It Started with Anger; Ten Years In, It’s All About Progress and Persistence

History of 31st Street Swing Left

Apr 15, 2026

Lisa Herrick, Founder, 31st Street Swing Left

We all have a story of how our activism started. Mine began the week after Trump was elected.

In my suite of offices, colleagues caught each other’s eyes in the hallways and started weeping. One night, doom-scrolling through Facebook, a post stopped me: Identify the congressional district closest to you where a Republican seat could be flipped, and help us flip it. The post was written by something called Swing Left. They were inviting people to host meetings in their homes — materials and agenda provided, interested neighbors could sign up online.

With a little research, I learned the nearest vulnerable GOP seat to Washington, D.C. was in Northern Virginia, held by Barbara Comstock. I’d barely heard of her. I wasn’t particularly political. A clinical psychologist, I spent my days seeing clients, helping one person, one family at a time.

I was so angry, however — at voters who chose a sexual predator, a liar, a venal man without the slightest moral compass, and at Trump himself — that I decided on impulse to host a meeting. I set a date, entered my information, then forgot about it.

Three weeks later came a notice from Swing Left: 30 people had signed up for my meeting. I panicked. I called friends and colleagues and begged them to come, to save me from the embarrassment of knowing not one thing about political organization. That Saturday morning, a small crowd — mostly strangers — filled my home. We shared bagels, coffee, and chaotic discussions about how to proceed.

Within a month, our group coalesced around people ready to learn and to persist. It was February 2017. Virginia had legislative elections that fall, and that seemed good practice for the big leagues: getting a Democrat elected to Comstock’s seat in 2018. We needed a name. My husband and I lived on 31st Street in D.C. Hence: 31st Street Swing Left was born.

We researched Virginia’s political landscape and met candidates running for State Legislature — a teacher, a Democratic Socialist, a trans woman, an Asian woman, a Latina woman, a lesbian. Not exactly the seasoned candidates we might have wished for, but earnest, determined, and ready to serve. Our modest band of new activists connected with other grassroots groups in the metro area and threw ourselves into fundraising — in my living room — and canvassing the heck out of Northern Virginia that fall.

*Our home on 31st Street that became our namesake and headquarters.*

Along the way we gained a secret weapon: Jim Shelton. A retired epidemiologist, Jim knew his way around numbers and analytics — and had time on his hands. Several others emerged as dedicated leaders: Mary Pence, as determined as a honey badger when she set her mind on a goal; Jan White, another colleague and a brilliant attorney; Adele D’Ari and Amy Kossoff, two friends who were as angry as I was; and Joanne Harris, one of those strangers who had signed up online for my first meeting.

Later, Aaron Hamburger heard me speak at a Unitarian Church, signed up on the spot, and quickly became one of our engines. And then there’s my husband, Drey Samuelson, who has worked in Democratic politics for 40 years. Before the Orange Man was elected, I had simply admired him from across the dinner table. Since then, Drey has been an invaluable advisor to our leadership group. We now have 18 remarkable people on our Leadership Team.

By the end of 2017, we had grown to about 350 members and raised $115,000 — something we felt enormously proud of. In one memorable effort, Jim learned that candidate Kelly Fowler in Virginia Beach was about to quit. She’d run out of money. We put out a plea and quickly raised $3,800. Kelly paid her rent, stayed in the race — and won in November. So did the teacher, the Democratic Socialist, the trans woman (a first in the Virginia Legislature), the Asian woman (another first), the lesbian (another first), and the Latina (one of the first). On election night, as we ate pizza, chugged wine, and anxiously watched results in Adele’s kitchen, Jim predicted Democrats might flip eleven or twelve seats. They flipped fifteen. Not quite enough to change the majority, but we were euphoric. From a basketful of horrified individuals, we had become something of a powerhouse.

*The scorecard for the candidates we supported our first election in 2017.*

31st Street has never paused. We grew, we learned, and when the pandemic moved us to Zoom, we discovered that virtual fundraisers brought in attendees and members from across the country. We raised $1,024,000 in 2018. The next highest-raising Swing Left chapter brought in $50,000. The House flipped in 2018, and of the twelve candidates for whom we raised more than $25,000, nine won.

*Donation to Congressional candidate Jennifer Wexton* in 2018.

Our members had spent 2018 Skyping with candidates at our monthly meetings. When they won, we invited them all to dinner at the American Legion Hall on Capitol Hill. And they came. We got pictures, we hugged, and we were fueled for another year — which turned into two, three, and here we are. Still going, with the work nowhere near done. We now count over $13 million raised, tens of thousands of doors knocked, thousands of letters written, and more than 2,400 members living all across America.

When I try to explain our success, I point to a few things. First, elasticity — the willingness to adapt. Second, relying on empirical data to guide our choices, so we can promise a real level of effectiveness. Third, maintaining a cohesive, warm community where members feel like friends and comrades, not simply donors and volunteers.

*Swing Left team ready to canvas for Stancey Carroll for Delegate campaign in 2025*

Under Jim’s tireless guidance, we follow the mantra: where others zig, we zag. We have never chased marquee candidates — big names flush with money from major donors. Instead we focus on “sweet spot” candidates: less known, not shoe-ins, but with a genuine chance of winning if helped early. We study polling, consult key informants in target states, and keep adapting: social media influencer campaigns, voter registration drives, radio ads reaching minority voters, digital advertising for campaigns beyond print and TV. . .

As for community — I give my co-leaders and myself credit. Weekly newsletters from me, biweekly action updates from George Hastings and Joanne Harris. Monthly meetings with guest speakers who inform and inspire. Bi-annual picnics. And constant, genuine expressions of gratitude to our members — because we feel it, genuinely, all the time.

Being part of 31st Street has kept all of us relatively sane throughout a very hard decade. Despite a devastating 2024 election, our leaders and members are hanging in there. We persist. We find successes and celebrate them. When the world goes dark, we say: we are doing something. And we are doing it with people we trust and admire.

I felt so powerless in the winter of 2017. So angry. The anger has waxed and waned — clocking in pretty high these days, frankly. But I haven’t felt powerless since I gathered those 30 strangers in my living room, fed them bagels, and started figuring out what to do. I haven’t been alone since then. I’ve had my group. And together, along with all the other grassroots groups still going strong, we have power.

About the author

Lisa Herrick, PhD is a clinical psychologist specializing in marriage and divorce. She has two children, five grandchildren and a dog. She’s the founder of 31st Street Swing Left and tries her best to save Democracy in her spare time.

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