The New York Times reports this morning on a big spending push by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the arm of the Democratic Party that focuses on statehouse races. It’s announced a new $10 million campaign to improve the party’s performance in downballot races. The NYT writes:
The $10 million investment, part of a $60 million total that the group previously announced as its target for the 2024 cycle, will fund an unusually early and expansive public push — one intended not only to support candidates, but also to convince voters of the importance of controlling state legislatures.
The money will go to party caucuses in Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Most of these are swing states, but red Kansas is included because Democrats hope to break Republicans’ supermajorities there — which would let the state’s Democratic governor, Laura Kelly, veto legislation with less chance of being overridden.
That’s pocket change in a race for president or U.S. Senate, but a few million dollars can go a long ways in state legislative elections.
Unsurprisingly, Arkansas is apparently considered too far gone to draw much national money this cycle. But there’s still hopeful news, or at least baby steps: Local Democrats have recruited candidates to compete in more races than the barren efforts we’ve seen in recent elections since the state flipped to dead red.
Last November, Jacob Kauffman reported for us on these efforts:
As the candidate filing period for the 2024 elections closes, Arkansas Democrats may have reason to give themselves a rare, albeit very humble, pat on the back. Candidate recruitment for the state House of Representatives hit a high-water mark not seen in a decade – and in all of the seemingly most competitive districts.
On Tuesday, the Democratic Party of Arkansas leadership said recent Republican attacks on the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act and ongoing questions over possible misspending and coverups in the podiumgate scandal helped drive recruitment efforts. Veterans, teachers, parents, farmers, scientists and other Arkansans are stepping up to run for the blue team.
Democratic candidates will run for 64 of 100 House seats and seven of the 18 state Senate seats up for a vote in 2024. Democrats will also field candidates for state treasurer and U.S. Congress.
Similar efforts are underway in other red states, The New York Times reports:
This year, for the first time in three decades, a Democrat is running in every legislative district in Florida. The party is also fielding candidates for every Senate seat in Wisconsin and every House seat in Michigan, as well as unusually high numbers of candidates in red states such as Arkansas and Idaho.
There’s still a long way to go for Democrats, who don’t have a realistic shot to take a legislative majority in either chamber for years to come. But as Kauffman wrote for us last fall, even incremental gains would come with real stakes, considering Republicans currently control such large supermajorities in the state Senate and House of Representatives:
Even winning a few races could make a huge difference for the party, because spending bills in Arkansas require a 3/4 vote in both chambers of the state Legislature. Since 2018, Republicans have held more than 3/4 of the seats in the 100-member House, leaving Democrats with very little leverage.