Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
| Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Type: | Political committee |
| Affiliation: | Democrat |
| Top official: | Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, Chairman |
| Website: | Official website |
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is a national political committee and subsidiary of the Democratic Party that aims to support the campaigns of Democratic candidates for the U.S. House. According to the group's website, the DCCC functions as "the official campaign arm of the Democrats in the House of Representatives." The organization is headquartered in Washington, D.C.[1][2]
The current DCCC chairman is Congressman Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM).[3]
Background
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is an official subsidiary of the national Democratic Party. As a national political committee, the group makes political contributions to support the election of Democratic candidates to the U.S. House.[4][2]
The DCCC designs campaign contribution strategies in order to support vulnerable incumbents, bolster new recruits, and flip battleground seats. The DCCC has organized the following strategic programs since the 2012 election cycle:
Frontline Program
The Frontline Program is a partnership between the DCCC and members of congress designed to protect vulnerable Democratic incumbents. Members of the program sign a memorandum that requires them to meet aggressive fundraising goals, accelerate volunteer and recruitment efforts, and increase their online networking.[5]
| Subsidiaries of the Democratic National Committee |
|---|
| • Democratic Governors Association • Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee • Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee • The Association of State Democratic Chairs • Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee • National Lawyers Council • DNC Voting Rights Institute |
DCCC chairman Steve Israel said the following about the Frontline Program, "We call this program Frontline for a reason – these Members are on the vanguard of protecting and expanding the middle class. While the 2014 campaign will be dominated by a strong offense taking on the Tea Party Republican Congress, our success begins with our Members. These battle-tested men and women have proven time and again that they can win because no one better reflects the values of their districts. Under the leadership of Representative Tim Walz, the Frontline Program will multiply Members’ strengths, and make sure they are positioned to compete and win – so they can continue to address the problems facing America’s middle class."[5]
Jumpstart Program
The Jumpstart Program was designed to support promising recruits for battleground races in the 2014 election cycle. The effort was launched in May 2013 with eight candidates highlighted and nine more names were added in September 2013. In a memo sent to donors and supporters, DCCC Executive Director Kelly Ward said, "The newly-created Jumpstart program provides early financial, communications, operational and strategic support to help top-tier candidates get a head start in these highly-targeted races."[6][7]
Red to Blue
The DCCC's Red to Blue list highlighted seats held by Republicans that the DCCC tried to change to Democratic. These races received the bulk of DCCC funding in the 2012 election cycle.
Political activity
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118th • 117th • 116th • 115th • 114th • 113th • 112th • 111th • 110th |
2018 elections
Comments on abortion stances of candidates
In July 2017, the DCCC announced that they would not take into consideration a candidate's stance on legalized abortion as part of the group's decision to support a candidate for office during the 2018 elections. Chairman Ben Ray Lujan told The Hill, "There is not a litmus test for Democratic candidates. ... As we look at candidates across the country, you need to make sure you have candidates that fit the district, that can win in these districts across America."[8]
Frontline Program
The following table displays the 2018 members of the DCCC Frontline Program:[9]
Fundraising
According to Politico, the DCCC reported raising $9.1 million and had $16.6 million on hand in April 2017. The group's Republican counterpart, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), reported raising $10 million with $31.3 million on hand during the same period. In May 2017, the DCCC raised $9.2 million and the NRCC raised $6.5 million. July fundraising reports revealed that the DCCC raised $6.3 million over the course of the month while the NRCC brought in $3.8 million. In August, the DCCC raised another $6.3 million.[15][16][17][18]
2017 special elections
The DCCC supported Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and James Thompson in the 2017 special elections for Georgia's 6th Congressional District and Kansas' 4th Congressional District, respectively. Thompson lost to Republican Ron Estes by a margin of seven percentage points. Ossoff earned 48.1 percent of the vote on April 18, but lost to Republican Karen Handel by a margin of 3.8 percentage points in a runoff election on June 20.[19][20]
