How Hollywood Dems Are Mobilizing for Midterm Elections

Many Democratic members of Hollywood are recasting themselves as advocates this election season, throwing more than their high-profile names behind their candidates of choice.

Actresses-turned-activists Alyssa Milano and Amy Schumer were noted celebrity presences and voices against Brett Kavanaugh’s U.S. Supreme Court hearing; and notable stars like Tom Hanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kerry Washington and Tracee Ellis Ross have donated their time, money and faces to get-out-the-vote and Swing Left videos, Variety reported.

The hands-on approach marks a big change from the 2016 election, when many Hollywood liberals seemed to believe Hillary Clinton would coast to the presidency.

thanks @taylorswift13 let’s go! pic.twitter.com/DviAHLgXmu

— Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) October 9, 2018

Others, like Superstore‘s America Ferrera, have been inspired to enter the political arena because of specific issues that speak to them on a more personal level.

“Our thoughts and our ideas and our actions have been relegated to ‘Oh, Hollywood elite. They are so out of touch,’” Ferrera told the entertainment site. “I don’t know a single person who works in Hollywood who was born and raised on a television set. I was born to immigrant parents, a single mother raising six children on a salary that would be hard to raise one child. I am not the coastal elite. I am a storyteller in entertainment.”

The support of these famous faces has been attributed to immediate results in some cases, demonstrating the influence many of these well-liked celebrities have over the general public.

After announcing her support of Tennessee Senate hopeful Phil Bredesen and encouraging her fans to vote, Taylor Swift was credited with a subsequent uptick in voter registration of some 65,000 people.