in Hanover Pennsylvania in support of Sarah Hammond, the Democratic nominee in a special election for Pennsylvania Senate District 88. Her opponent in that race, Doug Mastriano, would eventually become the Republican candidate for Governor in 2022.

Summer/Fall 2019:  Allies leads canvasses on behalf of Sandra Harrison in her race for Prothonotary for York County, and Hobie Crystal, who was running for  Lancaster County District Attorney. It also joins canvases in Delaware County, a suburb of Philadelphia, for several municipal seats.

Winter 2019-2020:  Allies selects three races in South Central Pennsylvania on which to focus its efforts:  Eugene DePasquale’s campaign for Pennsylvania’s Congressional District 10, the seat held by far-right Congressman Scott Perry, the current head of the Freedom Caucus; George Scott’s campaign for State Senate District 44; and Brittany Rodas’ race for House District 105. 

February 2020:  Allies holds its campaign launch party at An Poitin Stil in Timonium.  Thirty to forty prospective volunteers attend, and many commit to knocking on 500 doors each between the beginning of the Allies’ campaign and Election Day 2020.

March 2020:  Allies conducts canvasses in South Central Pennsylvania on March 1 and 8.  Congressman John Sarbanes comes to the Maryland canvass launch site for the second canvass to show his support for those efforts and to see the volunteers off.

After that second canvass, the March 15 canvass and all subsequent canvases are canceled, as the country shuts down in response to the growing COVID 19 crisis.

Spring 2020:  While it reformulates its election strategy in light of the limitations imposed by COVID, Allies organizes The Democracy Shot online speaker series. Maryland and Pennsylvania political leaders, candidates, and activists join Zoom calls with Allies’ volunteers and discuss issues relevant to Allies work and to the upcoming 2020 elections.

Summer/Fall 2020:  As COVID continues to prevent Allies from conducting canvasses, it pivots to its Democracy Dialers campaign, leading phone banks into Pennsylvania on behalf of the candidates it supports, and encouraging voters to request their mail-in ballots. Those actions continue right up to Election Day.

No longer limited to supporting campaigns in districts within driving distance of its volunteers, Allies expands its efforts to other battleground states, including Arizona (Mark Kelly’s campaign for U.S. Senate), and North Carolina (Virginia Cox-Daugherty’s race for House District 12). It changes its name to Allies for Democracy to reflect that broader focus.

November 2020:  When Allies’ phone banks conclude, several Allies volunteers train for and participate in the Pennsylvania voter hotline, which assists voters who are encountering difficulties casting their ballots or who otherwise need assistance in negotiating the labyrinth that is Pennsylvania’s election rules.  

Post 2020 election efforts:  Allies engage in ballot curing efforts in North Carolina, in which it assists voters whose mail-in ballots have been rejected for technical defects. It encourages those voters to correct those defects during North Carolina’s ballot cure period, and advises them as to how to do so.

December 2020 through January 5, 2021:  Allies participates in phone banks to Georgia in the lead up to the January 5, 2021 runoff elections for Georgia’s two Senate seats. It also engages in ballot curing efforts in those races, and some of its bi-lingual members assist voters seeking assistance the Spanish language hotline.

2021: Allies canvass in support of a slate of five candidates for the Central York School Board. That campaign attempts to unseat sitting Board members who had enacted a school book ban that was so extreme that it garnered national attention.  

2022: Allies returns to South Central Pennsylvania to canvass on behalf of Josh Shapiro for Governor, Shamaine Daniels for Congressional District 10, and Sara Agerton in her race to represent House District  88.

It also supports several local candidates, including Tony Fugett, Crystal Francis, Danielle Singley, Paul Henderson, and Caitlin Klimm-Kellner, each of whom ran as challengers for seats on the Baltimore County Council; Robbie Leonard in his campaign to become Baltimore County State’s Attorney; and David Trone in his effort to retain his sixth Congressional District seat.  Allies volunteers collect hundreds of signatures in support of a campaign to place a question on Baltimore County’s 2024 ballot increasing the number of council seats from seven to eleven.

Allies takes a leading role in the Baltimore County Fair Maps Coalition, which advocates for the creation of a second majority Black council district during the County’s redistricting process.  When the maps approved by the County Council fail to do so, it collects more than a thousand signatures in support of a referendum campaign seeking to increase the number of council districts from seven to eleven. 

Allies helps organize and promote a local Good Trouble for Democracy Vigil, honoring the work of civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis.  It also begins its collaboration with Young Successful Leaders, which continues to this day, lending its support to and promoting YSL’s Civic Engagement Workshops.

November/December 2022: Allies organizes postcard parties to Georgia voters seeking their support Raphael Warnock in his runoff race against Herschel Walker for the United States Senate. Several Allies travel to Georgia to canvass on behalf Senator Warnock.

2023:  Allies promotes campaigns by an outside group seeking to unseat additional members of the Central York School Board responsible for its draconian book bans;  one placing calls to voters urging them to request their mail-in ballots; and supports canvassing efforts in support of candidates running for seats in the Virginia Legislature.   

April 2024: Allies for Democracy’s campaign to defeat authoritarianism in November 2024 begins!