Today the Democratic National Committee announced the Democratic Party of Wisconsin as a recipient of a grant from the State Party Innovation Fund (SPIF) a first-of-its-kind, competitive grant program that incentivizes early organizing through state parties and supports efforts to engage African-American, Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander, millennial, and rural communities. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin will receive a $100,000 grant to expand their early organizing efforts to engage, register, and mobilize African-American and Latino communities to help elect Democrats from the school board to the Senate in 2018.
“Democrats in Wisconsin are working tirelessly to inspire voters to go to the polls and organize to deliver the results that hardworking Wisconsin families deserve. And the new DNC is committed to partnering with state parties to support Democratic candidates running Democrats from the school board to the Senate in 2018,” said DNC Chair Tom Perez. “In 2017, we learned that when Democrats recruit great candidates, and make meaningful, early investments in organizing and community engagement, we can win anywhere. That’s why the DNC is proud to work with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin through this grant to organize in our base and communities to help ensure that activists and candidates across Wisconsin have the tools and resources they need to succeed.”
In January, the DNC announced 11 recipients of the first wave of grants from SPIF totaling nearly $1 million. The SPIF program is part of the DNC’s continued commitment to investments in early organizing and state parties. Some of the DNC’s 2017 investments included $1.5 million in Virginia to elect Ralph Northam and races up and down the ballot, helping secure major gains in the House of Delegates; nearly $1 million in Alabama to make history and elect Doug Jones to the U.S. Senate; six figures in the New Jersey Democratic Party to support Phil Murphy, Sheila Oliver, Vin Gopal, and candidates running up and down the ticket; and investments in mayoral races across the country.
“The SPIF program will help us support a message that inspires and engages voters in every community across the state,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning. “Wisconsinites care deeply about our communities, about funding our schools and building an economy that works for everyone. With the help of the DNC and ASDC, we’ll be able to convey a values-driven message and reach out to our young voters and communities of color to ensure that their voices and concerns are heard at the polls. The SPIF program will play a key role in supporting state parties like ourselves as we work hard to reach voters and elect Democratic candidates in every ZIP code.”
In addition to SPIF, through the DNC’s Every ZIP Code Counts program, state parties have consistently been receiving $10,000 a month since October 2017, which is a 33% increase over the base funding levels from 2016 and a 100% increase over 2015, and is based on state-specific strategic plans.
