National organizations will give big boosts to Virginia Democrats this year

Virginia State Capitol. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)

From building party infrastructure and strengthening candidate recruitment pipelines to supporting current candidates with tens of thousands in cash, both the Democratic Party of Virginia and candidates running in this year’s pivotal House of Delegates election are getting fresh infusions of funds and energy from national organizations. 

Thursday, the Democratic National Committee announced that it will transfer more than $1 million per month to its state and territorial parties over the next four years. Meanwhile the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee announced its spotlight investment on a slate of Democrats who are challenging Republican incumbents in Virginia’s statehouse.

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Those include women candidates who are facing a rematch this year against Republican incumbents they nearly ousted last time around. Those races are expected to be tight again as Republicans try to hold the line and Democrats hope to flip the districts. 

House District 82 challenger Kimberly Pope Adams lost to Del. Kim Taylor, R-Petersburg in 2023’s election by just 53 votes and will face the delegate again with DLCC’s backing. 

As will House District 41 challenger Lily Franklin who nearly beat Del. Chris Obenshain, R-Montgomery, and House District 71 challenger Jessica Anderson who nearly ousted Del. Amanda Batten, R- James City County. Both women will step up to bat again in November. 

DLCC also announced support for House District 22 challenger Elizabeth Guzman, a former state delegate looking to get back into the legislature by ousting Del. Ian Lovejoy, R-Prince William, in the competitive district.

During Guzman’s previous tenure in the General Assembly she was tapped to deliver the Spanish language response to Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address during his first term in the White House. 

Now that he’s earned a second term and Republicans control both chambers of Congress, Virginia’s House of Delegates and state executive branch elections this year represent an opportunity for Democrats to hold onto their seats and claw back power at the state level.

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With $350,000 already invested in Virginia specifically as one of its priority states, DLCC plans to build on that number. 

“State Democrats in Virginia and across the country are holding the line against extremism in Washington,” DLCC president Heather Williams said in a statement. “All eyes should be on the commonwealth as competitive campaigns ramp up and voters prepare to hold Republicans accountable for their extremism this November.”

The focus on state-level gains is paramount for the party’s national apparatus as well. 

“When we organize everywhere to compete everywhere, we can win anywhere,” DNC chair Ken Martin told the media during a virtual call Wednesday morning. 

As part of the new investment strategy, he said that each state party is set to receive a minimum of $17,500 per month — up $5,000 from the current baseline. Republican-controlled states can also expect a total of $22,500 per month with a boost from the DNC’s Red State Fund. 

A politically purple state, this doesn’t apply to Virginia this time around, as the threshold for that funding source entails meeting at least two of three criteria: no Democratic governor or Democratic U.S. Senator; one-quarter or less of the state’s congressional delegation being made up of Democrats; and Republicans holding supermajorities in both state legislative chambers. 

Those factors are in flux, Martin and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who was also on the call, emphasized, saying “there’s no such thing as a perpetual blue state or a perpetual red state.”

But in order to build Democratic gains within the D.C. beltway, Martin said, the DNC can help support states as they recruit and support candidates in bodies like state legislatures and city councils. 

“The role of political parties is to build infrastructure everywhere,” Martin said. 

With the fresh boosts from the DNC and DLCC, Democratic Party of Virginia Chair Lamont Bagby is ready to put the resources to work in this year’s elections. 

“We are committed to investing in every corner of the Commonwealth and mobilizing every voter to elect Abigail Spanberger as Governor, a Democratic Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General, and expand our majority in the House of Delegates,” he said in a statement to The Mercury.

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