According to The Hill, the DCCC also made six-figure contributions to the Democratic Party of Montana in support of Rob Quist, the Democratic candidate for Montana's At-Large Congressional District. The DCCC contributed $200,000 for political ads in support of Quist on April 20, 2017, and an additional $400,000 for television and mail outreach on May 3, 2017. Quist was defeated by Republican Greg Gianforte in the special election on May 25, 2017.[19][21][22]
2016 elections
Frontline Program
The DCCC announced 14 members of the 2016 Frontline Program on February 12, 2015. The following table displays the 2016 members of the Frontline Program.[23]
| Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Frontline Program 2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Incumbent | Open seat?[24] | Result | ||
| Arizona's 1st District | Ann Kirkpatrick | Yes | 
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| Arizona's 9th District | Kyrsten Sinema | No |
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| California's 7th District | Ami Bera | No |
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| California's 26th District | Julia Brownley | No |
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| California's 31st District | Pete Aguilar | No |
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| California's 36th District | Raul Ruiz | No |
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| California's 52nd District | Scott Peters | No |
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| Florida's 2nd District | Gwen Graham | No | 
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| Florida's 18th District | Patrick Murphy | Yes |
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| Illinois' 17th District | Cheri Bustos | No |
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| Minnesota's 8th District | Rick Nolan | No |
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| Nebraska's 2nd District | Brad Ashford | No |
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| New Hampshire's 2nd District | Ann McLane Kuster | No |
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| New York's 18th District | Sean Maloney | No |
| ||
2014 elections
Frontline Program
The following table displays the members of the Frontline Program in the 2014 election cycle:
Jumpstart Program
The following table displays the members of the Jumpstart Program in the 2014 election cycle:
Fundraising
The following timeline identifies fundraising milestones for the DCCC during the 2014 election cycle:
| DCCC fundraising highlights, 2014 election cycle |
|---|
|
2012 elections
Red to Blue
The following table identifies members of the DCCC's Red to Blue list, which targeted vulnerable Republican seats, in the 2012 election cycle:[30]
- Successful (Democratic won): 28/55 (50.9%)
- Unsuccessful (Republican won): 27/55 (49.1%)
Fundraising
According to analysis by the Sunlight Foundation, the DCCC spent $61,741,050 on the 2012 elections. Of those funds, 47.78 percent achieved the desired result.[31]
The following timeline identifies fundraising milestones for the DCCC during the 2012 election cycle:
| DCCC fundraising highlights, 2012 election cycle |
|---|
|
Expenditures
As of July 14, 2012, the DCCC had spent $3.5 million on independent expenditures in 77 races, supporting Democratic candidates or opposing Republicans. The following table identifies key DCCC expenditures as of July 2012:[37]
| Recipient | State | Total | Spent In Support of Dems | Spent in Opposition to Dems | Spent In Support of Repubs | Spent in Opposition to Repubs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suzanne Bonamici (D) | Oregon | $660,160 | $660,160 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Rob Cornilles (R) | Oregon | $659,240 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $659,240 |
| Jesse Kelly (R) | Arizona | $528,265 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $528,265 |
| David Weprin (D) | New York | $268,930 | $268,930 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Bob Turner (R) | New York | $257,123 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $257,123 |
| Jane Corwin (R) | New York | $133,374 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $133,374 |
| Jack Davis (R) | New York | $133,374 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $133,374 |
| Julia Brownley (D) | California | $67,199 | $67,199 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Kathy Hochul (D) | New York | $63,736 | $67,042 | -$3,306 | $0 | $0 |
| Rick Berg (R) | North Dakota | $35,594 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $35,594 |
Donors
The following individuals ranked as the top five donors to the DCCC as of June 4, 2012:[38]
| Donor | Total |
|---|---|
| Nancy Pelosi for Congress | $770,255 |
