Leland Moore knocked on over 1,000 voters’ doors to ask for their support. While that happened, many of the voters Elias Theodore needed to reach weren’t in New Haven. So he turned on a video camera, hopped on social media platforms like Instagram — and tens of thousands people (including hundreds of potential voters) tuned in. Both Moore and Theodore got their messages across. They won elections to open seats on the Board of Alders, representing Morris Cove’s Ward 18 and Yale/downtown’s Ward 1, respectively. They began their first terms this month. They described the two routes they followed to office — one old school, one new school — during a conversation this week on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program. They needed to ramp up their campaigns this summer in time for fall Democratic primaries. Theodore, who grew up in New Haven, is a Yale junior majoring in urban studies. Up to 90 percent of his voters are Yalies. Most Yalies aren’t here in the summer. So like a snowballing number of candidates for public office these days, he turned to social media. He and his team shot crisp, energetic, issues-focused videos, including one about why he thinks Yale should contribute more money to the city. That video attracted up to 90,000 views across different platforms, according to Theodore. Click here to watch the video. The video succeeded in spreading a message, part of the job of a candidate for public office. “I will push Yale to give more, and I want you to join me. As 25% of New Haveners live below the poverty line, Yale deprives the city of $100M+ per year in tax revenue. With an endowment of $40B+, Yale has the capital, and a responsibility, to pay up,” Theodore wrote in the text accompanying the video.  The video reached hundreds of potential Ward 1 voters, Theodore said. It informed them that he was running. The videos in general also connected potential volunteers to his campaign. They helped the campaign register 250 new voters; Theodore won the election with 290 votes (though he figures some of the voters his campaign helped register voted for his opponent). Chats initiated by views helped the campaign guide supporters through the nuts and bolts of voting with questions such as: “I want to vote in the 2026 midterms in Texas. Can I vote in this election in New Haven?” (Answer: Yes.) The videos also helped direct people to in-person tabling events Theodore held when students returned to town. Though he lives by the scenic shoreline in Morris Cove, Leland Moore, a staff attorney for state Attorney General William Tong’s office, didn’t stage any Mamdani-like polar plunges to reach voters. He didn’t shoot videos. He sent email updates to voters. But mostly he knocked on doors. Day after day. Starting in January. Talked to all the voters he could face to face. Met more at public forums. “We didn’t do social media. I really just hit the doors and talked to people in the neighborhood,” Moore said.  Now in office, the alders know that keeping in touch with voters is crucial to the job. Moore is building an email list to update voters with a newsletter. Theodore said he plans to keep updates coming on social media, though maybe not at the rate he pumped them out during the campaign. Click on the below video to watch the full conversation with Ward 1 Alder Elias Theodore and Ward 18 Alder Leland Moore on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.” Click here to subscribe or here to listen to other episodes of  “Dateline New Haven.” The post The Medium Carries The Message appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less