Democrats are expanding their effort to shore up support among voters of color, whom the party views as essential to its hopes of regaining control of the House.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says the “historic eight-figure investment” will bolster advertising and mobilization drives to reach Black, Latino and Asian American voters and build upon and broaden an existing project to combat disinformation. The Washington Post reported the total spent would be $35 million, up from $30 million in the 2022 election cycle.
“We know that voters of color are critical to Democrats’ coalition and the DCCC’s investments highlight our commitment to continuously engaging with communities of color on issues they care about,” Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, who leads the DCCC, said in a statement announcing the effort.
Democrats need to flip a net of five seats to take back the majority Republicans won in 2022. The party is heavily focused on Republican-held seats, including five in California and six in New York, in districts that backed Joe Biden over Donald Trump in 2020.
Black, Latino and Asian American voters have long been a key part of the Democratic base, though Republicans have taken steps to win over non-white voters in recent years, with some success.
Taken as a whole, Asian American registered voters were more likely to say they would vote for Democrats in House and Senate elections, according to a 2022 survey by Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote.
Black voters remain the most consistently Democratic-leaning constituency in the electorate by race, according to the Democratic data firm Catalist, even though their share of the overall electorate and margin of support dipped in 2022.
Hispanic voters are also more in step with Democratic candidates on the issues, according to research by UnidosUS, a Hispanic civil rights organization. But the share of Latinos preferring Democrats to Republicans never breaks 50 percent, a survey released in 2023 found.
“We know how important it is to have ongoing culturally inclusive and resonate outreach with voters of color including in TV, digital, print, mail, and radio, through in-district organizing staff, and informed by in-depth research and polling,” said Mariafernanda “Marifer” Zacarias, the DCCC’s national engagement director.
The new DCCC effort will fund research to better understand the issues that drive Black, Latino and Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander voters, with a focus on the diversity within broader ethnic groups.
The DCCC says it will work to persuade and mobilize voters of color by crafting messages in English, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, Spanglish and Vietnamese.
“House Democrats know that our broad multiracial coalition is our strength,’’ Rep. Judy Chu, D.-Calif., said in a statement. “The historic investments from the DCCC are a commitment to expand our coalition.’’
A key element of the new initiative, which the DCCC calls “P.O.W.E.R. — for persuade, organize, welcome, educate and reach — is an expansion of an existing effort to address misinformation. Last cycle, the DCCC launched Juntos Together, a digital hub in English and Spanish to combat what the group calls “dangerous right-wing misinformation.”
The DCCC is now offering the same tool in five additional languages: Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog and Vietnamese. The online hub, now called “In It Together,’’ will “provide engaging content and resources that can be easily shared with friends, family, and community members to push back against false narratives and tout key accomplishments from House Democrats,’’ the group said.
“Attempts to disenfranchise voters of color remains one of the greatest threats to our democracy,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, D.-N.Y., said in a statement, ”which is why Democrats are working overtime to make sure that Black voters are equipped with the information and tools to exercise their right to the ballot box.”
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