The group responsible for electing Democrats to statehouses saw its best first quarter for grassroots donations in history, thanks in part to a new focus on recurring donations, according to information first shared with The Daily Beast.
Launched in January, Down Ballot Defenders has already helped the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee raise $2.3 million in grassroots donations this year. The DLCC elicited that record-breaking sum—a 45 percent increase over its last highest first-quarter haul back in 2021—through calls, texts, in-person engagements, and online, largely among small-dollar donors.
Nearly one in four of the group’s grassroots donations are recurring, and nearly one in five of its recurring donations began over the past three months.
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The DLCC has been historically underfunded. As recently as the 2022 midterms, the Democratic National Committee funneled millions into House and Senate races, but not a single dollar to the DLCC. For more than a decade, Republicans held the majority of state legislative seats across the country. But the committee’s surging grassroots fundraising could help Democrats make gains.
In the view of DLCC President Heather Williams, the growing enthusiasm comes as voters have developed a deeper understanding of the importance of state governments after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade two years ago. Before that, even many voters who cared about their own state-level representation didn’t prioritize pitching in on statehouse campaigns elsewhere; they were more focused on winning the White House and Congress.
“Since the Dobbs decision, the connectedness of what is happening in the states is clearer and more tangible than ever before,” Williams told The Daily Beast during a phone interview. “The decision of one state, while it immediately affects the people that live there, has a larger effect on what's happening nationally.”
“These laws that are happening in the state get challenged up to the courts, and they become the next Dobbs decision, or the next IVF decision, or the next what-have-you,” she said.
Down Ballot Defenders, Williams said, gives grassroots donors a home for that new energy. Those who participate feel like they are part of a community within a community, working to protect Democratic power in state legislatures and dismantle Republican majorities. While Williams shared that it’s the first program of its kind at the state legislative level—and appears to be the first among any of the Democratic party committees—Republicans have long taken advantage of recurring donations, with plenty of controversy.
Former President Donald Trump, for instance, has come under scrutiny for a recurring contributions scheme that forced donors to examine fine print and manually opt out if they didn’t want to keep sending money to the campaign. The repeated withdrawals became such a problem that many Trump supporters raised concerns about fraud with their banks and credit card companies. Regulators with the Federal Election Commission urged Congress to help stop it.
A Daily Beast investigation found that donors who got refunds from Trump’s leadership PAC in the last months before the 2022 midterms skewed older, suggesting that less tech-savvy seniors might not have realized they were contributing more than they meant to.
Donors looking to give as part of the DLCC’s new program will see a pre-checked box that allows them to “make it monthly!” However, the option to “donate once” instead is also clearly visible, and language on the committee’s website explicitly emphasizes Down Ballot Defenders’ focus on monthly giving.
As the primary season wraps up, grassroots fundraising is becoming a stronger indicator of how the parties are positioned heading into November. Like the DLCC, President Joe Biden has also recently celebrated strong small-dollar donations. But given an approval rating hovering around 40 percent, the party very well may need to rely on new tactics to energize its base beyond Biden.
In recent years, Democrats have emphasized the importance of engaging voters in the off-season rather than just parachuting in right before Election Day. That’s especially important down-ballot, where regular door-to-door contact with voters is necessary for success.
At the DLCC, recurring donations through Down Ballot Defenders have supported that goal, with predictable cash influxes allowing the committee to better strategize and plan ahead.
“It’s been a lot of testing and trying different things,” Williams said. “This has been something that has really landed.”
