Democrats are focused on avoiding Project 2025 in a second Trump term. But they are also spending millions to take their fight against the Republican Party’s “extreme” policies to the states.

• There has been a focus on the Conservative-led Project 2025 as it relates to the federal government.

• But the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee wants voters to pay attention to statewide races.

• The DLCC is funding a new $2.2 million investment in its efforts to boost Democrats in key states.

Ahead of the November general election, Project 2025, supported by the Heritage Foundation – a plan of approximately 900 pages designed to push the federal government in a strongly conservative direction – it became a huge ideological focus in the election campaign.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who is likely to become the Democratic presidential nominee, alerted voters that the plane would mirror that of a second donald trump presidency. (The former president recently said he had “nothing to do” with the plan.)

But while the conversation around Project 2025 is centered on federal issues, aspects of the plan — which cover everything from school choice to reproductive rights — could also be pursued through state legislatures.

That’s why the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee on Tuesday announced a new $2.2 million investment in six battleground states this would fund state-level campaigns to combat what the organization described as an “extreme” agenda led by the Republican Party.

As part of the “Summer of the States” campaign, DLCC will fund campaign infrastructure in Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – which will be used to hire staff and invest in field operations, among other efforts. .

“Unchecked MAGA control of state legislatures across the country would be catastrophic for our democracy, as well as our fundamental freedoms and rights,” DLCC President Heather Williams said in a statement.

In the new round of spending, the DLCC is expected to invest more than $1.1 million in efforts to maintain control of the Michigan House of Representatives, which the party wrested from Republicans in 2022 – in an election in which voters also re-elected Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer. and elected a Democratic majority to the Michigan Senate.

The second-largest cash infusion ($500,000) will go toward efforts to retain the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, which Democrats also flipped in the 2022 cycle.

DLCC will also make investments to win back the New Hampshire House of Representatives and the New Hampshire Senate, while working to gain ground in the North Carolina legislature. And the organization will also fund efforts to retain the Minnesota House of Representatives and make gains in the Wisconsin Assembly.

For DLCC, the latest round of investment comes at a critical time, especially as the party has overwhelmingly united behind Harris following President Joe Biden’s decision. decision to resign his candidacy for re-election.

As the organization looks ahead to 2024, it sees the Trump-led Republican Party as one that will seek to implement its agenda in as many states as possible. And they want to make sure voters understand what’s at stake in midterm elections down the road.

Anastasia Apa, DLCC vice president of development, told Business Insider that creating a state-level “firewall” will be key for the party in November.

“Investing in democratic efforts to build power in state legislatures is a critical way to defend our future,” she said.

Read the original article at Business Insider