FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Progressive Turnout Project Endorses Largest Ever Slate for 2020: Biden, 16 Senate Candidates & 84 House Candidates
Progressive PAC Will Spend $52.5 Million in On-The-Ground Efforts in 17 Battleground States, Knocking on Over 10 Million Doors
CHICAGO — Today, Progressive Turnout Project (PTP), the largest US grassroots-funded voter outreach organization, announced its largest ever slate of endorsements: 101 federal candidates for the 2020 election, including Joe Biden for President.
“It’s more important now than ever that we do everything we can to boost voter turnout at all levels, especially as Trump has turned this pandemic into a partisan spectacle,” said Alex Morgan, Executive Director of Progressive Turnout Project. “Republicans are using this public health crisis to suppress the vote on a massive scale, and that’s why we’re putting all our resources toward electing Democrats who are fighting to make vote-by-mail universal and keep voters safe.”
In December, PTP launched its largest grassroots-funded voter turnout program — initially planning on knocking 7.1 million doors and investing $45 million in support of candidates up and down the ballot.
Since then, PTP has expanded its deep canvass field program nationwide and will be spending a total of $52.5 million overall to boost voter turnout in 2020. The additional funds will allow PTP to knock on more than 10 million doors in 17 battleground states, including states with vulnerable Senate Republicans like Arizona, Colorado, Montana, and North Carolina.
“Progressive Turnout Project is excited to endorse 101 bold candidates this year and to be running the largest national field program to elect Democrats up and down the ballot,” said Morgan. “To build a movement, Democrats need to connect with voters in ways that don’t just rely on expensive, impersonal tv ads. That’s why Progressive Turnout Project will be knocking on over 10 million doors and mobilizing millions of voters who don’t always go to the polls.”
In the Senate, PTP is endorsing 16 candidates including challengers Mark Kelly (AZ), Theresa Greenfield (IA), Barbara Bollier (KS), Amy McGrath (KY), Sara Gideon (ME), and Cal Cunningham (NC) — as well as frontline incumbents like Sen. Doug Jones (AL) and Sen. Gary Peters (MI). In Senate battleground states, PTP will be opening a combined 49 offices and hiring over 632 staff to turnout infrequent Democratic voters.
PTP is backing 84 House candidates to expand the Democratic majority, including Frontline incumbents and challengers in red-to-blue districts. PTP will be on the ground in support of champions like Rep. Abby Finkenauer (IA-01) and Rep. Lucy McBath (GA-06). All have helped lead the fight to expand voting access and end the corrosive power of money in politics, backing key legislation like the For the People Act of 2019 (H.R.1) and the Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R.4).
“These representatives had the back of the American people, and now we’re going to have theirs,” said Morgan. “If this pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we need strong, united voices in Congress to bring effective change to our communities. Securing Democratic wins in 2020 is how we get the ball rolling on big progressive priorities.”
As part of our endorsement, Progressive Turnout Project offers robust data, field, and financial support to candidates, including training candidate field staff on best practices for meaningful voter outreach, and training PTP field fellows to be placed with campaigns. In 2018, PTP placed 107 fellows with our endorsed candidates who helped campaigns reach more voters and boost turnout in critical races.
In 2018, Progressive Turnout Project endorsed in 20 Senate races in 19 states and helped elect two new Democratic Senators: Krysten Sinema (AZ) and Jacky Rosen (NV). PTP endorsed 57 House candidates and invested in on the ground field efforts in 18 House races — boosting turnout by 10.4% and flipping 15 seats.
Progressive Turnout Project’s Endorsed Candidates:
| Joe Biden (President)* Sen. Doug Jones (AL-SEN)* Alyse Galvin (AK-AL) Mark Kelly (AZ-SEN)* Rep. Tom O’Halleran (AZ-01)* Hiral Tipirneni (AZ-06)* Rep. TJ Cox (CA-21) Phil Arballo (CA-22) Christy Smith (CA-25) Rep. Gil Cisneros (CA-39) Rep. Katie Porter (CA-45) Rep. Harley Rouda (CA-48) Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49) Ammar Campa-Najjar (CA-50) Rep. Joe Neguse (CO-02)* Rep. Jason Crow (CO-06)* Rep. Jahana Hayes (CT-05) Margaret Good (FL-16)* Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (FL-26)* Raphael Warnock (GA-SEN-SPECIAL)* Rep. Lucy McBath (GA-06)* Theresa Greenfield (IA-SEN)* Rep. Abby Finkenauer (IA-01)* Rita Hart (IA-02)* Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03)* J.D. Scholten (IA-04)* Marie Newman (IL-03) Rep. Chuy Garcia (IL-04) Rep. Sean Casten (IL-06) Betsy Dirksen Londrigan (IL-13) Rep. Lauren Underwood (IL-14) Christina Hale (IN-05) Barbara Bollier (KS-SEN)* Rep. Sharice Davids (KS-03)* *races where PTP will be running our deep canvassing program | Amy McGrath (KY-SEN)* Josh Hicks (KY-06)* Rep. Lori Trahan (MA-03) Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) Sara Gideon (ME-SEN)* Rep. Jared Golden (ME-02)* Kweisi Mfume (MD-07) Sen. Gary Peters (MI-SEN)* Hillary Scholten (MI-03)* Jon Hoadley (MI-06)* Rep. Elissa Slotkin (MI-08)* Rep. Andy Levin (MI-09)* Rep. Haley Stevens (MI-11)* Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI-13)* Sen. Tina Smith (MN-SEN) Dan Feehan (MN-01) Rep. Angie Craig (MN-02) Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-05) Jill Schupp (MO-02) Mike Espy (MS-SEN) Steve Bullock (MT-SEN)* Kathleen Williams (MT-AL)* Cal Cunningham (NC-SEN)* Deborah Ross (NC-02)* Kathy Manning (NC-06)* Pat Timmons-Goodson (NC-08)* Cynthia Wallace (NC-09)* Moe Davis (NC-11)* Kara Eastman (NE-02)* Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (NH-SEN)* Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01)* Rep. Andy Kim (NJ-03) Rep. Tom Malinowski (NJ-07) Rep. Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) | Rep. Ben Ray Luján (NM-SEN) Rep. Deb Haaland (NM-01) Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (NM-02) Rep. Susie Lee (NV-03) Rep. Steven Horsford (NV-04) Jackie Gordon (NY-02) Rep. Max Rose (NY-11) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) Rep. Antonio Delgado (NY-19) Dana Balter (NY-24) Rep. Joseph Morelle (NY-25) Rep. Kendra Horn (OK-05) Rep. Madeleine Dean (PA-04) Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05) Rep. Susan Wild (PA-07)* Rep. Matthew Cartwright (PA-08)* Eugene DePasquale (PA-10)* Rep. Conor Lamb (PA-17)* Jaime Harrison (SC-SEN)* MJ Hegar (TX-SEN) Sima Ladjevardian (TX-02) Rep. Lizzie Pannill Fletcher (TX-07) Rep. Veronica Escobar (TX-16) Wendy Davis (TX-21) Sri Kulkarni (TX-22) Gina Ortiz Jones (TX-23) Rep. Sylvia Garcia (TX-29) Rep. Colin Allred (TX-32) Rep. Elaine Luria (VA-02) Rep. Abigail Spanberger (VA-07) Rep. Jennifer Wexton (VA-10) Carolyn Long (WA-03) Rep. Kim Schrier (WA-08) |
Reaction from Candidates on Progressive Turnout Project Endorsement:
Theresa Greenfield (IA-SEN): “I’m proud to have the endorsement of Progressive Turnout Project. With the help of their grassroots support on the ground in every district in our state, we’re going to win up-and-down the ballot for working families in Iowa this year.”
Jaime Harrison (SC-SEN): “Progressive Turnout Project is right that a winning field strategy must begin early and involve multiple conversations with voters. It’s how we’ll beat Lindsey Graham and restore hope to the lives of millions across the Palmetto State. I’m thrilled to have Progressive Turnout Project’s support and expertise in this critical election.”
Kara Eastman (NE-02): “I’m proud to be endorsed by Progressive Turnout Project, a group that’s as eager to get Don Bacon out of Congress as I am! In 2018, PTP was on the ground in NE-02 and I’m excited to have them by my side again as we fight for workers and their families. Together we’ll flip this seat in November!”
Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03): “As a party, we need to be competitive everywhere. There were some groups that wrote off our district as unwinnable, but Progressive Turnout Project took up the challenge and were on the ground in Iowa early. Their resources helped make my win possible in 2018, and they’ll make all the difference for us in 2020, too.”
Rep. Lucy McBath (GA-06): “To win in 2020, we need to expand the Democratic base. Progressive Turnout Project’s laser-focus on deep canvassing is exactly what we need to expand the Democratic base. PTP is helping voters find their voice in our democracy, and I know we can count on them come Election Day.”
More On Progressive Turnout Project:
- Progressive Turnout Project is a grassroots-funded PAC with a single mission: get Democrats to the polls. PTP designs, tests, and executes specialized voter-turnout programs targeting infrequent Democratic voters in the most competitive elections across the country. For more info on where PTP will be in 2020, visit https://www.turnoutpac.org/how-we-win.
- In 2020, PTP will target 8.8 million voters including 4.8 million voters who stayed home in 2016, 3.9 million young voters and 4.3 million people of color (including 1 million Latinos and 3 million African-Americans).
- Voter contact via phone has already begun, and field offices and canvassing will open and launch in June. PTP’s program is built around multiple in-depth conversations with voters between June and Election Day, until they commit to vote, make a vote plan, and head to the polls.
- Progressive Turnout Project bases its successful model on experiments which have shown that canvassing is a great cost-effective way to boost turnout — producing one additional vote for every 14 people reached at the cost of only $7 to $19 a vote, according to the New York Times. If Democrats had reached out to every eligible non-voter in 2016, there could have been 6.2 million more votes cast.
- Since its inception in 2015, Progressive Turnout Project has raised $54.2 million with a supporter base of over 3.9 million and invested in voter-turnout programs in 130 House and Senate races. Our average donation is $14.35.
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Progressive Turnout Project is a grassroots-funded political action committee with a single mission: get Democrats to the polls. PTP designs, tests, and executes specialized voter-turnout programs targeting inconsistent Democratic voters in the most competitive elections across the country. In 2020, the organization will invest $52.5 million to knock on over 10.1 million doors and get out the vote in 17 presidential and Senate battleground states.
