Latest news with #ContestEveryRace
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Utah Democrats launch campaign to recruit more party candidates in local elections
The Utah Democratic Party has kicked off a statewide campaign with the goal of recruiting hundreds of Democratic candidates to run for local office in Utah. 'To ensure progress in our state, we have to be persistent with voters. That means no contest is too local and no race is too small,' said Diane Lewis, state Democratic Party chair. 'Our pathway to victory is to find local leaders to run for office everywhere.' The campaign, which kicked off last week, is part of a national movement being led by Contest Every Race, which is working to rebuild Democratic strength in places where Republicans often run uncontested. The new 2025 candidate recruitment program is trying to fill more than 700 offices in communities around Utah, including city council, town council and mayoral seats. This will be done through seeking and supporting new Democratic candidates ahead of the June 7 filing deadline. Outreach for the recruitment drive will prioritize rural and small-town communities, where Republicans often run unopposed. Outreach methods include text messaging, organizing meetings and coaching support for first-time candidates. 'In local races across the country, we are seeing voters turn out in red districts and vote for Democrats,' added Zoë Stein, executive director of Contest Every Race. 'That's why we're so excited to partner with Utah Democrats and ensure voters have a choice — because when they do, they vote blue." National Contest Every Race initiative Contest Every Race was founded in 2018, and since then has recruited over 11,000 Democrats to run for local office across the country. 'We believe that no election should go unchallenged and that regular people with shared values can step up to make a difference,' per the Contest Every Race website. 'Our mission is to strengthen democracy by empowering individuals to run for office, especially in communities where Republicans and the radical right have taken control unopposed.' In 2022, the organization found that more than 50% of all partisan races went without Democratic contest. How many Utah races went uncontested last year? Utah is a primarily Republican state and has multiple races go uncontested each election year. In the November 2024 general election, out of 137 Utah elections covered by Ballotpedia, 35 of them were uncontested. Throughout all of 2024, Ballotpedia covered 638 elections in Utah and 442 of them were uncontested. Ballotpedia defines an uncontested election as 'one where the number of candidates on the ballot is less than or equal to the number of seats up for election. Candidates running in uncontested elections are virtually guaranteed victory.' In the 2024 elections for Utah's state legislative seats, there was no Democratic candidate in 25 of 75 House races and in 6 of 14 Senate races.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dem group plans $12 million investment in rural areas, with an eye toward 2028
A Democratic candidate recruitment group is pledging to pour $12 million into rural organizing in an effort to make inroads in red America and to lay groundwork for 2028, the organization shared first with Morning Score. The investment by Contest Every Race in rural areas marks an expansion of the group's grants program, which gave $1.2 million to local parties in 2024 but has seen a surge in donor interest in the second Trump administration. The group's grant program, which has given to local parties in 29 states since 2021, is now expanding nationwide in what it casts as the 'largest long-term, volunteer-powered organizing initiative aligned with the Democratic Party.' The investment comes as Democrats for years have struggled in rural swaths of the country, a problem compounded by Donald Trump's appeal to working class voters and Democratic messaging some in the party have argued is out of touch. The program — in which local parties typically receive at least $600 a quarter from Contest Every Race — involves tiny sums of money. But it also provides monthly trainings and free texting services, which can go a long way for small, mostly-volunteer parties in rural areas. The group has applications for money from 1,200 local parties across all 50 states — nearly three times the number of local parties the group worked with in the run up to 2024. It said it will work in as many as possible, though battleground states will be prioritized. 'Democrats' recent wins in Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Wisconsin didn't happen by accident — they're the result of relentless, year-round local organizing in places national Democrats too often ignore,' said Zoe Stein, Executive Director of Contest Every Race, in a statement. The group is aiming to boost Democrats and recruit candidates for the 100,000 local elections across the country in 2025, while also building a foundation in rural areas that could boost turnout in the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential election. One rural Democratic party said the group's support helped them boost the number of candidates on the ballot. In 2023, Democrats in Union County, Pennsylvania, had only 10 candidates on the ballot in municipal elections, according to chair Shari Jacobson. Last year, there were Democratic candidates running in almost every race in the area, she said, and this year, 29 Democrats are running in local elections, said Jacobson, who added that Contest Every Race was crucial to meeting that mark. 'Almost every single voter in Union County had someone to vote for for every single seat,' Jacobson said. While those candidates didn't all win, Vice President Kamala Harris made gains in the county over President Joe Biden's 2020 numbers, and having locals on the ballot helped drive voter turnout, Jacobson said. 'We're playing a long game,' she said. 'It's not gonna happen overnight.' This story first appeared in the Morning Score newsletter. Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories.
Politico
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Dem group plans $12 million investment in rural areas, with an eye toward 2028
A Democratic candidate recruitment group is pledging to pour $12 million into rural organizing in an effort to make inroads in red America and to lay groundwork for 2028, the organization shared first with Morning Score. The investment by Contest Every Race in rural areas marks an expansion of the group's grants program, which gave $1.2 million to local parties in 2024 but has seen a surge in donor interest in the second Trump administration. The group's grant program, which has given to local parties in 29 states since 2021, is now expanding nationwide in what it casts as the 'largest long-term, volunteer-powered organizing initiative aligned with the Democratic Party.' The investment comes as Democrats for years have struggled in rural swaths of the country, a problem compounded by Donald Trump's appeal to working class voters and Democratic messaging some in the party have argued is out of touch. The program — in which local parties typically receive at least $600 a quarter from Contest Every Race — involves tiny sums of money. But it also provides monthly trainings and free texting services, which can go a long way for small, mostly-volunteer parties in rural areas. The group has applications for money from 1,200 local parties across all 50 states — nearly three times the number of local parties the group worked with in the run up to 2024. It said it will work in as many as possible, though battleground states will be prioritized. 'Democrats' recent wins in Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Wisconsin didn't happen by accident — they're the result of relentless, year-round local organizing in places national Democrats too often ignore,' said Zoe Stein, Executive Director of Contest Every Race, in a statement. The group is aiming to boost Democrats and recruit candidates for the 100,000 local elections across the country in 2025, while also building a foundation in rural areas that could boost turnout in the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential election. One rural Democratic party said the group's support helped them boost the number of candidates on the ballot. In 2023, Democrats in Union County, Pennsylvania, had only 10 candidates on the ballot in municipal elections, according to chair Shari Jacobson. Last year, there were Democratic candidates running in almost every race in the area, she said, and this year, 29 Democrats are running in local elections, said Jacobson, who added that Contest Every Race was crucial to meeting that mark. 'Almost every single voter in Union County had someone to vote for for every single seat,' Jacobson said. While those candidates didn't all win, Vice President Kamala Harris made gains in the county over President Joe Biden's 2020 numbers, and having locals on the ballot helped drive voter turnout, Jacobson said. 'We're playing a long game,' she said. 'It's not gonna happen overnight.' This story first appeared in the Morning Score newsletter. Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro . You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories.
