NDRC Targeting 9 Governors Races

The NDRC will target governor races in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, as it works to prepare for the next round of redistricting. It is also watching governor contests in Maine, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. (release)

The NDRC “has settled on a strategy to contest a combination of governorships, legislative seats and more obscure state offices to chip away at Republicans’ sweeping control of the redistricting process.” Former Attorney General Eric Holder said “that the group was chiefly determined to deny Republicans so-called trifectas in state governments—places where a single party controls the governorship and an entire legislature.”

“Holder said the group has raised more than $16 million out of a previously announced $30 million goal, but it has not disclosed how much cash it has on hand.”

“Holder said he would campaign aggressively himself in some of these races, beginning with an election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court this spring. Both he and Mr. Obama will focus heavily on mobilizing African-American voters.”

“The group’s list of high-priority states includes most of the critical states in presidential elections. [Former President] Obama, who has made redistricting a focus of his attention since leaving office, plans to visit some of those states in 2018, and Mr. Holder reviewed his strategy with the former president in Washington on Monday.” (New York Times)

Obama will campaign in those targeted states as well, Holder told reporters at the Christian Science Monitor breakfast Wednesday, calling achieving partisan parity in redistricting Obama’s “chief political activity in his post-presidency.” But Holder said neither he nor Obama will endorse in primaries.

NDRC Executive Director Kelly Ward said “millions” of its current fundraising has come from small-dollar online donors.

Holder also said the NDRC will be bringing cases on maps “in at least three Southern states” to complement the five lawsuits it has pending. (Hotline reporting)