For Immediate Release
May 5, 2017
Resistance Groups Announce Enormous One-Day Fundraising Haul After GOP Vote Repealing Health Care
Tens of Thousands of Grassroots Donors Raise Over $2 Million for Democratic Challengers To Republicans Who Supported Health Care Repeal
(Washington, DC) Today, Daily Kos, Swing Left and ActBlue announced a staggering 45,000 grassroots donations to the tune of more than $2 million raised for the eventual Democratic challengers to House Republicans who voted to repeal health care.
Tapping into the power of social media and grassroots advocacy, Daily Kos, Swing Left and ActBlue teamed up to raise money for challengers to GOP members of Congress. ActBlue, the grassroots, small-dollar fundraising platform for the left, created nominee funds to direct money to the eventual democratic nominee in each of the districts of those who voted for repeal.
Daily Kos fundraising page
“Americans are horrified that congressional Republicans just voted to take away their health care, and that's kindled real anger—anger that the Daily Kos community is channeling with record-breaking donations at unheard-of speed,” said Daily Kos Political Director David Nir. "Daily Kos targeted 24 vulnerable House Republicans who voted for this heinous legislation and who sit in districts where Trump won less than 50 percent of the vote. Less than a day after launching our campaign, the Daily Kos community has given $800,000 via 17,200 contributions to help punish these Republicans at the ballot box in 2018, and donations keep pouring in."
Swing Left, with informal collaboration from the Pod Save America and Crooked Media teams, raised more than $800,000 from nearly 20,000 donations for its fund to fight the 35 Republican representatives from targeted Swing Districts who cast critical YES votes on the AHCA legislation, as well as to its individual Swing District Funds.
Ethan Todras-Whitehill, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Swing Left, added, "Since we launched Swing Left in January, we've worked to give everyday Americans the opportunity to channel their incredible anger and frustration over the Trump and Republican agenda into direct political action with a singular goal: taking back the House in 2018. The shameful House vote yesterday reinforces exactly why this goal is so important. Thankfully, the overwhelming response we've seen from countless Americans ensures that many House Republicans will quickly regret their vote, and sends a clear signal to those in both the House and Senate that supporting the AHCA and the Republican agenda comes with a political price."
At the end of the day, ActBlue raised small-dollar donations for over 1200 different campaigns, organizations and funds.
Erin Hill, Executive Director of ActBlue added, “At ActBlue we provide the tools and infrastructure to empower grassroots donors across the country. Immediately following yesterday’s vote, across America, grassroots Democrats drew a line in the sand on healthcare and made their voices heard by supporting the candidates who will take on the 217 Republicans who voted to repeal health care. We saw over $4.2 million in small-dollar, grassroots donations sitewide yesterday, and trust me - supporters are just getting started. We are proud to help Daily Kos, Swing Left and the thousands of other organizations in the resistance.”
Daily Kos, founded in 2002, is the nation's largest online progressive community, with 10 million unique visitors a month and an email membership of over 3 million.
Swing Left is the national grassroots network launched the day before Trump's inauguration which now has over 300,000 volunteers supporting Democratic candidates in 65 Swing Districts with the goal of flipping the House in 2018.
ActBlue is a nonprofit organization that builds fundraising tools for Democratic campaigns, progressive organizations, and nonprofits. Grassroots donors have given more than $1.6 billion to the campaigns and causes they support through ActBlue’s platform.
