YASMIN RADJY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SWING LEFT:
Despite 91 felony charges and increasingly unhinged rhetoric and behavior, Donald Trump is cruising to the GOP nomination on a wave of MAGA extremism. The news is bleak. Our inboxes are filled with panicked messages several times a day, urging us to donate $5 by midnight or the world might end.
Every day I hear the same things from friends, family members, and neighbors alike. Following 2016, they were inspired to donate whatever time and money they could to defeat Trump and his MAGA allies. But now they’re tired. Their #resistance mugs and t-shirts have moved to storage. The only action they take regularly is unsubscribing from the million mailing lists they don’t remember joining, the ones that clog their inboxes and treat them like ATMs. Worst of all, feeling the daily political headwinds, they’ve lost confidence that their actions can actually make a difference.
Every day, I tell them all the same thing: We’ve seen this all before. There’s reason to be hopeful. We shouldn’t panic. We know how to win.
I run an organization called Swing Left, founded in the aftermath of Trump's election with a simple mission: Give people the tools to direct their time and money to the highest-impact races to win Democratic majorities, both to protect our democracy in the short-term and strengthen into the future.
When we launched the day before Trump’s inauguration, Swing Left’s model of turning anxiety into action met the moment. Hundreds of thousands of Americans signed up, eager to learn more about their nearest swing district, roll up their sleeves, and get to work to win back the House.
And boy did the Swing Left community get to work. We knocked doors. We made calls. We wrote letters. We donated to candidates. And as we stopped doomscrolling and started mobilizing, we felt ourselves transform from observers to activists with a solid plan. It worked: we won. Not just the House in 2018, but the federal trifecta in 2020 along with key state legislatures. And then again in 2022 holding the Senate, against all odds. And even again in 2023 with reproductive freedom on the ballot in blue and red states alike.
But if there’s one thing we’ve learned from seven years of victories, it’s that our commitment can’t waver. Democracy isn’t inevitable. Civic engagement, like any healthy practice, must be renewed, year after year.
So this year, even if you have only half an hour a week or $50 to spare, Swing Left can help you turn that time and money into impact. If you choose to work with us, you’ll be joining a core of volunteers recommitted to the fight. Our 550 volunteer groups around the country have been organizing year-round to make possible the wins we’ve experienced year after year. What sustains them is no mystery: They take breaks from the news to actually talk to voters – door to door, call by call, letter by letter – and spend hard-earned donations on the races that matter.
In 2024 we have two clear goals: Win the federal trifecta (White House, Senate, and House) and make advances in key state legislatures. The path is clear: Democrats have to win top races in 12 Super States. This includes perennial presidential battlegrounds like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. But that’s not enough: To win a Senate majority, we need to win in red-leaning states like Montana and Ohio. And to win a House majority, we need to flip seats in often-overlooked blue states like New York and California.
Whether you live in a Super State or not, you can make a difference by strategically donating to competitive candidates—via our easy-to-use National Impact Fund— or volunteering with one of our 550 groups around the country.
We’re not going to lie: This November’s elections are the toughest test yet.
Despite repeated rejections by voters at the ballot box in recent years, Republicans can’t seem to quit right-wing MAGA extremism. Their Trump attachment has not only endured; it has embedded itself into the DNA of the Republican party. No matter which candidate ends up being the eventual GOP nominee, the party continues to pose an existential threat to our rights and freedoms.
To preserve our democracy this year and for years to come, we need to replicate the tremendous grassroots energy and activism we saw in 2018 and 2020. Indeed, the lessons learned from those initial post-2016 years can guide us again in 2024.
Many of us are understandably exhausted by politics and increasingly desensitized to existential threats. But we need to remember what’s possible when we organize, reengage, stick to the numbers, and commit to taking meaningful action with a solid plan. Join us.
