Democrats have more midterm targets than they can afford to tackle — and they are sparring over where to spend the limited cash they have.
The party's progressive and establishment wings are squabbling over where to prioritize finite funds on an improbably expanded Senate map — and over who bears responsibility for bankrolling left-flank candidates like Angie Nixon in Florida and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan. The skirmishes could flare into a full-fledged intraparty war if the midterms don't break big for Democrats in less than two weeks.
Black lawmakers are calling for more money to flow to Florida for Nixon and to Mississippi for Scott Colom, while Latino leaders are castigating Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and the Democratic Governors Association for investing too little in Texas where Gina Hinojosa appears within striking distance of GOP Gov. Greg Abbott.
And Democratic operatives working on other governor's races warn that competitive contests are going underfunded as donors get distracted by rare opportunities to flip Senate seats in red states.
Democrats' rapidly expanding map has left the party confronting an "embarrassment of riches," said Rufus Gifford, a veteran party fundraiser who was national finance chair for President Joe Biden's 2024 campaign. But it has also forced national party leaders to make difficult decisions about where to spend in the final stretch of the election cycle.
"Money is finite, and so you do have to make tough choices," he said. "And the last thing you want to do is spread yourselves too thin."
The cash clashes are creating friction along ideological and racial lines amid an otherwise rosy outlook for Democrats. And they are previewing the potential fault lines if Democrats don't capitalize on what appears to be the best national environment for the party in a generation to flip congressional seats and wrest back gubernatorial offices — recriminations that could haunt the party heading into 2028.
Republicans are still massively outspending Democrats. The left's top four congressional campaign groups have warned for months that they don't have enough cash to compete everywhere on a greatly expanded map.
Democrats say those pressures have eased somewhat as big donors, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, put tens of millions of dollars across the map in recent weeks. Strong polling for Democrats in some core battlegrounds, like Senate races in Georgia and North Carolina, has also allowed the party to divert resources.
But that's giving a bullhorn to those who want more money for even redder turf in the South — a perennial source of frustration for Democrats in the region.
"The South in general is ripe for Democrats, but it has to be a sustained investment," said Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said in an interview. "Given the loyalty that the African American population gives to the Democratic Party, it is just an ideal opportunity to grow the party … but that engagement can't come two weeks or less before the general election."
Thompson said Colom "could've benefitted from early recognition from Senate Majority PAC and others."
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) has sharply criticized the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for not making "equitable investment in progressive and diverse candidates" like Nixon, Colom and El-Sayed in Michigan. In a statement to POLITICO this week, she applauded investments in the latter two races but said "we need to see more of that for Angie Nixon," a Black progressive state lawmaker who joined the Democratic Socialists of America over the summer.
Colom and Nixon, in interviews with POLITICO, also pressed for more resources. "I want everybody to understand that Mississippi matters and do their part," Colom said. Nixon said Democrats have "made a huge mistake by not investing in this state." And she suggested national donors may be hesitant to back her because they "think that the state is racist," even as she praised the DSCC and top Senate Democrats as "very helpful."
SMP this week said it was putting an initial $1.2 million on television in Mississippi. It also added $1 million more to its overall ad reservations in Michigan, bringing its total over $38 million, per tracker AdImpact. The DSCC had spent $16 million in Michigan as of last week; the campaign arm and top Democratic senators have also hosted fundraisers for Colom and Nixon and helped funnel other financial support toward their bids
"Senate Majority PAC is the single largest supporter of Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, a state we began communicating in just days after the primary, and we're excited by our sizable investment in Mississippi to elect Scott Colom," said SMP spokesperson Lauren French. "With limited resources and an expanded battleground map … SMP is focused on making strategic decisions that will build a Senate majority."
Maeve Coyle, a DSCC spokesperson, said that the group is grateful to those who "have actually chipped in to help as Democrats get outspent," adding that strong campaigns in a good year has meant "resources are stretched thinner across a much wider battleground that we pushed deep into offensive territory."
Some establishment-aligned Democrats privately gripe that prominent progressives with big war chests should be the ones bankrolling their candidates (Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont have each put at least $1 million toward El-Sayed's bid in recent days). They also suggest more resources could have been sent Nixon's way — or to other states — had the party apparatus not been forced to spend so much on progressive candidates in core battlegrounds like Michigan and Maine. Those states remain close despite the favorable environment.
El-Sayed spokesperson Roxie Richner said in a statement that the campaign is "grateful for the support of the DSCC and SMP" and that "whatever our differences, Senator Schumer is pragmatic and understands the need to win in Michigan."
Similar tensions have flared across House and gubernatorial races. Congressional Black Caucus members including Pressley have pushed for more investment from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in Black candidates like Justin Pearson in Tennessee. DCCC added Pearson to its coveted "Red to Blue" list in early October.
Thompson said "my colleagues have valid concerns" and that while DCCC has stepped up its aid to Black candidates, "it took too long to get to that."
A strategist close to the CBC's political operation and granted anonymity to discuss its dynamics said the caucus has worked closely with DCCC this cycle, and staffers with the two groups "talk every day."
Latino leaders and groups have also raised alarms this cycle about underinvestment in their candidates — particularly in Texas, where Hinojosa is close to Gov. Abbott in polls and Democrats also have a rare chance to flip a Senate seat.
Dozens of Latino leaders last month co-signed a letter urging Beshear, a possible 2028 presidential candidate, and the DGA to invest $10 million in Texas in support of Hinojosa's candidacy — warning it could hurt the party's standing with Latinos now and in 2028 if they didn't.
The DGA committed $1 million to supporting Hinojosa in the final stretch. But the comparably small last-minute cash injection hasn't quelled the angst.
"The DGA are like, 'no, no, no, no. We know what we are doing. We are going to stay with the same consultants and do the same thing,'" said Chuck Rocha, a veteran Democratic strategist who is advising Talarico and Hinojosa and signed last month's letter. "You end up with Andy Beshear and a bunch of well-intentioned white folks who don't understand we can win Texas."
When asked for comment, a DGA official pointed to the group's investment in the state and recent remarks from New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham defending the group. Earlier this week, Grisham told CNN that she rejected the suggestion that Beshear was "not wanting to move both resources and support to other states," adding: "I believe unequivocally that the DGA and Andy have embraced … Spanish TV, radio, more of the door to door."
Meanwhile, Democratic operatives in other battleground gubernatorial states directed their frustration at the party's donor class, who they argue are underinvesting in core governors' races and spending too much on elusive Senate targets in states like Florida, Mississippi and Texas. In a memo earlier this month, the DGA lamented Democratic gubernatorial candidates were being "drastically" outspent by Republicans in key states that will likely be key presidential battlegrounds including Georgia, Ohio, Wisconsin and Arizona.
"Everyone has been chasing a kind of fantasy land, it seems like, in some of these states," said one Democratic operative working on a competitive governor's race, granted anonymity to speak freely about the party. "Can we focus on the things that we can win and how important that will be for 2028 instead of trying to go for the latest shiny object?"
Dasha Burns, Adam Wren and Kimberly Leonard contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Politico at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/white-whale-competitive-contest-dems-140000990.html