Every cycle, the DLCC publishes a list of Essential Races around the country: these are competitive races for state legislature, chosen out of the thousands of races up for grabs every two years, because we think they’ll help show how the tides are turning this November. Each time, we set aside an additional ten spaces on the list for races chosen entirely through grassroots nominations, which we’re collecting at www.dlcc.org/2012Races.
We always try to reach out specifically to the Daily Kos Elections community (and before that, Swing State Project) to ask for your thoughts on who we should add to the list - and with good reason.
We may have a lot of non-public data like polling, internal fundraising numbers, and field reports, but you all have access to something we don’t: a nationwide community of Democrats who live and breathe campaigns and elections, including at the state legislative level. (If you’ve ever helped crash a local Board of Elections website by furiously refreshing during a DKE liveblog, you know what we’re talking about.)
So if you have an idea or two about which races would make a great addition to this year’s Essential Races list, please submit your nomination at www.dlcc.org/2012Races.
Any race for state legislature in any state is eligible. The argument for adding it is yours to make, and if enough nominations come in for the same campaign, it will join the list as a Grassroots Essential Race.
In particular, we like to see competitive races that tell us something about how the election will go in a particular chamber, a particular state, or a particular type of district across the country. We also look for races with a unique story to tell: something about the Democratic nominee or the GOP opponent that make these races worthy of extra attention. (If you like, you can check out last year’s grassroots picks and our own for inspiration.)
So who should we add to the list, and why?