The Democratic National Committee will send $2.5 million to more than 30 of its state and territorial parties in the closing weeks of the 2024 election cycle, the DNC said in a Friday statement.
With the new grants, national Democrats will have contributed to all 57 state and territorial chapters for the first time in a presidential cycle, according to the party.
“From the school board to the White House, the DNC is doing the work to elect Democrats to office at all levels of government,” DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said in the statement, given to States Newsroom ahead of a wider announcement.
“We are the only committee responsible for building Democratic infrastructure to win elections across the map, and with a new $2.5 million in grants, the DNC is delivering a multi-million dollar investment across all 57 state parties this cycle – a historic first for our committee.”
The new grants go beyond the seven swing states considered ultra-competitive in the presidential election that have gotten the lion’s share of attention and spending at the national level — and the handful with key U.S. Senate races that have also attracted a national focus.
Though some grants are relatively small, they represent a commitment by the national party to states across the country, including traditionally red states, Democrats said.
‘Five figures’ for Kentucky
The Democratic National Committee’s $2.5 million for state campaigns includes what it called a five-figure sum to support legislative candidates in Kentucky. The DNC did not specify the amount of the Kentucky grant.
DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said the party is committed to backing Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential bid while also ensuring Democratic candidates “have the resources to run competitive races across the map in red and blue states alike.”
Last year, the national party supported Gov. Andy Beshear’s successful reelection campaign. This election cycle, Kentucky Democrats have set their sights on building on the governor’s victory by aiming for a few seats in the General Assembly, particularly in suburban areas around Louisville and Lexington. Republicans hold a supermajority in the state legislature. The GOP took control of the Senate in 2000 and the House in 2016.
KDP Chair Colmon Elridge said he was grateful for the DNC’s support and that it will help the KDP “to reach voters in every corner of our Commonwealth and elect more Democrats up and down the ballot.”
Field workers in Idaho
In Idaho, where Democrats hold just 18 of the 105 seats in the Legislature, a more-than $70,000 commitment from the national party will fund two field workers to reach Hispanic voters in two rural counties and tribal members on the Nez Perce Reservation, state party chair and state Rep. Lauren Necochea said.
Necochea, who spoke with States Newsroom in a Thursday interview ahead of the official announcement, said the funding was significant both for the symbolism of the national party’s investment in the overwhelmingly Republican state and for campaign operations this fall.
“We’re just gratified to see that this investment hit all 57 states and territories for the first time … so that no state is left behind,” she said. “We’re a traditionally red state, and that means we need the funding to fight back.”
The two organizers funded by the national money will help boost turnout in the state’s four battleground state legislative districts, Necochea said.
“This level of investment is also meaningful when it comes to winning races and getting out the vote,” she said, noting that a race in the last cycle was decided by 37 votes.
The outcomes in those races could determine which faction of the state’s Republican Party — either the hard right or the more moderate wing — will control the legislative agenda next session, she said.
The Democratic minority in the Legislature sometimes partners with moderate Republicans on legislation to fund education and health care programs, including maintaining the state’s Medicaid expansion, Necochea said.
“It is essential for state government to continue operating that we have a critical mass of Democrats in the Idaho Legislature,” she said.
Other grants
The DNC provided a partial list of the spending included in Friday’s announcement. State parties are free to use the funds as they wish, a DNC spokesman said. The national party noted some state organizations had already determined how to allocate the money.
Many state organizations planned to pursue outreach to voters of color, including in tribal communities.
Some examples of the spending and objectives, according to the DNC:
- Florida: More than $400,000 for statewide programs targeting “key coalitions.”
- Oregon: $125,000 to help the state party’s efforts in three key U.S. House races.
- Pennsylvania: $100,000 “to supercharge voter outreach” in the only presidential battleground state on the new list. A portion of the funding will target the state’s large Puerto Rican community, the DNC said.
- Minnesota: At least $100,000 to boost the state’s paid canvassing campaign. The new funding brings the total DNC allocation to the state to about $630,000, according to the party. The canvassing effort will help protect Democrats’ slim majorities in both legislative chambers.
- Missouri: “Nearly $100,000” for new organizing staff focused on breaking GOP supermajorities in both statehouse chambers and passing an abortion ballot measure.
- Maryland: $75,000 for the state party’s mail program, with a focus on reaching Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, a growing segment of the state’s voting base, the DNC said. The DNC noted its support for U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks, calling her race against former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan critical to protecting reproductive rights.
- South Carolina: More than $70,000 for a get-out-the-vote staffer, focusing on outreach to new voters.
- Maine: $61,250 for three staffers to focus get-out-the-vote efforts in rural parts of U.S. Rep. Jared Golden’s swing district.
- Arkansas: Nearly $60,000 to hire six coalition directors targeting young, Black and Latino voters, including Spanish-speaking organizers. It’s the first DNC spending in Arkansas this cycle.
- Louisiana: $55,000 for an organizer to help the state party reach voters in the new majority-Black 6th Congressional District.
- Kansas: $50,000 for paid canvassing efforts to break GOP supermajorities in both legislative chambers.
- Oklahoma: $50,000 to help the state party’s outreach to tribal communities.
- Virginia: $50,000 for the state party’s get-out-the-vote and voter contact programs, focusing on two competitive U.S. House races.
- West Virginia: $50,000 for get-out-the-vote and paid mail programs targeting “youth and minority voters” who could affect four competitive state legislative races.
- North Dakota: Nearly $40,000 for get-out-the-vote efforts and organizing in tribal communities.
- New Jersey: “Five figures” will go to get-out-the-vote operations in all state races, with a particular focus on Rep. Andy Kim’s U.S. Senate race against Republican Curtis Bashaw. It’s the first DNC spending in the Garden State this cycle.
- Tennessee: An unspecified amount to help the state party “build on the organizing momentum” it has seen in the past year.
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Written by Jacob Fischler. Cross-posted from the Kentucky Lantern.
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