‘A fighting chance’: Organizers see Harris campaign as opportunity to push down-ballot turnout for Dems

CHICAGO (CN) — As the Democratic National Convention got underway Monday, there was a palpable sense of optimism among the party preparing to anoint Vice President Kamala Harris as its nominee for president.

But the excitement around Harris’ candidacy goes beyond keeping a Democrat in the White House. For some organizers, her bid for the Oval Office also presents an opportunity for Democrats to take back vital seats in Congress and seize the majority in November.

“It’s given us a fighting chance,” said Brette McSweeney, director of New York-based voter advocacy group WomenLead.

During the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans wrested control of the House by flipping 18 seats, six of which were in New York. It was a surprising loss for Democrats who have historically performed well in the Empire State.

But some of those were close contests, McSweeney told Courthouse News during an interview on the sidelines of the DNC Monday. She pointed out that four of the six races won by Republicans in New York were decided by 5,000 or fewer votes.

WomenLead, which was founded after the midterms, works to expand the Empire State’s electorate by targeting low-turnout voters. McSweeney explained that the organization’s advocacy focuses less on the Democratic Party and instead dials into “kitchen table” issues like cost of living, abortion rights and climate change.

And Harris’ ascent as the Democratic candidate only helps efforts to increase turnout in these critical battles for control of the House, McSweeney said. “The top of the ticket certainly makes a difference. But our goal is working with voters on the congressional line, and to make sure that enthusiasm, if it’s there, translates to voting down the ballot,” she said.

Since Harris took the helm of Democrats’ campaign, WomenLead has seen an increase in enthusiasm among New York voters, according to McSweeney. She credited part of that hike to President Joe Biden’s decision to step aside in July.

“The president took it upon himself to make that decision and created this opportunity for more people to feel like they are involved and engaged in the party,” McSweeney said.

It’s not just organizers who see down-ballot races, especially in states with competitive seats such as New York, as a linchpin for a future Harris administration. Speaking in Chicago Monday at an event hosted by WomenLead, New York Governor Kathy Hochul pointed out that a Republican-controlled House would be “hostile” to Democrats’ interests.

“We have the power in New York to change the course of history,” Hochul told the gathering of Empire State Democrats. “When we elect Kamala Harris … they’ll need allies. They have strong, important agendas for working families, the middle class and our friends in labor, but they can’t get it done if they’ve got a Republican House of Representatives.”

And beyond setting the groundwork for a future Harris administration, delivering a Democratic House could also drive a groundswell of voter turnout for local elections as well as the national political contest, McSweeney forecast.

“It would show New Yorkers that every year is an election year,” McSweeney said. “The systems and techniques and muscle memory that we’ve been building over these past 18 months — we can roll it forward to next year, when there are going to be county elections and municipal elections across the state, and New York can really build up our democratic infrastructure.”

Democrats have already taken back one of the six New York House seats Republicans flipped in 2022. Representative Tom Suozzi in February reclaimed his position representing New York’s 3rd Congressional District after its former occupant, GOP Representative George Santos, was expelled from Congress. (Santos pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges including wire fraud.)

The Democratic Party would need to win only six more seats to obtain the 218 votes needed to control the House. They currently occupy 212 seats, eight fewer than the Republicans’ 220-seat majority.

Harris is expected to accept the Democratic nomination at this week’s convention. Biden is scheduled to speak Monday evening in a passing of the torch to the current vice president.

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