REUTERS
Ahead of the November general election, the Heritage Foundation-backed Project 2025 — a roughly 900-page plan designed to push the federal government in a sharply conservative direction — has become a huge ideological flashpoint on the campaign trail.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is likely to become the Democratic presidential nominee, has warned voters that the plan would mirror that of a second Donald Trump presidency. (The former president recently said he had "nothing to do" with the plan.)
But despite the conversation around Project 2025 being centered on federal issues, aspects of the plan — which touch on everything from school choice to reproductive rights — could also be pursued through state legislatures.
It's why the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee on Tuesday announced a new $2.2 million investment in six battleground states that would fund state-level campaigns to counter what the organization described as an "extreme" GOP-led agenda.
As part of the "Summer of the States" campaign, the DLCC will fund campaign infrastructures in Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — which will be used to hire staffers and invest in field operations, among other efforts.
"Unchecked MAGA-control of state legislatures across the country would be catastrophic for our democracy as well as our fundamental freedoms and rights," DLCC president Heather Williams said in a statement.
In the new round of spending, the DLCC is set to invest more than $1.1 million toward efforts to retain control of the Michigan House of Representatives, which the party flipped from Republicans in 2022 — in an election where voters also reelected Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and elected a Democratic majority to the Michigan Senate.
The second-largest infusion of money ($500,000) will go towards efforts to hold the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, which Democrats also flipped in the 2022 cycle.
The DLCC will also make investments towards winning back both the New Hampshire House of Representatives and the New Hampshire Senate, while also working to gain ground in the North Carolina legislature. And the organization will also fund efforts to retain the Minnesota House of Representatives and make gains in the Wisconsin Assembly.
For the DLCC, the latest round of investments come at a critical time, especially as the party has overwhelmingly coalesced around Harris after President Joe Biden's decision to forgo his reelection bid.
As the organization eyes the 2024 landscape, they see the Trump-led GOP as one that will seek to implement their agenda in as many states as possible. And they want to make sure that voters understand the stakes of legislative races further down the ballot.
Anastasia Apa, the vice president of development at the DLCC, told Business Insider that the creation of a "firewall" at the state level will be key for the party in November.
"Investing in Democratic efforts to build power in state legislatures is a critical way to defend our future," she said.
