Democrats aim to give state legislative candidates — and Biden — a boost with $10 million investment

The arm of the national Democratic Party focused on state legislative races will spend more than $10 million to boost down-ballot candidates as part of a broader effort that’s also designed to help President Joe Biden in key battleground states.

Officials with the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee said the investment marks the first time the organization has allocated this much money this early in the cycle.

The campaign, the first of several the group plans to make in the current cycle as part of a goal to spend $60 million, is the latest announced in recent weeks for state legislative races by Democratic and nonpartisan groups, whose spending will far exceed $100 million during the 2024 election.

It also further underscores the growing attention on contests for state House and Senate, where policies on issues like reproductive rights and voting rights can often have a more direct impact on people’s lives.

The DLCC’s latest investment will be allocated to competitive legislative races in eights states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Kansas, New Hampshire and Minnesota.

The funding will go through local Democratic parties and groups and candidates’ campaigns, with a focus on messaging, organizing, door-knocking and voter education, DLCC officials said.

In Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, the DLCC aims to help Democrats keep their narrow majorities in one or both chambers of the legislatures. In Arizona and New Hampshire, the group aims to help Democrats flip control of one or both chambers of those legislatures. In Wisconsin and Kansas, states that have Democratic governors but whose legislatures are firmly controlled by Republicans, the DLCC aims to win enough competitive seats