What Galvanize Action is Doing to Help Democrats Win White Women

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After signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Lyndon Johnson told his aide Bill Moyers, “I think we may have lost the South for your lifetime—and mine.” 

A more accurate prediction would have been that Democrats had lost white people. Even as candidates like Obama and Biden have won states like North Carolina and Georgia, no Democratic presidential nominee has won a majority of the white vote since 1964. 

But here’s some good news: White women have moved steadily toward the Democrats in recent years. Biden almost won these voters in 2020, with 48% support, a three-point gain over Obama’s share in 2012 and a two-point gain over 2016. The shift among white college women has been far more dramatic—eight points toward Democrats between 2012 and 2020. 

Why White Women Are So Important in the 2024 Election

These changing allegiances are a very big deal. White women are the largest single demographic in the U.S. electorate and comprise nearly half of all voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. If Harris can do better than Biden with this group—a very achievable goal in the post-Dobbs environment—she’s almost certain to win the election.

A great example of how a Democratic candidate’s better performance among white women can change electoral outcomes can be found in Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s blowout reelection victory in 2022. She won 58% of white women, up 8 points from Biden’s share two years earlier. One big thing that changed during that time was that the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade.

While Harris is doing well with white women, she’s still not exceeding Biden’s 2020 level of support. Cook’s Swing State Project has Harris with 48% support from these voters nationally. Even more worrisome, the Cook data has Harris at 46% among white women in Michigan—12 points below Whitmer’s vote share—and the same level in Arizona, 5 points below Governor Katie Hobbs’ share when she narrowly won office in 2022. To clinch the election, it’s urgently imperative that Harris make further gains with white women in battleground states.

No organization is working harder and smarter to boost Democratic vote share among white women than Galvanize Action. This group is one of just four of Blue Tent's top national recommendations this year.

How Galvanize Action Works to Persuade White Women to Vote Democratic

Donating to Galvanize is the most laser-targeted option that donors have for boosting Democratic support among white women. It draws on in-depth research and evidence-based tactics to persuade white women to vote for Harris, with a big focus on the Blue Wall battleground states.

To move moderate white women toward Harris, Galvanize is serving up precision-guided ads that meet these women where they’re at. These ads draw on years of research, including neuroscience, that has given Galvanize a deep understanding of how white women think and what will move their vote. As you might imagine, messaging on reproductive rights figures prominently in Galvanize’s work. But it’s also running ads focused on the economy and immigration, issues where Harris needs to improve among white women.

The group’s cost-effectiveness in increasing net Democratic votes has earned it a big thumbs up from Focus for Democracy, which relies on data and evidence to guide donor recommendations. To learn more about Galvanize, I suggest digging into its fascinating methodology.

With early voting already underway in multiple states, Galvanize is still scrambling to raise all the money it needs to scale its work. Its PAC, the One for All Committee, is looking to close a funding gap of over $5 million. I hope you can pitch in.