Democrats are encouraging black voters in Ohio, one of the most crucial swing states, to take part in November’s midterm elections. The state’s black community played a significant role in Obama’s election in 2008 as well as 2012, and now the Democratic party wants to incite a new blue wave in the state’s black community.

Former President Obama carried 97% of the black votes in 2008 and 96% in 2012 in the state of Ohio. But in an interesting turn of events, the Republican party won the state over in the 2016 presidential elections, leading the polls with 8% of the votes.

Given the former President’s popularity in the swing state, Obama visited Ohio on Thursday and addressed the state’s community in a speech meant to mobilize voters. For the upcoming midterm elections, the Democratic party is trying to lure the state’s black community back to the polls.

Democratic party official Ron McGuire has been reaching out to Ohio’s black voters to hear their thoughts on the election process. McGuire held roundtables in January, across the entire state, and came to the realization that Ohio’s African-American community felt excluded from the process.

“We started our work in the Spring, holding roundtables to learn about what was working – and what isn’t working – in minority communities around the state,” McGuire said.

“They weren’t getting information from the state party as they would like to,” the party official later told CNN. “They didn’t feel like they were a part of it. Nobody knew what they were supposed to do or how they could help,” he continued.

In light of the new information, the Democratic party created the Minority Engagement Program, also run by McGuire. The program is meant to enforce communication between the Democratic party and its African-American voters to ensure their requests are being heard. The program is also facilitating voters’ access to voter registration and information regarding upcoming elections.

Democratic state Representative, Stephanie Howse, spoke ahead of former President Obama’s rally on Thursday, and emphasized how essential the black community is for the Democratic party.

“Democrats are not successful without a strong black community turnout. Those are the facts,” Howse commented to CNN. “We don’t have any votes to lose. We’ve had elections, we have new people in office winning by eight votes, 13 votes,” she said.

Democrats are on the right track to winning back the state. According to a new POLITICO/AARP poll, President Trump’s approval rating has plummeted to 43% in Ohio. And on the run for Senate, Democratic nominee Sherrod Brown has a 15% lead on his Republican counterpart, Jim Renacci.