Democrats are feeling pretty confident recently, and now they’re planning to go after the base of the Republican Party. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Tuesday rolled out what it is calling its most ambitious early-cycle investment ever, launching an eight-figure program to court voters of color and rural communities as the party searches for a path back to the House majority in 2026.
Branded “Our Power, Our Country,” the initiative represents the earliest targeted outreach effort in a midterm cycle for House Democrats — and the first time the committee has built a dedicated rural-voter program alongside its long-standing focus on AANHPI, Black, and Latino voters. Party strategists say these blocs will be decisive in the competitive districts that will determine control of the chamber.
“This is about ensuring our message resonates with communities that have been historically underrepresented in political outreach,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene said in a statement. “We know that to win the House majority, House Democrats need to meaningfully engage with AANHPI, Black, Latino, and rural voters as early as possible, and Our Power, Our Country is a direct reflection of that commitment.”
The early-cycle push reflects both urgency and vulnerability. Republicans hold a narrow House majority. DelBene framed the contrast sharply, accusing Republicans of “raising costs, ripping away people’s health care, and standing idly by while their party strips voting power from communities of color in order to rig the midterms.” She also warned that rural Americans are threatened by “reckless tariffs and attacks on Medicaid.”
Under the plan, the committee will fund extensive polling and research to identify the issues most likely to influence turnout; launch early paid-media campaigns, including language-specific outreach; expand earned-media operations; invest in persuasion drives and grassroots cohorts; and deploy additional field organizers in targeted districts. Much of the effort is designed to begin long before traditional fall advertising blitzes.
The new program builds on the committee’s “Engagement On the Road” tour — a series of meetings with constituency voters in battleground districts — and on earlier national media buys targeting voters of color and rural residents. The DCCC says the upcoming blitz will include rapid-response digital advertising, qualitative and quantitative message testing, localized media on preferred platforms and in preferred languages, and partnerships with grassroots and national organizations to widen its reach.
With both parties already maneuvering for advantage in what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive midterm cycles in years, Democrats hope that front-loading their investment will help counter Republican messaging on the economy, crime, and border security.
Will it work? We’ll all have to wait and see if rural voters can forget the party’s past.
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