DLCC to spend $16 million this fall in battleground states
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee plans to pour $16 million this fall into key races as part of its push to flip state legislative chambers and make inroads in others.
The DLCC’s latest plan brings the committee’s total political spending for the cycle to $35 million, a major increase from the $10 million it spent in 2010, the group told POLITICO. It’s a record for the group as Democrats grapple with the importance of redistricting battles to come next year after its post-2010 wipeout.
The Democratic group has invested in about 600 races this year, but the new spending will focus on targets in 17 battleground states, including Arizona, Iowa, Texas and Minnesota.
“We’re on complete offense this year thanks to unprecedented fundraising and tanking GOP poll numbers. For years, we worked with state partners to build strong infrastructure on the ground which will be the key to our success in November,” said Jessica Post, the DLCC's president.
Still, Post is urging Democratic donors to pull more resources in the final weeks leading up to the election to help competitive races that are facing off with well-funded Republican candidates.
“Democratic donors are really focused on the United States Senate, rightfully. But we’re hoping that many of them will look to our level of the ballot in these final weeks,” Post said, noting that “funds go so much further at our level of the ballot.”
Last month, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $26.9 million, according to its FEC report. And that was before the more recent explosion in donations for Democratic Senate candidates following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week.
Meanwhile, other outside Democratic groups and super PACs are stepping in to help in key states. Forward Majority, a super PAC dedicated to helping Democrats win state races, announced earlier this month that it would spend $15 million to target competitive races in Arizona, Florida, North Carolina and Texas.
Arizona remains the top target for Democrats, as they need to win two seats to flip the state House and three to take control of the state Senate. Democrats also need to flip nine seats to win the state House in Texas; six seats to flip the state House in North Carolina; and five seats to flip the state Senate in North Carolina. In Florida, Republicans have solid control of both chambers, but Democratic groups have targeted certain races in an effort to shrink GOP majorities.
