Democrats announce initial $20M investment ahead of midterms

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is set to make an initial $20 million investment ahead of the 2022 midterm elections as it prepares to fend off an expected Republican onslaught aimed at toppling Democrats’ coveted congressional majorities.

The early investment — billed by the DNC as only the first round of spending — was announced by DNC Chair Jaime Harrison on Wednesday in remarks to the National Press Club. 

The goal of the initial spend is to bulk up Democrats’ organizing efforts in key states, such as Arizona, Florida and Georgia, and to rebuild the “50-state strategy” championed by the DNC more than a decade ago. The national party is also planning to pad out its voter protection program by hiring embeds in a handful of critical states.

Democrats are largely expected to play defense in 2022, when both their House and Senate majorities will be on the line. 

Democrats hold 50 votes in the Senate, meaning they can’t afford to cede any ground to the GOP next year. Their House majority is nearly as delicate. Republicans need to flip only about half a dozen districts to recapture control of the lower chamber, and considering history and decennial redistricting, Democrats are in a particularly vulnerable position.

Still, Republicans face challenges of their own. They are defending 20 Senate seats next year compared to Democrats’ 14. And the GOP has yet to settle on a unified message for the 2022 midterms, as some Republicans debate the extent to which the party should hitch its political fortunes to former President Trump.

While the DNC tends to play second-fiddle to groups like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in midterm election cycles, Harrison has pledged a more active role for the DNC in 2022 after a tumultuous and uncertain decade that saw the national party and its state affiliates take a backseat to liberal outside groups. 

In recent months, he has held talks with state party leaders, who say that he has offered reassurances that the DNC will place more emphasis on state-level operations. The spending announcement on Wednesday suggests a tangible effort to fund those efforts. An email from the DNC noted that the party will “do everything we can to support every state party and every party committee.”