Like many of her fellow volunteers, Hungarian beautician Krisztina Menczel sat idle in the past elections that kept nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban in power.

But opposition leader Peter Magyar¡¯s hopes of ending the longstanding premier¡¯s 16-year reign in Hungary rest in no small part on firsttime campaigners like Menczel.

¡°Canvassing has a big impact,¡± the 41-year-old said in Jaszfenyszaru, a central Hungarian town long considered a stronghold of Orban¡¯s Fidesz party. ¡°Even those who wouldn¡¯t dare reveal their political preferences come over and chat with us.¡±