Senate Democrats are pumping $30 million into a field organizing push in nine states that will determine control of the upper chamber in 2022.
The new program, dubbed Defend the Majority, is the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s (DSCC) largest investment in field organizing this early in an election cycle.
The goal of the effort is to help Democrats build out the necessary on-the-ground infrastructure — field offices, staffers, training programs and the like — ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
The initial $30 million investment will be split between nine of the most important Senate battlegrounds: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The DSCC is also holding out the possibility of adding more states and more funding to the program.
The early effort by the DSCC and state Democratic parties comes as Democrats gear up to protect their razor-thin Senate majority in 2022. The upper chamber is currently split 50-50 between the two parties, with Vice President Harris responsible for casting tie-breaking votes.
If Republicans are able to flip just one Democratic seat next year without losing ground elsewhere, they would regain control of the Senate.
“The stakes in this election have never been higher: if Republicans take the Senate they’ll take our country backwards, and hard working Americans will pay the price,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the chair of the DSCC, said.
“The midterm election will be a fight for the future of our country, and we look forward to joining with organizers, voters and communities across the country to win Senate races and defend the Democratic Senate majority Americans are counting on.”
On the surface, Senate Democrats appear to have the advantage heading into 2022. For one, they’re defending fewer seats than the Republicans are. The GOP is also contending with a spate of incumbent retirements, including in key battleground states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
But history doesn’t favor Democrats. The party of a new president tends to lose ground in midterms, and Republicans are hoping to make the 2022 elections a referendum on President Biden’s tenure in office.