The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee launched a $40 million investment into 10 states with key Senate races across the country on Monday.
The program, which the committee dubbed “Win the Senate,” will fund staff, infrastructure, training programs, and voter outreach in key states that Senate Democrats both look to hold and pick up. The DSCC is investing the $40 million into flipping seats in Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas and holding seats in Georgia, Michigan, and New Hampshire.
DSCC Chairwoman Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) projected confidence that the investment “puts Democrats in a prime position to flip the Senate.” The announcement comes about 100 days out from Election Day, on the home stretch of primary season, as Democrats are still finalizing their slate headed into November.
“Democrats have expanded the battleground map and created multiple pathways to win a Senate majority, thanks to strong candidate recruitment, formidable campaigns, weakened Republican opponents and a winning message that focuses on the needs and demands of working families across America who have been left behind in Republicans’ priorities,” Gillibrand and Schumer said in a joint statement.
As far as states that have already held their primaries and determined their Democratic nominees, Senate Democrats are backing state Rep. Josh Turek in Iowa, former state Sen. Troy Jackson in Maine, former Gov. Roy Cooper in North Carolina, former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, state Rep. James Talarico in Texas, and Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA).
Jackson and Brown are attempting to oust incumbent Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jon Husted (R-OH), respectively. Turek, Cooper, and Talarico are each in competitive, open races against Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, respectively. Ossoff is defending his seat against GOP challenger Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA).
Primary elections have yet to happen in Alaska, Florida, New Hampshire, and Michigan, though the DSCC is backing both former Rep. Mary Peltola to challenge Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) to fill retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen‘s (D-NH) seat.
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), Schumer’s preferred candidate, is locked in a heated primary, set for Aug. 4, against leftist Abdul el Sayed, but the DSCC has yet to make an endorsement in the race. The committee has also not backed a candidate in Florida, where state Rep. Angela Nixon is taking on veteran Alex Vindman.
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The DSCC posted a thread on X of the candidates it is bolstering on Monday, saying, “Meet the Democratic Senate candidates who are going to help flip the Senate in 100 days.” The first slide of candidates included Ossoff, Cooper, Brown, and Peltola, and the second slide included Turek, Talarico, and Pappas. Relegated to the last slide was Jackson, who just recently was selected by Maine Democrats to fill the role of Graham Platner, who dropped out of the race in the face of sexual assault allegations, and district attorney Scott Colom, the Democratic nominee in Mississippi, a state that was not part of the $40 million investment.
Of the 10 states announced on Tuesday, Alaska, Maine, Michigan, and Ohio are considered toss-ups by the Cook Political Report. Iowa and Texas are deemed to lean Republican, while Georgia, North Carolina, and New Hampshire lean Democratic. Florida is a choice a bit out of left field, as the CPR ranks it a solid Republican state, and Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) is running for reelection after being appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).