Thread by @charles_gaba

THREAD: Since @BenSpielberg has decided to post a whole thread criticizing my fundraising philosophy, allow me to once again explain how it works. 1/

https://twitter.com/BenSpielberg/status/1547958377619210241

There's a debate about whether Dems should focus entirely on "swing states/districts" or if they should take "compete everywhere!" You don't want to abandon Dems living in deep red states/districts, but you also don't want to flush millions down the drain on no-chance races. 2/

The poster child for this debate in 2020 was Amy McGrath in Kentucky. Something like $90 million was dumped on her race only for her to lose by nearly 20 points. That $90M could've gone to hundreds of other state/federal races which had a better chance. 3/

There's plenty of other examples (@harrisonjaime in SC, etc) as well. At the same time, if you *completely* abandon red state Dem candidates how can you expect the local Dem parties to *ever* turn things around? So, it's a tough call. 4/

Last cycle I raised $6M for over 600 Dems running at the federal & state level. I raised hundreds of thousands apiece for the "top tier" Senate candidates (Ossoff, Warnock, Hickenlooper, Kelly, etc)...but also raised ~$50K+ apiece for "no chance" candidates in WY, TN, etc. 5/

Now, at the STATE level, I most people are smart enough to know that a Dem winning statewide in OK or SD these days is nearly impossible. If they choose to toss a few bucks at, say, Katrina Christiansen in ND or David Roth in ID, I assume they have their reasons. 6/

Maybe the statewide Dem getting 40% instead of 35% will at least have some coattails to help flip a few legislative seats down the line. Or maybe it's a great candidate stuck in an impossible state whose profile they want to raise for future races. Whatever. 7/

So, for STATEWIDE races, I include vulnerable Dem seats, "swing" seats *and* "long shot" seats...but I still make sure to list the higher-profile, more winnable states first, delegating the rest to "Other Races." 8/

Now, for DISTRICT-based races (U.S. House, state legislatures), it's a different situation. Everything I note above is still true...except that at the *district* level, very few people not from the area have the slightest clue which ones are "swing districts" or "deep red." 9/

The poster child for *district* races is probably #GA14, where Marcus Flowers is running against Marjorie Taylor Greene.

This guy has raised over $10 MILLION in an R+22 district which voted for Trump by over 37 points in 2020. 10/

Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against Flowers, and if he manages to win he'll be a rock star...but unless something completely outlandish happens between now and November, he's not gonna win with $10 million or $100 million. He just...won't. 11/

So, for DISTRICT-level races, I do try to be more pragmatic...although I still cast a wider net than most other "red to blue" fundraisers.

For the U.S. House, I include the ~80 races considered either competitive or at least *potentially* competitive by @CookPolitical. 12/

For *state legislative* races, I include state house/senate races in districts rated by @DavesRedist as being within 10 points or less (D/R +10 or closer), plus a few special cases. 13/

While I'm at it, I don't include the DNC, DSCC or DCCC, but I *do* include state Democratic parties, Run for Something, Fair Fight Action, Democracy Docket and so on here and there for the hell of it.

You can see EVERY race I'm raising money for here: 14/
americabluein22.com

There's another important detail which @BenSpielberg didn't mention: ActBlue pages allow you to PICK & CHOOSE WHICH CANDIDATES YOU WANT TO DONATE TO.

In other words, if you use one of my links & only want to donate to, say, 22 out of 24 candidates listed, just, you know...do so.

Anyway, if you’re able to afford it, PLEASE consider visiting some of these links & donating directly to some of the candidates listed: americabluein22.com

As an aside, here's where my total 2022 cycle fundraising efforts stand as of today. I'm less than $17,000 away from raising $500,000 for Dems up & down the ballot:

(To clarify: $88,500 of this is via a standalone fundraising event I co-hosted last spring, so it doesn’t show up in my ActBlue dashboard).