Though Covid-19 is still afflicting the nation, Democrats in all three of the upcoming gubernatorial contests — in the California recall this week, and in Virginia and New Jersey in November — have extensive field operations, as do down-ballot candidates and battleground state parties preparing for competitive 2022 elections.

It is a notable shift from last year’s elections, when then-candidate Joe Biden held off deploying field staffers until about a month before the election amid concerns about the coronavirus, while Republicans largely continued field work as normal. After a disappointing year down-ballot, Democrats say they can’t leave anything to chance with competitive off-year elections this fall — especially in Virginia, which has long been considered a bellwether where the gubernatorial contest has almost always cut against the party in the White House.

“We don’t have the luxury to not knock on doors, because these elections are going to be decided on turnout,” said Virginia Democratic state Del. Elizabeth Guzman, who flipped her seat in 2017 and briefly ran for lieutenant governor earlier this year.