Democrats to spend $35M targeting voters of color in House races

Democrats announced Tuesday that they are spending at least $35 million this election cycle to "persuade and mobilize" Latino, Black, Asian American, Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian voters to help the party win control of the U.S. House in November.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee told NBC News in advance of the announcement that the planned 2024 spending would surpass the $30 million spent on those groups of voters in the 2022 midterm elections and other previous cycles.

The DCCC, which is tasked with financing and helping Democrats win House elections, has dubbed the effort "Power the People" (with Power standing for persuade, organize, welcome, educate and reach).

The investment and work associated with the program “honors our commitment to the multiethnic coalition that our fragile democracy depends on,” Missayr Boker, DCCC deputy executive director for campaigns, said in a news release. “While extremist Republicans continue to lie, cheat and suppress the vote of people of color in order to win elections, Democrats understand that democracy is strengthened when everyone’s voice is heard.”

Democrats have long been able to count on winning larger percentages of Latino, Black, Asian American, Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian voters. But the GOP has sliced into those voter shares in recent elections, largely in Latino and Asian American, Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian communities. Some recent polls have also found waning enthusiasm among Black voters for President Joe Biden's campaign.

“It certainly is encouraging that they are making the hard commitment now,” said Matt Angle, a Democratic strategist in Texas, where Hispanics now outnumber white residents.

"You can’t expect to realize