Texas GOP sends me text messages. What should I do?

[RipVanWinkle]

I don't know how, but somehow, the Texas GOP obtained my phone number and is texting me. I lived in the Austin area for a long time, but moved away several years ago. I have always been a registered Democrat voter.

The phone number that is receiving the messages is a number I had when I lived in the Austin area. When I moved away from Texas, I ported the number to Google Voice. I wanted to keep it because it is a very easy number to remember (e.g. 555-5555).

Here are the messages I've received:

1. (name), it's Gov. Abbott. Secure the future of TX & vote early TODAY! Skip Election Day lines. Early voting locations: us-red.com/fr1 stop=end

2. Hi (name) this is Edgar with 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝘅 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗘𝗖 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱. Travis has been a leader on the PEC Board of Directors and wants to continue his work providing you with the lowest electric bill possible while maintaining great service and reliability. Will you join us in voting to 𝗿𝗲-𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝘅 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗘𝗖 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱? Voting starts today, Wed, May 18th and ends Fr., June 10th. You will get an email with a link to voting as well as more information in the mail. To learn more about Travis' campaign visit www.facebook.com/traviscoxforpec. Text stop to Opt Out

3. (name), it's Ed w/Gov Abbott. Will you be voting for Greg Abbott in the November General Election vs. Beto? Please Reply. Y=Yes, N=No, U=Unsure stop=end

4. Hey, is this (name)? Jul 20, 11:03 AM

5. Hi (name), just wanted to know if you got my last text?, Friday, July 22 2022, 7:10 AM

6. Dont mean to be a bother, I wanted to see if there is a better time I could check back with you?, Saturday, July 23 2022, 7:12 AM

7. Hi again, just checking back a third time to see what feedback you had., Monday, July 25 2022, 7:19 AM

8. Hey (name)! It's been about a month since we reached out to you about our . Just seeing if you were still interested., Tuesday, August 16 2022, 7:11 AM

Any advice?

Thanks

[CrispyQ]

1. Text back "stop."

That usually works.

[MiniMe]

11. I do that, but I use all caps

STOP

[LexVegas]

2. Ask your parents for help.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

3. Don't you have a block option?

If you do, block them all. If you have an IPhone I know how to do it if you need help

[mercuryblues]

4. I would check to see if the info is correct

It could be targeted disinformation.

Then i would reply with a link to a mental health facility and imply they accept his insurance.

[Earth-shine]

7. I would ignore the messages. Like any telemarketer abusing peoples phone numbers,

eventually, it will stop.

If you reply with "Stop," it signals that you are someone who pays attention to these messages and they might come at you from another account.

[LakeArenal]

8. There are many ways to send the message from not interested to something hostile.

[blogslug]

9. Report them as SPAM

Some greedy jerk sold a list with your number on it and republican political operative(s) bought that list. It's an unsolicited text. It is SPAM. Report it. Then block the number.

https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-report-spam-text-messages

How To Report Spam Text Messages

If you get an unwanted text message, there are three ways to report it:

- Report it on the messaging app you use. Look for the option to report junk or spam.

How to report spam or junk in the Messages app

How to report spam on an Android phone

- Copy the message and forward it to 7726 (SPAM).


- Report it to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

[Sanity Claws]

20. Thanks for this

I started getting lots of Spam texts within the last two weeks. I just blocked them. Now I know where to report them.

[snowybirdie]

10. Block the

number in settings. Should work

[padfun]

12. I'm different than all of you. I would have fun with it

I get several that think I am a Republican. So I answer and tell them things that are opposite of how I feel. Like a few weeks ago, I got asked if I thought Trump should run. I said as a vet, NO. I then said they should go with Sarah Palin as the candidate.

[LeftInTX]

18. Good strategy, but don't over do it

They'll know you're playing with them and they will remove your number.

Not responding is probably the best way to play with them.
They don't know if the number is right or wrong or anything. They don't know what you're thinking. They don't know they're wasting their time and money.
Texts can end up costing campaigns quite a bit.
It costs $1,600 to text 20,000 people.
$80,000 to text one million.
However the back and forth texts add up over time.
To send four texts: $6,400 to 20,000 people
$320,000 to send four texts to one million.

[padfun]

21. That's a good idea.

Keep them going back and forth and cost them more money.

[Heather MC]

13. Send a lot of pro racist text back, and see if you get a "yeah you're one of us response" lol

And of course Screen shot what they say

[ZonkerHarris]

14. Let's go catfishing. tell him you will fund raise, then never do it...

Make an appointment to meet or volunteer.
Ghost.
Then do it again and again and again
Take up his time and resources in any way you can

[LeftInTX]

19. Yes

[GreenWave]

15. Tell 'em to meet you at noon or else!

[LeftInTX]

16. You can Reply "Stop" to end the texts.

If you wanna be nice, you can tell them that they have the wrong number.

4. Hey, is this (name)? Jul 20, 11:03 AM

The texter is doing something smart..He is trying to verify that he has a correct number.
If it's a wrong number, it they won't text anymore. This cleans up their database.

Too many Democratic texters don't ask this info and that is a huge mistake. Campaign databases are full of erroneous phone numbers! Campaigns obtain phone numbers and names from carriers. The subscriber may no longer have the number or very often it's a family members cell. They also obtain numbers from sign up sheets at events, which are prone to bad hand writing.

Political campaigns have long compiled exhaustive lists of all registered voters from state offices or other groups. They later supplemented that with demographic and purchasing information from data brokers in an approach called “microtargeting” that has been used for years.

Armed with this data, campaigns can track down and segment potential voters based on apps they use and places they have been, including rallies, churches and gun clubs. In some cases, voters might see an ad on their mobile phone. In others, companies can match data to a specific person, allowing campaigns to determine who gets a fundraising call or a knock on the door.

In September 2018, the campaign of then-Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke was able to identify some attendees’ mobile device ID numbers during a rally with musician Willie Nelson.

A company collected the unique ID numbers of phones that pinged their location while at the event, according to people familiar with the Senate campaign. The company, working with an O’Rourke campaign consulting firm, then matched some of those IDs with contact information, such as email addresses. The resulting list allowed the campaign to follow up with those contacts later on. “It’s just a neat idea, and it worked,” one of the people said. https://archive.ph/cTpqI#selection-2013.0-2013.446

Yes, it may work but the Willy Nelson event is now connected to Beto. If a person went to see Willy Nelson and was not a Beto supporter, then that's a problem.
I subscribe to a background check program and I'm pretty sure political parties do too! It's cheap and it's a source of numbers. However, there are many wrong numbers in these databases! I have like 10 numbers ascribed to me. Only two are correct.

If it was me: I would ignore the texts...That's what I do! I know how campaigns work. Don't give them any info.

I'm in the GOP email database because somehow my email was ascribed to someone named Alicia. (Sign in sheets at political events are a big source of email and phone number errors!) "Hi Alicia..."... I don't block or unsubscribe because I like to read what they're up to.

[imavoter]

17. Could be spam... Block, delete

If you reply stop, they know your
number is valid.