The Democratic National Committee announced that it’s sending a combined $2.5 million to all 50 state parties for the first time in an effort to influence downballot races in deep-red states, counties, and municipalities. As Politico reported, the historic funding push aims to break Republican supermajorities in state legislatures and strengthen voter engagement. Here are some breakdowns:
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More than $400,000 will be sent to Florida, which the DNC called “‘a priority state that we know Democrats can win,’ focusing on Puerto Rican voter engagement.”
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Missouri will receive $100,000 “to hire organizing staff in hopes Democrats can pick up a handful of seats in the state House and Senate to break a GOP supermajority.”
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The DNC is sending $70,000 to Idaho, “a state that hasn’t elected a Democratic senator in over four decades and where Republicans control every arm of the state government.”
This largesse is thanks to DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, who has raised 25% more money in state party funding during his tenure than previous leaders.
Vice President Kamala Harris led the charge to invest in state and local races in an effort to implement a progressive agenda nationwide. The Democratic presidential nominee sent $25 million of her more than $500 million campaign war chest to downballot races.
Harris has surged ahead of GOP nominee Donald Trump in campaign fundraising since announcing her candidacy for president in July after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race.
Meanwhile, as Daily Kos reported, Trump’s ground game efforts pale in comparison. His handpicked Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley purged an existing get-out-to vote team, replacing it with a campaign called “Trump Force 47” that recruits volunteer “captains” and requests they get 10 of their neighbors out to vote.
Additional campaign offices aren’t a priority for Republicans either.
“By June, the party hadn’t made any new moves to open up any offices. Instead, it had effectively ceded its ground game to right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and his Turning Point USA operation,” Daily Kos’ Markos Moulitsas wrote, adding, “There has been scant information on Republican field offices since.”
Democrats plan to take full advantage of downballot opportunities while the GOP slashes in-person campaigning and get-out-the-vote efforts. Here’s hoping the DNC’s push to win state, county, and city races long believed to be a shoo-in for Republicans will stop the years of anti-democratic inroads made by the right.
