DNC Coalitions Newsletter

ELECTION UPDATES

Democrats Are Building Strong Momentum Heading into 2026

Following commanding double-digit overperformances in 2025, Democrats are already winning—and overperforming—across the country in 2026. By nearly every measure, the party enters the critical midterm year with clear momentum.

Recent Wins or Overperformances:

• Florida: In Fort Pierce, Chris Dzadovsky won a city commission runoff by 31 votes in a district Trump carried by nearly 10 points, flipping control to the Democrats.

• Connecticut: Iris Sanchez secured a decisive 33-point victory in House District 25.

• Virginia: Democrats swept key special elections, Gretchen Bulova (HD-11), Margaret Franklin (HD-23), and Dr. Mike Jones (SD-15), retaining the Senate majority.

• Minnesota: Democrats won in Minnesota's State House Districts 47A and 64A. Shelly Buck won uncontested; Meg Luger-Nikolai, a labor litigator, secured her district with 95%, ending the Republican majority in the statehouse.

• Texas: Democrat Taylor Rehmet flipped a reliably Republican Texas state Senate seat, winning the special election by ~14 points in a district Trump carried by 17 points in 2024. This is one of the many elections where the DNC leveraged our distributed organizing program to help recruit local volunteers and reach more voters with GOTV texts in the final stretch of the campaign.

The Numbers Back It Up: 

• New data shows Democrats gaining ground up and down the ballot.

• The Cook Political Report shifted 18 House races in Democrats’ favor, noting Democrats are “in a strong position to win control of the House” this November.

Looking Ahead:

• In Georgia’s State Senate District 18, Democrat LeMario Brown advanced to a February 17 runoff after significantly overperforming past Democratic candidates, continuing the party’s strong trend nationwide.

WHAT WE’VE DONE THIS PAST MONTHS

In December, all of the DNC Caucuses and Councils gathered in Los Angeles for our 2025 DNC Winter Meeting. Our Caucus and Council meetings were highly productive as we highlighted accomplishments and trained DNC members on key engagement tactics. We also saw the DNC Hispanic Caucus kick off a service and impact event by hosting a bilingual Know Your Rights training on voting rights. The DNC launched exciting and innovative initiatives, which include:

The Community Power Fellowship: The Fellowship will convene cohorts across six tracks—Black, Latino, AANHPI, Native/Indigenous, Workers, and Youth. Participants will join a virtual program in February 2026, working to develop organizing approaches, tactics, best practices, and case studies for the 2026 DNC Playbook. Thanks to our coalition partners for promoting the fellowship and nominating fellows; we received many applications.

Service and Impact Program: We kicked off December with a bilingual Know Your Rights Training (KYR) on voting rights, held in both English and Spanish, and in collaboration with Latino Victory. This follows another KYR training we did with Mi Familia Vota. We activated DNC staff to volunteer at a Martha’s Table food market, distributing fruits, vegetables, and staples to help Washington, D.C., families prepare nutritious meals at home during the holidays.

BlueMatch: The DNC launched BlueMatch to connect talent with campaigns and state parties for the midterms. If you know talented staff who are seeking campaign work in 2026, encourage them to submit their resumes to our job banks.

• General 2026 Talent Bank: win.dnc.org/DNCTalentBank

• Coordinated Campaign Directors: win.dnc.org/StateCoordinatedDirector

• Organizing Directors: win.dnc.org/StateCoordinatedOrganizingDirector

Georgia HBCU Student Leaders Meet and Greet: Earlier this month, DNC Chair Ken Martin and staff met with student leaders from Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Clark Atlanta University at the Atlanta University Center in Georgia. In this hour-long roundtable discussion, students engaged in a meaningful conversation about shared challenges, the Democratic Party's messaging, and the importance of keeping young people actively engaged. Chair Martin also shared resources and highlighted new programming, including the When We Count fellowship for students.

Minnesota DFL Precinct Caucuses: On February 3rd, the Minnesota State Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party will host precinct caucuses for neighbors to discuss issues, set priorities, and organize their local DFL Unit. In response to concerns about ICE agents at caucuses, site personnel have been trained as constitutional observers. The DFL and DNC will also provide a hotline staffed by volunteer attorneys to assist caucus personnel in performing their roles as constitutional observers.

Georgia SD-18 Special Election Support: The DNC Distributed organizing team supported the Georgia SD-18 election on January 20, with GOTV voter contact. Democrat LeMario Brown led the field of five Republican candidates with 36.93% of the vote.

Minneapolis Rapid Response Grassroots Call: DNC Chair Ken Martin joined Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and local leaders to discuss how elected officials and local organizations are uniting in Minneapolis to protect their communities and push back against ICE. The call focused on how you can get involved and support those on the ground.

CALL TO ACTION

The DNC leans heavily on your engagement and support. Here’s how you can support our programming:

• Sign up and share the storyteller form in your networks

• Share this application for the When We Count youth voter registration fellowship

• Share the sign-up for the Local Listeners Training Program

• Share our DNC Talent Bank with anyone interested in getting involved with a 2026 campaign