Democratic groups are launching a multimillion-dollar effort this week to flip or hold state legislative chambers in Arizona, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Democrats are hoping to leverage potent issues like abortion rights and voting rights — as well as their significant fundraising advantages — to turn around more than a decade of the GOP's grip on state governments.
- Money is already pouring into the same swing states, which will be critical to President Biden's re-election. All but New Hampshire also have key Senate races that could determine control of the chamber.
- The National Democratic Redistricting Committee and the States Project — two influential Democratic groups in state-level elections — hope to focus attention on the importance of state-level representatives, rather than tying their candidates to Biden.
What they're saying: "Every dollar spent at the state legislative level is worth eons more than it would be at any other level," the States Project founder Daniel Squadron told Axios.
- "When folks with transparent, popular goals support state legislatures, they have an outsized impact," he added.
- "The issues that affect everyday voters lives are really what's on the ballot," NDRC president John Bisognano told Axios. "These are things like LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive rights, criminal justice reform — and they're addressed at the state legislative level."
What to watch: Democrats hope to flip or reach ties in chambers in Arizona, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and even Wisconsin — where Democrats have fought to keep the GOP from a supermajority in the Assembly in recent years.
- They also aim to defend their newly-won majority in Michigan.
- The same partnership helped Democrats win a trifecta in Michigan and Minnesota in 2022. The States Project spent $60 million on races in five states that cycle.
- Protecting abortion access will be an especially important issue for legislative races in Arizona and New Hampshire.
Zoom in: In 2017, Obama Attorney General Eric Holder launched NDRC and Squadron started the States Project alongside major Democratic donor Adam Pritzker. The groups are aiming to raise the profile of this year's state-level races, which can get lost in major general election years.
- The investment aims to help legislative candidates in key states buy TV ads, which are often out of budget for state legislature campaigns.
- The States Project also incentivizes candidates to prioritize door knocking campaigns with larger donations, and helps with local press coverage.
