Two grassroots progressive organizations formed after President Trump’s inauguration are joining forces in advance of the 2020 election.
Swing Left, which had been primarily committed in the last cycle to helping Democrats take back a majority in the House of Representatives, will bring Flippable, an outfit devoted to turning state legislatures blue, under its umbrella. The merged entity will continue to go by Swing Left.
The goal of the merger is to create a unified strategy and better equip volunteers and donors to help in the upcoming presidential race as well as down-ballot contests. Combined, the organizations raised some $13 million in 2018 in addition to having a community of more than a million of those volunteers and donors.
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The groups’ founders think the combination of Flippable’s expertise in the states and Swing Left’s huge network will complement each other and ensure progressive voters do not get overwhelmed with too many outlets for activism and contributions.
The first thing that the new merged group will do will be to launch Swing Left’s Flippable States Fund, which seeks to raise money for the eventual Democratic nominees running in the most competitive state-level districts throughout 2019 and 2020. Additionally, Flippable’s CEO and co-founder Catherine Vaughan will join Swing Left’s executive team as chief strategy officer.
Vaughan said she had heard from people who loved both of their organizations that it had become tricky for them to “know where to turn” when they want to volunteer or donate.
“Without organizations like ours, the real risk is that people just kind of defer their action,” Vaughan said.
The new merged website will also prioritize a set of already-identified “Super States,” which include Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Maine, and North Carolina. Voters in those states will play critical roles in determining the presidential outcome and control of the Senate.
“The work that [volunteers are] doing, mostly at this point registering voters, is done in states where that work is not just going to be for the presidential election but for the Senate election, and also for the key state legislatures necessary for Democrats to have a voice in the redistricting process in 2021,” Swing Left Executive Director Ethan Todras-Whitehill told The Daily Beast.
