With the Swift Current provincial byelection today, the candidates have spent the last four weeks going door to door in Swift Current meeting the residents and trying to gain the support of the community.

Most residents know what it’s like to get your door knocked on, but do they know what it’s like knocking on someone’s door?

The Swift Current Online Newsroom was able to follow two of the candidates as they went door to door.

Stefan Rumpel, who is running for the NDP, had his first taste of door knocking in this byelection and said that it isn't as difficult as he thought it would be.

"I got a mini version of it in the nomination process for the NDP, so I went door to door, and I got to learn a little bit of what it was like," he said. "Obviously it's a little different when you’re not talking to members who you know are supportive of the NDP, but it hasn't been a huge difference. Maybe a few less people invite you out of the cold; that's maybe the biggest difference."

Rumpel said that door knocking for him went really well as he was able to meet and understand what the people in Swift Current wanted.

"I enjoyed it quite a bit," he said. "Getting a chance to talk to the different people in the community and getting to know their views. What it is their struggling with right now and being able to talk to them about how I'm hoping to help them to be a voice for any of those concerns."

Rumpel added that he was able to get some tips from others in the NDP like interim leader Nicole Saurer.

"She came down and helped immensely with just the small things, like how to place a leaflet nicely in the mailbox or how to open the conversation," he said. "She had kind of led the charge for the first couple doors then I stepped in and led it from there."

Rumpel said that in his experiences the biggest thing he learned was to try not to push.

"You're just going there to meet people and to say I want to listen and to represent you, here's who I am and then stop and listen to people," he said. "People might not always have things to say, but in that case trying to find a way to connect, because I think the role of government is to connect with its citizens and to listen to its citizens."

Rumpel said that even when someone isn't a supporter, they still open up the door and listen.

"I've met a lot of supporters, and anybody who isn't necessarily a supporter, it's Swift Current, so they are all really kind and helpful," he said. "They even look at you and say good luck, or they say good for you for doing this, so it's nice even if they aren't necessarily supporters they're still kind and polite."

Rumpel said that the best thing about going to door to door has been that people understand that there are multiple views and that its good to consider all sides and make an informed decision.

"To go around as NDP when in the past we maybe haven't had a lot of support, I would say that in my experience I have met more supporters than more full-out 'no way I am supporting you,'" he said. "Which I am really excited for because it shows that people do need positive change in government and some new voices in their to strengthen the opposition to make a healthier more diverse voice in government."

Everett Hindley, who is running for the Sask Party, has had quite a bit of experience door knocking and even has had experience door knocking in a Swift Current byelection before.

"I've been involved in politics for 18 years now," he said. "The first campaign I was ever involved in was in 2003, and that's when I was working with Brad Wall, and we door knocked the whole city. I picked up a few tips from 2003 and in the other elections and kind of got a feel for what works."

Hindley said the door knocking is one of the most important parts of campaigning as you are putting a face to the candidate.

"You're kind of like a salesman for yourself and for the party so it's interesting, and it's a lot of fun," he said. "You get to meet a lot of folks at their homes and place of business, and you get to hear what they have to say and hear what’s important to them. Sometimes you don't get a lot of feedback because you catch people off guard, but other times they invite you for a chat for five or 10 minutes."

Hindley added that he thinks people appreciate when a politician stops by to hear their opinion first hand.

Hindley continued and said that this campaign has been a little different from others due to the cold weather that Swift Current experienced, but also that people weren't fully aware of the byelection until he was knocking on their door.

"At the beginning of the campaign, it was still fairly new," he said. "I think in the first couple days of the campaign there were folks that didn't hear that there was a byelection underway. I think that you got some folks who were interested to hear that it was underway and wanted to hear our opinions on various issues and what our platform is and why we are campaigning and what we are campaigning for."

Hindley said that to him the most important part of door knocking is to be friendly and to understand that you are an unscheduled visitor.

"You're catching people while they're making supper, or maybe getting ready to take their kids out to hockey practice," he said. "More often than not they're in the middle of something, a busy day that they've got going on. You try to be brief and offer the information you've got for them but try not to intrude to much on their day, but at the same time make sure you provide the information you're trying to get out as part of your campaign but also offer yourself and take any feedback that they might have in that really short window of time."

Hindley added that without volunteers helping go door to door, it would be impossible to door knock Swift Current.

"It would be completely impossible to do this as a candidate unless you had folks who are willing to take time out of their lives to help out with this," he said. "I think we've done pretty well going around town to as many homes and businesses as we can. There is still work to do because you don't always catch folks at home, so you try and keep track of it and to speak to as many people as possible. "

The other two candidates in the March 1 byelection are Aidan Roy, who is representing the Liberals, and Maria Lewans, who is representing the Green Party.