WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� will spend millions of dollars to cement control of voter registration efforts that have traditionally been entrusted to nonprofit advocacy groups and individual political campaigns, a shift that party leaders hope will increase their chances in this year’s midterm elections.
The initiative, being announced on Tuesday, will begin in Arizona and Nevada with at least $2 million for training organizers. It’s the first step in what could become the DNC’s largest-ever push to sign up new voters, with a particular focus on young people, voters of color and people without college educations. All of those demographics drifted away from Democrats in , which returned Republican to the White House.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a crisis. And for our party to actually win elections, we have to actually create more Democrats,鈥� said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Martin added that 鈥渨e need all hands on deck, not just the outside groups,鈥� as the party tries to win back control of Congress and break .
Democrats have spent decades relying on advocacy organizations and civic groups to register voters, but those efforts are generally required by law to be nonpartisan. Party leaders want a more explicitly partisan approach like the one used by Republicans, who have relied less on outside groups to register and mobilize their voter base.
Martin said allied nonprofits are 鈥渞eally important partners鈥� that have 鈥渄one amazing work to actually get people engaging in their democracy.鈥�
“But in this moment right now, given the significant disadvantage that we have and the advantage the Republicans have, we actually have to do more,鈥� he said.
The DNC initiative aims to reach non-college-educated young voters by recruiting organizers from a wide array of backgrounds, like gig economy workers and young parents, who have often been overlooked in the party鈥檚 grassroots efforts. Democrats hope that organizers’ own perspectives and experiences will help party strategists learn how to connect with who are disaffected with politics, whom the party fears it has lost touch with in recent elections.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 incredible that Democrats are actually investing in reaching Democratic voters who have been left behind,鈥� said Santiago Mayer, founder of Voters for Tomorrow, a progressive political youth group that is collaborating with the DNC. 鈥淲e got killed on persuasion in 2024, and I think this is a really important step, fixing it and ensuring that we do not have a repeat of that in 2026.”
The program will kick off with dozens of videos from lawmakers, activists and party leaders across the country. Democrats hope to boost enthusiasm for the program through interstate party competitions throughout the year.
The White House dismissed the fellowship as a facade for the party’s political troubles.
鈥淭his is fake. They are broke. In debt. Been losing voter registration in every state in the union since 2024. We call this 鈥楶R,’鈥� James Blair, a deputy White House chief of staff and the former political director for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, wrote about the program on X.
If successful, the investments will provide a foundation that Democrats can rely upon beyond the fall midterm elections.
鈥淭his is a critical piece of the infrastructure that we鈥檙e building to actually not only win the moment in 鈥�26 but to win the future,” Martin said. 鈥淔or us to put ourselves in a position to win in 鈥�28 and 鈥�30 and 鈥�32, we actually have to keep doing this work and do it consistently.鈥�
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