House Democratic campaign arm announces 8-figure diversity outreach effort

The House Democrats’ campaign arm is launching a push to reach Black, Latino and Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander voters ahead of November’s general election.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is putting eight figures behind P.O.W.E.R. The People, the multicultural, multilingual campaign it hopes will mobilize voters in key battlegrounds. The program’s acronym stands for “Persuade. Organize. Welcome. Educate. Reach.”

“Democrats are committed to bringing responsible governance back to the House so that we can continue the important work of lowering costs, protecting and expanding health care, and delivering for our constituents,” DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) said.

“We know that voters of color are critical to Democrats’ coalition and the DCCC’s investments highlight our commitment to continuously engaging with communities of color on issues they care about.” 

Voters of color play a key role in several critical and competitive House districts.

Democrats are betting they will recover ground in a series of New York districts lost to Republicans in 2022, a handful of GOP-held California seats are up for grabs, and Democrats could put up a fight to recover a Rio Grande Valley district picked up by Republicans.

Overall, the race to control the House is tight, and control of the chamber could be decided by tiny subsets of voters in key districts.

The DCCC’s P.O.W.E.R. The People campaign will fund polling, paid media, in-district organizing, voter protection and an anti-disinformation campaign.

Polling of voters of color, particularly those with limited English proficiency or who live in remote areas, has historically been unreliable.

Polls don’t often reach people with fewer modes of communication, and English-language polls can overlook significant populations, particularly at the district level, leaving campaigns blind to conditions on the ground.

Paid media has also historically been ineffective in reaching diverse audiences due to a lack of cultural competence or general-audience targeting.

“We know how important it is to have ongoing culturally inclusive and resonate outreach with voters of color including in TV, digital, print, mail, and radio, through in-district organizing staff, and informed by in-depth research and polling. P.O.W.E.R. The People builds on the DCCC’s prior cycles of engagement with communities of color to tell the story of how Democrats are delivering for working people, and the danger Republicans pose to our fundamental rights,” said Mariafernanda Zacarias, DCCC national engagement director.

The campaign’s timing, 10 months before the general election, breaks a pattern of late investment in communities of color, a recurrent problem that’s contributed to voter disinterest.

“Democrats understand the importance of engaging voters of color early and often. In competitive Congressional races across the country, our ability to successfully persuade and mobilize AANHPI voters can be the margin of victory in these contests, which means we can’t take anything for granted,” said Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), vice chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

The campaign will feature elements in a variety of languages, including Spanish, Spanglish, English, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog and Vietnamese.

The anti-disinformation effort, dubbed “In It Together,” is an expansion of the DCCC’s 2022 Spanish-language campaign, “Juntos.” 

“By intentionally prioritizing sustained outreach to these communities, we are marrying our moral and strategic imperatives to ensure Democrats win back the House. While extremist Republicans continue to lie, cheat and suppress the vote of people of color in order to win elections, Democrats understand that democracy is strengthened when everyone’s voice is heard,” said Missayr Boker, DCCC deputy executive director for campaigns.