When I lost the U.S. Senate race last year, I remember closing my speech with a simple message to my kids: Spend your life in the ring.
That’s a lesson I learned from my own family. Our collective future depends on people willing to jump in and fight – even if you have to lose a whole lot before you win.
As one of my closest supporters, I wanted to share with you how that lesson inspired Groundwork Project’s next phase.
If you missed the announcement this week, Alabama, Mississippi, and West Virginia are our first partner states!
Before I go any further, donate now to help us hit the ground running in these states.
When my time in Congress came to an end, I reflected on what we’d built over the last near-decade. A powerful community of supporters and volunteers nationwide. A large and hyper-engaged email list here with all of you. Social media accounts that are some of the largest digital platforms in the Democratic Party
It was essential to me that we stay in the ring; that these assets be re-directed and re-deployed in the larger fight for a more just, equitable, and free country – the mission that brought us all together in the first place. So the Groundwork team spent months connecting with local advocates, activists, and leaders fighting for the Democratic Party and progressive movement’s futures.
The answer to our question quickly became clear and was consistent from state to state: The single most impactful place to direct Democratic time and resources is to local community organizers fighting year-round on the ground for change.
That’s where Groundwork Project was born.
My team spent the first half of 2021 conducting a thorough landscape survey. The results were clear: the majority of organization-based, national, and high-dollar resources in play today are, understandably, being directed towards immediate battlegrounds, the states deemed essential for Democratic success in the 2022 midterms and 2024 presidential contest.
This is work critical, but if Democrats are going to fundamentally shift the map over the next decade, we need to expand the number of resources going to states where the path ahead for Democrats is longer and tougher.
That’s why our national footprint will focus on three distinct regions: the Deep South, the Plains and Appalachia, which have most acutely felt a lack of attention and resources from the Democratic Party. Our first set of states are just the start of our work in these regions.
I’m counting on you to be on this journey with us because I know we will only make systematic shifts in these states by working together to support the local organizations and activists leading the way on the ground. Donate now to start making an impact.
Let’s get to work!
Joe