Stephanie Akin & Bridget Bowman- March 19th, 2020

Like many people coming to grips with the coronavirus over the past week, Alyse Galvin is working from her living room.

Yet she’s still trying to stay in contact with the public, as an independent candidate running against Republican Rep. Don Young in Alaska — the incumbent who recently referred to the virus as the “beer virus.”

On Wednesday afternoon, a barefoot Galvin and her campaign communications director went on Facebook Live with early childhood expert Shirley Pittz, sitting in front of her fireplace with their chairs several feet apart. The video, which focused on how to meet kids’ emotional and educational needs while schools are closed and parents are working from home, quickly attracted over 1,000 views. That was more than almost any video Galvin has posted on the site since she launched her campaign in July. A virtual interview she conducted on Sunday with the medical director of a local hospital’s emergency department has racked up over 4,700 views.

Galvin is typical of candidates across the country who have had to halt the physical contact that is the lifeblood of traditional campaigns, and to avoid activities that they feared would appear overtly political during a national emergency. They know they can’t just shut everything down, but they also have to get creative.

Read More: Roll Call