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If you’ve been following us for a while, you know what Blue Tent does — we research progressive and Democratic groups to help donors give with maximum impact.
It’s inspiring work, with so many strong organizations out there trying to win elections and make change. That was underscored by the big victories in last fall’s midterms, as well as in this spring’s Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
Still, along the way, we’ve identified some alarming gaps in progressive infrastructure, including one that’s especially urgent: voter engagement in congressional districts.
The only reason that the GOP now holds the House — winning control by just 6,675 votes spread across five districts — is that our side isn’t doing enough to connect with voters in battleground districts.
To be sure, these districts are tough terrain for Democrats. Located in suburban and rural areas, they tend to be less diverse and more politically moderate. Yet if you look closely at demographic and voting data, as I’ve done here, it’s clear that we could consistently win swing districts with the right strategy and enough money. In a nutshell, we need major new investments to both mobilize base voters and persuade moderate or disaffected voters to support Democrats.
Until now, though, there's been no national entity that is singularly focused on this mission — certainly not the DCCC, with its traditional campaign playbook.
This is why Blue Tent has created a new project — People's House.
The idea is simple: To give donors a clear pathway for supporting grassroots organizing and GOTV work in competitive congressional districts.
People’s House will identify strong groups working in these districts and make recommendations for where donors should give. Our goal in 2024 is to help defeat the 20 most vulnerable Republican incumbents.
Right now, we’re raising money for the initial research and networking phase of this project. I hope you can donate and become a founding supporter of People’s House.
Just to be clear: We will not be recommending giving to candidates. And here’s why: Democrats mainly win elections not because of who’s running, but because of who’s voting. While strong, well-funded campaigns are essential, they have limited ability to change a district’s electorate. Instead, achieving consistently higher Democratic vote share requires year-round organizing and sophisticated GOTV efforts across multiple election cycles.
Progressive donors have given huge sums to scale up such work at a statewide level in battlegrounds like Georgia and Arizona. But there’s been no comparable effort to apply this model to competitive congressional districts in a laser-focused and systematic way.
The return on such investments could be profound. As I’ve explained elsewhere, there are now only about 40 competitive congressional districts nationwide. In many, election outcomes are often decided by just a few thousand votes — or even less. If we can find enough new voters across enough swing districts, and do this consistently, Democrats could control the House for many years to come.
People’s House gives donors a way to support this strategy. I think it could become an essential piece of the left’s electoral infrastructure, offering a much-needed alternative to the DCCC. But first, we must get the project fully built out, so I hope you can donate now.
And one last thing: This is important not just to get rid of Kevin McCarthy and the “chaos caucus” next fall. Without a long-term strategy to lock down the House, control is likely to continue flipping back and forth, as has happened five times in 30 years. Ending that pattern requires scaling a new playbook focused on voter engagement in swing districts — and building a more representative democracy.