If The Guardian is to be believed – and they generally are – the Republican spending edge is a lot more pervasive than just Pennsylvania’s State Attorney General’s race. Here is today’s headline from the American edition of the esteemed British newspaper:
"Why Republicans Are Raising Double the Money in Down-Ballot Races"
If The Guardian is to be believed – and they generally are – the Republican spending edge is a lot more pervasive than just Pennsylvania’s State Attorney General’s race. Here is today’s headline from the American edition of the esteemed British newspaper:
"Why Republicans Are Raising Double the Money in Down-Ballot Races"
It’s specifically referring to the DLCC vs the RSLC and state legislative elections. The Republican committee has raised almost twice as much since the start of the 2023 cycle. That is concerning for sure.
Yes, I would like to see a follow-up article that explores the situation more comprehensively. After all, there are other sources of money and people are donating large amounts of money to down-ballot candidates. (On that front, I very much doubt we’re down by half.)
Moreover, this is not just about state legislative races. On the ballot are critical state supreme court seats, sheriffs’ races, election boards and much, much more.
Worth noting that the RSLC also focuses on Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, & state supreme court races, while the DLCC focuses solely on state legislative races.
Democratic party leaders seem aware of the high-stakes surrounding state legislative races. Earlier this month, the Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee announced a transfer of $25m in funds to help down-ballot candidates, including $2.5m for the DLCC. Williams said the transfer represented the party’s largest investment to date focused solely on winning state legislative chambers.
“The underlying story here is that the Harris campaign, our federal officials [and] the party believe that we need to win up and down the ballot,” Williams said. “We know that our freedoms are on the line, that democracy is on the line in the states, and so investing in state legislatures is really an emerging cornerstone of Democrats’ strategy to protect against Maga [‘Make America great again’] extremism.”
But the $2.5m investment, while significant, does not come close to closing with DLCC’s resource deficit against the RSLC. Democratic-aligned outside groups, such as the States Project and the Super Pac Forward Majority, are trying to help close that gap: Forward Majority is now on track to spend $45m this election cycle on promoting Democratic state legislative campaigns, the group announced on Wednesday. The States Project has also announced plans to spend $70m this cycle, after investing heavily in state legislative races two years ago.
This is definitely concerning, however, I’ve looked at the downballot fundraising of the candidates themselves and Democrats are leading in a majority of Alaska, Arizona, Michigan and New Hampshire competitive races that I’ve checked so far.
It’s also worth remembering the hundreds of outside Democratic organizational muscle constellation that help Democrats win races and have no connection to the actual campaigns themselves. They rarely have to report fundraising numbers and have likely raised millions and have thousands of volunteers for each one to help Democrats downballot.
If The Guardian is to be believed – and they generally are – the Republican spending edge is a lot more pervasive than just Pennsylvania’s State Attorney General’s race. Here is today’s headline from the American edition of the esteemed British newspaper:
"Why Republicans Are Raising Double the Money in Down-Ballot Races"
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/17/republican-fundraising-local-elections
It’s specifically referring to the DLCC vs the RSLC and state legislative elections. The Republican committee has raised almost twice as much since the start of the 2023 cycle. That is concerning for sure.
Yes, I would like to see a follow-up article that explores the situation more comprehensively. After all, there are other sources of money and people are donating large amounts of money to down-ballot candidates. (On that front, I very much doubt we’re down by half.)
Moreover, this is not just about state legislative races. On the ballot are critical state supreme court seats, sheriffs’ races, election boards and much, much more.
Worth noting that the RSLC also focuses on Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, & state supreme court races, while the DLCC focuses solely on state legislative races.
From The Guardian, and this part is a relief:
Democratic party leaders seem aware of the high-stakes surrounding state legislative races. Earlier this month, the Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee announced a transfer of $25m in funds to help down-ballot candidates, including $2.5m for the DLCC. Williams said the transfer represented the party’s largest investment to date focused solely on winning state legislative chambers.
“The underlying story here is that the Harris campaign, our federal officials [and] the party believe that we need to win up and down the ballot,” Williams said. “We know that our freedoms are on the line, that democracy is on the line in the states, and so investing in state legislatures is really an emerging cornerstone of Democrats’ strategy to protect against Maga [‘Make America great again’] extremism.”
But the $2.5m investment, while significant, does not come close to closing with DLCC’s resource deficit against the RSLC. Democratic-aligned outside groups, such as the States Project and the Super Pac Forward Majority, are trying to help close that gap: Forward Majority is now on track to spend $45m this election cycle on promoting Democratic state legislative campaigns, the group announced on Wednesday. The States Project has also announced plans to spend $70m this cycle, after investing heavily in state legislative races two years ago.
This is definitely concerning, however, I’ve looked at the downballot fundraising of the candidates themselves and Democrats are leading in a majority of Alaska, Arizona, Michigan and New Hampshire competitive races that I’ve checked so far.
It’s also worth remembering the hundreds of outside Democratic organizational muscle constellation that help Democrats win races and have no connection to the actual campaigns themselves. They rarely have to report fundraising numbers and have likely raised millions and have thousands of volunteers for each one to help Democrats downballot.
This is why that article doesn't concern me
It's becoming increasingly obvious that Kamala Harris is ahead, perhaps even far ahead. Doom-for-Dems purveyors are starting to strain a bit.
Agreed
Good points – and very reassuring. Thank you!