1. Looking back at our “Beyond the Headlines” videos in 2019
2. Republican party committees have outraised their Democratic counterparts by $104 million at this point in the 2020 cycle
3. Celebrate our amazing 2019 by helping us do even more

Looking back at our “Beyond the Headlines” videos in 2019

Ballotpedia currently has nearly 300,000 articles covering elections, officeholders, ballot measures, policy, and so much more. We produce more than a dozen newsletters—precisely for readers like yourself. But we know our readers also want to consume content in other ways, such as videos. 

This year, we created a series of short videos that we called, Beyond the Headlines. Some provided insight into a current event or story—like our preview of this year’s Supreme Court term or analysis of Texas’ 2019 statewide ballot measures. Other videos provided background on broader topics such as recalls, trifectas, and veto referendums.

Over the course of 2019, 16 Ballotpedia staff members wrote or recorded these videos. I hope you enjoyed getting to know some of the amazing coworkers I get to share time with here at Ballotpedia. 

When taken together, the videos add up to more than 102 minutes of content, which is the same as the films Lost in Translation, Singing in the Rain, or Casablanca. You may have already seen some of the videos figured prominently on our pages. We’ve had fun producing them, and we hope you’ve enjoyed watching and learning from them. 

Here are links to three of our most popular videos in the “Beyond the Headlines” series, (including one by yours truly):

• Constitutional Amendments

• Texas' May 4 Local Elections

• The June 2019 Democratic Presidential Primary Debates

And to see all of our video content—when it’s released—subscribe to our YouTube channel by visiting the link below!

Learn more

       

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Republican party committees have outraised their Democratic counterparts by $104 million at this point in the 2020 cycle  

ICYMI, just before Christmas the most recent national party fundraising figures were released. So far in the 2020 cycle, the three Republican national party committees combined have raised 35% more than the three Democratic national party committees—$352.4 million to $248.5 million.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) outraised its Democratic counterpart—the Democratic National Committee (DNC)—by more than two-to-one for a seventh consecutive month according to December 2019 campaign finance reports filed last week with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The RNC raised $20.6 million and spent $18.8 million in November while the DNC raised $8.1 million and spent $8.4 million. So far in the 2020 cycle, the RNC has raised 89% more than the DNC—$214.6 million to the DNC’s $82.5 million. 

In addition to the national party organizations, Democrats and Republicans each also have committees dedicated to U.S. Senate and U.S House elections. Their function is to raise money to support candidate recruitment and the election of party members to both houses of Congress.   

At this point in the 2020 election cycle, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has raised $110.3 million and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), $77.1 million. Among the Senate committees, National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has raised $60.7 million to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s (DSCC) $55.6 million.

At this point in the 2018 campaign cycle, Democrats led in both Senate and House fundraising, although their advantage in the House was smaller than in this cycle. The DSCC had raised 23% more than the NRSC—$48.5 million to $38.5 million—while the DCCC had raised 17% more than the NRCC—$96.0 million to $81.0 million.

The table below summarizes the year-to-date amounts for each party’s major national committees:

Celebrate our amazing 2019 by helping us do even more

It’s been a very good year here at Ballotpedia. We helped thousands of people learn more about complex political issues through our Learning Journeys.

We reached tens of thousands of people through our newsletters (like this one!) that allow readers to understand what’s going on in America—not only in their own communities, but across the nation.

We helped millions of people research their candidates before casting their votes in 2019 via our Sample Ballot Lookup Tool.

And we couldn’t have done any of it without support from people like you. As the year draws to a close, please consider joining our elite group of supporters by making a year-end donation today. 

I thank you, and so do the millions of people who depend on Ballotpedia to give them the information that they need to learn, understand the political world around them, and make an informed vote.

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