WASHINGTON — The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the organization responsible for electing Democrats to state legislatures nationwide, has already surpassed $10 million raised this cycle — a record amount for the surging committee this early in an election cycle.
“After flipping eight state legislative chambers last cycle, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is surging forward on offense across the country,” said DLCC President Jessica Post. “Starting with Virginia this November, Democrats have the opportunity to flip another dozen chambers this year. Our record-breaking fundraising is going to enable Democrats to flip chambers blue from Florida to Texas, North Carolina to Arizona.”
Raising $10 million so quickly in an off-year represents huge growth for the DLCC — it’s more than the committee raised in the entirety of the last redistricting cycle, 2009/2010. It’s also almost double what the committee had raised at this point in the off year of 2017 when it reported $5.3 million.
“Every legislative election is crucial,” added Post. “But with the census and redistricting on the horizon, this cycle is our best opportunity to stop Republican gerrymandering and ensure Democrats have fair legislative and congressional maps. Flipping chambers in states like Texas and North Carolina would have huge national implications for the next decade. ”
In another first for Democrats, the DLCC is outraising its GOP counterpart, the Republican State Leadership Committee, which is responsible not just for electing Republican state legislators — but also lieutenant governors, various state cabinet members, state judges — and sometimes even wades into congressional races.
According to the public mid-year 527-organization reports, which covered January through June 2019, the DLCC raised $350,000 more than the RSLC. In those reports, Democrats also had a huge advantage in number of donors over the $200 reporting threshold. The RSLC listed just over 900 donors while the DLCC reported 11,900.
Much of the growth has come from online grassroots donors. This cycle, the DLCC has had more than 75,000 online grassroots donations – with an average gift size of $24.58.
Since President Trump’s election, the DLCC has helped flip more than 400 legislative seats and win eight new majorities. The DLCC is currently working to flip chambers and make gains in this November’s four state legislative elections — as well as providing important early investments in 2020 states to recruit candidates, spur fundraising and build local Democratic infrastructure.
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