Democratic groups target 'non-political spaces' in new campaign ahead of fall elections and 2026 midterms

WASHINGTON — Democratic groups are kicking off a new community organizing effort this summer, taking aim at Republican priorities and widening their scope to include "non-political spaces" like book clubs and sports forums.

The nationwide effort announced Monday comes as Democrats prepare for key battleground elections in the fall and next year and as they search for a viable electoral path forward after losing the presidency, House and Senate in November.

Some constituencies that typically cast ballots for Democrats — including Hispanics and young people — shifted to the right, prompting a reckoning over how the party can adapt its messaging and priorities to win back those groups and expand its base.

Democrats plan to focus part of their efforts on "equipping volunteers to authentically enter conversation in non-political spaces," including in "sports forums, community groups, book clubs, and on social media platforms," according to a news release announcing the push. Democrats will also host voter registration events and provide a "direct pathway" for supporters to share feedback from voters, according to the news release.

The push to harness "non-political spaces" comes amid broader dissatisfaction about American politics and the Democratic Party. Thirty-eight percent of adults feel like "neither party" fights for "people like you," according to an NBC News Stay Tuned poll conducted in April. One month earlier, the Democratic Party reached an all-time low in popularity, with just 27% of registered voters saying they have positive views of the party, according to an NBC News poll.

The summer programming is a joint effort from the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Governors Association and the Association of State Democratic Committees.

In a Zoom call announcing the launch of their “Organizing Summer,” DNC chair Ken Martin said the DNC plans to spend more than a million dollars on races up and down the ballot across Virginia ahead of the commonwealth's off-year election in November, when former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, will face off against Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican, to be the next governor.

With a focus on rural communities, Martin said, the DNC, in coordination with the Virginia Democratic Party, will visit “every corner” of Virginia and organize everywhere from book clubs to sporting events.

A group of unions — another key constituency — is also launching a similar summer cross-country effort. The AFL-CIO is hitting the road this summer for a two-month bus tour to oppose White House priorities that the union conglomerate believes hurt working people, according to an AFL-CIO official.

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Union leaders, including AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, plan to participate in the AFL-CIO's bus tour, which will make stops in more than two dozen cities across the country, including 2024 battleground states that played a major role in President Donald Trump's win. The stops include destinations in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada, according to details first shared with NBC News.

The union conglomerate, composed of more than 60 national and international unions representing nearly 15 million people, will focus messaging on the Department of Government Efficiency and the impact of Trump administration priorities on Medicaid and the energy sector, according to the official.

The AFL-CIO backed then-Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, arguing that Trump and running mate JD Vance had a "devastating anti-worker" agenda.

Unions are a coveted political endorsement, and many of the major unions typically endorse Democrats. But Teamsters declined to endorse a candidate in 2024, releasing an internal survey that found that nearly two-thirds of rank-and-file members preferred backing Trump over Harris. Working-class voters shifted to the right in 2024, helping deliver the presidency to Trump.

The Democratic groups said one of its key messaging tactics will be criticism of the Republican domestic policy bill that the Senate voted to advance Saturday.

Democrats referenced the legislation in their news release, referring to "Republicans' tax scam that will take health care and food away from millions of Americans while gifting Trump's billionaire backers a massive tax break."