'Well heck, I'm not doing anything': This Arizona couple moved to Iowa to volunteer for Tulsi Gabbard

DES MOINES – Geoff and Kareen Silva are from Cornville, Arizona, but moved to Iowa and leased a home in Des Moines to volunteer for U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard's presidential campaign.

Geoff Silva said he had been interested in Gabbard, a Democrat from Hawaii, for a long time, but they didn't have many chances to see her in Arizona. When Gabbard held an event in Las Vegas, Nevada, in May, the two drove five hours to see her, he said, and quickly offered to help the one volunteer staffing the event.

Afterward, Gabbard invited them to lunch.

"During the conversation, Tulsi was talking about her need to have 'boots on the ground' in Iowa," Geoff Silva said. "I go, 'Well, heck, I'm not doing anything, I'd love to do that.'"

For the past few months, the Silvas have been working as Gabbard's Iowa "boots on the ground." Overall, Geoff Silva said his work for Gabbard takes up around 40 hours a week.

"It's kind of like a regular job, but we're all volunteers," he said.

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All of Gabbard's Iowa supporters working to raise her name awareness, find donors and host events in the first-in-the-nation caucus state are volunteers. Her campaign does not have any paid staff in Iowa, and would not answer whether they plan to hire campaign workers or compensate volunteers in positions typically occupied by full-time staff.

According to polling in Iowa and other early states, Gabbard is not a frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic presidential race. But most other low-polling campaigns have at least one full-time paid staffer stationed in Iowa.

No full-time Iowa focused staff

Other than Gabbard, only New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a relatively recent entry to the presidential field, reported having no full-time paid Iowa staff as of July 1. Democrat Tom Steyer, who entered the race July 9, announced Tuesday he has hired an Iowa state director. The rest of the 2020 Democratic presidential campaigns have Iowa staff, ranging from U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan's Iowa staff of two to former vice president Joe Biden's Iowa organization of 75.

"We're just going to continue to grow and grow in the kinds of outreach that we are delivering, so that I and my team can continue to reach as many voters as possible," Gabbard said in Iowa in July.

Gabbard said at the time, "we do have staff here in Iowa and we’re looking forward to continue to come back and reach every voter in the state."

But Amaury Dijardin, Gabbard's national organizing director, said in August the campaign has no full-time paid staff dedicated only to Iowa. Dijardin said he has been based in Iowa since mid-June, but focuses on all states.

Dijardin said Gabbard has hundreds of volunteers in Iowa. But he has hopes that the campaign wants to invest more in Iowa staff.

"The larger question may be, are we going to amp up investment in staff, right?" he said. "And, of course, that's something we'd like to do, but as you know, financial constraints can play a key role in those decisions. So, when I'm told we can invest more in staff, we certainly will."

"In the meantime, if volunteers can carry — well, not carry — but can help go to an event and speak on behalf of Tulsi, or go clipboard behind a stand at a county fair or something like that, that's something that volunteers at events across all campaigns do," he said.

But Gabbard has the Silvas

While Gabbard may not have full-time paid staff working on the Iowa campaign now, she does have the Silvas.

At 7:30 a.m. on an early August day, Geoff Silva and a group of six other volunteers camped out along a main thoroughfare in Des Moines. They had signs, smiles and waves as they greeted the morning rush hour traffic with their message: Tulsi 2020.

A few drivers gave volunteers the middle finger, a thumbs down or shouted "Trump!" out of car windows. Most returned the smile and waved or honked their car horns as they passed by.

"Over here, we have a pretty friendly crowd," Silva said. "Actually, everywhere they're pretty friendly. Iowans are really nice people. At least 50% you get a nod and a smile."

Monday through Friday, Silva and a handful of other volunteers go out to spread the word of Gabbard's presidential campaign, on busy intersections around the city. Once traffic dies down, they break, get coffee and spend the rest of the day doing other things, but typically go out again to canvass for Gabbard in the evenings, along with occasionally holding events supporting her campaign.

Neither the Silvas nor others who spend a lot of time volunteering in Iowa are listed in the Gabbard campaign's Federal Election Commission filings as having received salaries or expense reimbursements. A total of eight people appeared in Gabbard's FEC filings as having received a salary since April 1, 2019.

Dijardin said there have been volunteers who traveled across states for the campaign, but that the campaign communicated clearly that the work was voluntary and that they were not forced into taking on tasks they did not want to do.

"They haven't been slotted into positions, and you know, if the campaign asks them to do something where they spend their own money, we will reimburse them, but we haven't asked them to do something without the clear notion that it's volunteer work," he said. "If they don't want to do it, we're obviously not going to force them to do it. They have the right to say 'no.'"

Billboards and lawn signs

Gabbard has not been on-the-ground in Iowa as much as many other candidates, but excels in some other forms of outreach: billboards and lawn signs.

Gabbard has at least one dozen billboards throughout Iowa. According to FEC filings, her campaign has spent nearly $126,000 on billboard advertising throughout the country.

Beyond billboards, volunteers also make sure "Tulsi 2020" signs are featured throughout Des Moines. When door-knocking, volunteers ask residents if they can put up a Gabbard sign in the yard even if those living within do not support her, Geoff Silva said.

Iowa volunteers regularly communicate with Gabbard's national campaign, Durijardin said.

"They are following instructions from the campaign, we have weekly conference calls for Iowa volunteers to outline what they can be doing, and we try our best to call through those volunteers regularly to sign them up for shifts," he said.

It's a non-traditional campaign structure. But it's one in which her supporters and volunteers are fully willing to invest in.

"Tulsi's message is service above self, and I believe in that myself," Geoff Silva said. "She's making the big sacrifice, and some of us are making little sacrifices to try to turn this country around a little bit."

"This is like a vacation for us, but we get to work for a fantastic candidate," he said. "I think she can change America for the better, and maybe change the world."

Robin Opsahl covers political trends for the Register. Reach them at ropsahl@registermedia.com or 515-284-8051. Support reporters who follow your government by becoming a subscriber. Sign up at DesMoinesRegister.com/Deal.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 2020 Democrat Tulisi Gabbard is relying on volunteers in Iowa