The Great Slate 2020

The Great Slate is back!

This year we're backing five veteran House campaigns in states where there is a competitive Senate race (Maine, Iowa, Montana, Alaska and Colorado). You can read about each campaign in detail here!

The idea is to turn out additional votes in parts of the state the Senate campaigns are not focusing on.

In Iowa's 4th district, an agricultural region devastated by Trump's impulsive trade policy, J.D. Scholten is running against first-time Republican candidate Randy Feenstra. In 2018, Scholten got 24,000 more votes than there are Democrats in his district. Together with state house candidates, he's working to mobilize this region's large Hispanic vote. His anti-monopoly platform crosses party lines and resonates with farmers battered by years of corporate consolidation.

In Maine's 2nd district, Jared Golden is defending the seat he narrowly won in 2018—a victory that could also deliver the electoral vote for Maine's second district. Maine is home to one of the most competitive Senate races in the country, between Susan Collins and Sara Gideon. Golden is popular in his district and unlike Gideon, has a significant field operation in place.

In Colorado's 3rd district, Diane Mitsch Bush is running against a fringe right newcomer, Lauren Boebert, who defeated five-time incumbent Scott Tipton in a stunning primary upset. Mitsch Bush's enormous district includes the heavily Latino city of Pueblo, with a historically low voter turnout. The Republican senate seat in Colorado may be the most vulnerable in the country. With the QAnon-adjacent Boebert as the Republican nominee, CD-3 is now among the competitive House races in America. Mitsch Bush has been endorsed by Emily's List and is on the DCCC's Red-to-Blue list.

In Montana, Kathleen Williams is running again for a House seat she nearly won in 2018. Her opponent that year was Greg Gianforte; this year the seat is open, and polls show Williams with a small lead. The Senate race in Montana features the popular former Governor, Steve Bullock, who is also ahead in the polls. Montana is a conservative state, but there's a real chance both the Senate and House race here can go blue in November.

Finally, in Alaska, Alyse Galvin is running against an 87 year old climate denialist with a history of abusive behavior to staffers and journalists. Her statewide race will reach the same electorate as the Senate race, which features a first-time candidate who is the son of a local legend running against a vulnerable incumbent. This is a year of exceptional political turmoil in Alaska, and Galvin has built a grassroots movement unprecedented in the history of the state. For the first time in an Alaska primary in thirty years, she received more total votes than Don Young, an encouraging omen! Galvin is also on the DCCC Red-to-Blue list and backed by Emily's List.

Why fund these House races to win the Senate? Because Senate campaigns are saturated with money, and can't usefully spend more! They're also not allowed to give it to other campaigns.

Meanwhile, rural House candidates can run a complementary strategy: doing small-scale voter outreach, campaigning on local issues that cut across party lines, and building on field and campaign infrastructure built in 2018.

Every donation means less time on the phones for these candidates, and more time campaigning. In a year when we can't take any votes for granted, they will be doing the hardest work—persuading voters, one at a time, that real change can happen in America, and that rural communities are not going to be left behind.

Please help them by eliminating the overhead and time sink of fundraising! You can donate up to $2,800 per candidate, or $14,000 to the Great Slate together.

Think of how much it would mean to you to wake up on November 4 to learn we have a Democratic Senate. To get there will take all of us!

Whether you can give a lot of only a little, every donation counts in this roller-coaster political year. Win or lose, we want to know that we did everything we could in 2020.