Dear John,
Donor activists like you helped Americans for Prosperity win in Virginia’s state legislative primaries.
These races were a crucial test of the same strategy AFP Action is employing to WIN in 2024.
The results from the Old Dominion are encouraging: The grassroots capability you back can help good candidates win their primaries — and set us up for better results in general elections.
So how did these wins come about?
Over the last two months, Americans for Prosperity and LIBRE Initiative activists and staff launched an aggressive grassroots push to speak with potential primary voters face-to-face at their doors in the three most important — and most contested — state Senate primary races in Virginia:
- Glen Sturtevant won the toughest race this year in state Senate District 12 against two primary opponents. AFP staffers and volunteers helped get Sturtevant across the finish line by knocking 32,000 doors south of Richmond in Chesterfield County and Colonial Heights City. He faced two primary opponents, including the incumbent state Sen. Amanda Chase, and prevailed by just 1.5 points — fewer than 350 votes!
- Tara Durant won the primary in Senate District 27, a politically competitive suburban district between Washington, D.C. and Richmond with a significant Latino population. Durant trailed by double digits in the polls before AFP and LIBRE got in the race in April and staffers and volunteers, began knocking doors. The 19,000 doors they knocked to support Durant helped her surge to a nearly 15-point victory.
- Emily Brewer earned the GOP nomination by 17 points in Senate District 17, which includes the Tidewater region. Until Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s 2021 victory, Democratic candidates have dominated Virginia’s statewide elections in this district, but Brewer is a strong candidate for victory in November. Activists and staff knocked on 23,000 doors to help Brewer secure the nomination.
Winning these primaries sets the stage for better results in Virginia’s November 7 general elections — and better policies like education reform, economic opportunity, and energy abundance.
That’s certainly the result we saw last year.
You may recall that in the 2022 midterm elections, 82% of candidates backed by AFP and AFP Action in their primaries won in their general elections in November ... compared to 64% when we engaged only in the general election.
That’s why Americans for Prosperity is already on the ground knocking on doors and talking to voters in 10 crucial primary states that’ll have an outsized impact on 2024 — including Virginia. (More state chapters will launch similar efforts soon.). Activists and staff are learning what issues matter to these voters, and which voters may be persuadable – data that AFP Action will acquire to inform its own grassroots strategy.
The goal: Help expand the primary electorate to include voters who don’t usually turn out for primaries--voters who can help nominate better candidates for president, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and state-level offices.
While Virginia’s off-year state primaries are over, the 2024 primary races across the country are starting to heat up.
These 3 wins are a great first step to celebrate the early success of the strategy AFP and AFPA will use to help nominate principled policy candidates at every level of office who can win in 2024 — including for president, in key U.S. Senate and House races, and for leaders at the state level.
As an activist, donor, or both, you make a difference in America’s trajectory, John. Thank you!
-Matt
Matt Hanafin
Director, Partnership Advancement
Americans for Prosperity Action
