The Democratic National Committee (DNC), Association of State Democratic Committees (ASDC) and state parties, including the Nebraska Democratic Party, have announced a historic four-year agreement that will guarantee more investment into Democratic state parties’ infrastructure than ever before. At a minimum, this investment will provide $23 million to state parties as part of Democrats’ 2022 midterm strategy, and creates a first-of-its-kind program to focus additional investments in historically red states to build on Democrats’ 57 states and territories strategy.
“DNC Chair Jaime Harrison and ASDC President Ken Martin truly heard red states as we made the case for more investments into the infrastructure of state parties,” said NDP Chair Jane Kleeb. “State parties are the permanent political hub in every single state that engage in year-round organizing, candidate recruitment, training of the grassroots and assisting campaigns implement a winning strategy. The historic agreement has a fundamental belief that our Democratic Party should be campaigning everywhere. The vital resources into Nebraska will help us build on our efforts of recruiting strong Democratic candidates and creating the permanent campaign infrastructure to win elections. Our goal is to end the GOP dominance in our state in order for Democrats to continue addressing critical issues like climate change, racial equity and protecting our public schools and family farmers.”
Kleeb was part of the negotiating team encouraging more resources into red states. The agreement will establish a brand-new, seven-figure “Red State Fund” that puts Republicans on defense and builds tailored programs for traditionally Republican states. The Red State Fund includes $2 million in direct investments and grants for states, including Nebraska, that meet two of the following criteria: no Democratic senator or governor, less than 25% of the congressional delegation are Democrats, and a supermajority of Republicans in their state legislature.
The historic agreement also includes increased data sharing and investments in down-ballot races and anchors the DNC and state parties as the central hub of the Democratic data ecosystem.
Additional investments in the agreement include:
- $15.5 Million for State Partnership Program (SPP): The new agreement increases monthly SPP funding for 50 state parties and D.C. by 25% to fund critical party infrastructure including staff, tools, and programming in the states.
- $5.5 Million for State Party Innovation Fund Grants: These grants will ensure innovation and early organizing by putting more boots on the ground throughout the country to help elect Democrats up and down the ticket in 2022. The program includes $5 million in funding for all 50 state parties plus the District of Columbia, along with an additional $500,000 for Dems Abroad and the territories. These competitive grants will primarily be used to hire staff in state to develop and implement innovative programs tailored for each state.
- Reestablishes the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund: The agreement is contingent on the Democratic state parties rejoining the joint fundraising agreement that propelled the DNC to record-breaking major donor fundraising over the last four years, and allows the DNC to collect up to $875,000 per individual per year.