| Hoyer for Congress | $720,000 |
| Becerra for Congress | $450,000 |
| Larson for Congress | $330,000 |
| Allyson Schwartz for Congress | $300,000 |
Industries
The following groups ranked as the top five industry donors to the DCCC as of June 4, 2012:[39]
| Industry | Total |
|---|---|
| Candidate Committees | $10,983,638.00 |
| Retired | $5,613,743.00 |
| Lawyers/Law Firms | $3,518,765.00 |
| Securities & Investment | $2,609,785.00 |
| Real Estate | $1,488,485.00 |
Leadership
As of April 2017, the following individuals held leadership positions with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC):[4][2]
- Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Chairman
- Daniel Sena, Treasurer
- Jacqueline Forte-Mackay, Assistant treasurer
Finances
The following table identifies total annual federal receipts and disbursements for the DCCC according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission:[40]
| Annual federal receipts and disbursements for the DCCC, 2010-2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Federal receipts | Federal disbursements |
| 2016 | $152,653,330.50 | $175,292,959.24 |
| 2015 | $68,238,057.99 | $41,065,624.29 |
| 2014 | $130,988,338.38 | $158,165,772.63 |
| 2013 | $75,803,655.11 | $47,965,003.08 |
| 2012 | $122,381,488.86 | $132,529,460.86 |
| 2011 | $61,461,550.30 | $50,630,981.73 |
| 2010 | $108,267,953.67 | $124,143,762.52 |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for "Democratic + Congressional + Campaign + Committee"
- All stories may not be relevant to this organization due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ DCCC "About," accessed April 22, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Federal Election Commission, "DCCC—Statement of Organization 2017," January 31, 2017
- ↑ Buzzfeed, "The 2014 Election Began On Election Night For House Democrats," November 27, 2012
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedabout - ↑ 5.0 5.1 Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, "DCCC Chairman Steve Israel Announces 2013-2014 Frontline Members," accessed March 5, 2013
- ↑ The Hill, "DCCC launches effort to support top recruits, NRCC announces top Dem targets," May 9, 2013
- ↑ The Washington Post, "DCCC adds nine names to program for top recruits," September 9, 2013
- ↑ The Hill, "Dem campaign chief vows no litmus test on abortion," July 31, 2017
- ↑ Roll Call, "Exclusive: DCCC Announces 14 Incumbents in Frontline Program," February 12, 2015
- ↑ Esty announced in April 2018 that she would not seek re-election.
- ↑ Nolan announced in February 2018 that he would not seek re-election.
- ↑ Rosen sought election to the U.S. Senate.
- ↑ Kihuen announced in December 2017 that he would not seek re-election.
- ↑ Shea-Porter did not seek re-election.
- ↑ Politico, "Quist leans on Sanders in final days of Montana special," May 22, 2017
- ↑ Bloomberg, "House Democrats Outraised Republicans for the First Time in 2017," June 20, 2017
- ↑ The Hill, "Dem House campaign arm outraises Republicans," August 21, 2017
- ↑ NBC News, "House Democrats Break Campaign Fundraising Record," September 18, 2017
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 The Hill, "Dem campaign arm spending six figures in Montana House race," April 20, 2017
- ↑ CNN, "Republican Karen Handel wins Georgia House special election," June 21, 2017
- ↑ The Huffington Post, "Democrats Make Huge Investment In Montana’s U.S. House Race," May 3, 2017
- ↑ The Hill, "GOP, Dems put more money into Montana special election," May 3 2017
- ↑ Roll Call, "Exclusive: DCCC Announces 14 Incumbents in Frontline Program," February 12, 2015
- ↑ An open seat refers to a race in which the incumbent is not seeking re-election.
- ↑ The Hill, "Democrats gain early fundraising edge," April 22, 2013
- ↑ Politico, "DCCC memo rallies Dems for 2014," August 1, 2013
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Parties," accessed August 13, 2013
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Democrats sweep September fundraising," accessed October 21, 2013
- ↑ Washington Post, "DCCC raises $10.3 million in March," accessed April 16, 2014
- ↑ DCCC, "Red to Blue 2012"
- ↑ Sunlight Foundation, "Outside spenders' return on investment," November 9, 2012
- ↑ Open Secrets, "Total Raised," accessed July 14, 2012
- ↑ Washington Post, "In a super PAC world, Democrats win using small donors," accessed October 10, 2012
- ↑ Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, "BREAKING: DCCC’S BIGGEST QUARTER EVER, OUTRAISED NRCC BY $4.2M IN Q3 AND $2.9M IN SEPTEMBER ALONE," October 15, 2012
- ↑ Politico, "Democrats borrow $17 million for final House push," October 24, 2012
- ↑ Washington Post, "Democrats borrow $17 million for House races," October 24, 2012
- ↑ Open Secrets, "Independent Expenditures," accessed July 14, 2012
- ↑ Open Secrets, "Top Contributors," accessed July 14, 2012
- ↑ Open Secrets, "Top Contributors," accessed July 14, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "DCCC—ID: C00000935," accessed May 30, 2017
