The Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC’s IE arm spent over $360,000 in support of Beth Doglio’s campaign as she advances to the general election
[WASHINGTON, DC] – On Friday night, the Associated Press confirmed that WA State Rep. Beth Doglio would secure a top-two finish in the WA-10 primary and advance to the general election.
In July, the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC’s IE arm launched a $360,000 TV, digital, and mail campaign highlighting Doglio’s record of fighting for health care for everyone and standing up against corporate special interests.
Doglio’s endorsements include Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Washington State Labor Council, the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, the LGBTQ Victory Fund, and numerous labor groups. If Doglio wins the general election, she would be the only openly bisexual person serving in Congress.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC announced plans earlier this year to invest at least $1 million this cycle to support its endorsed candidates. In June, the PAC launched its first-ever independent expenditure campaign, spending nearly $200,000 on ads supporting Mondaire Jones, who went on to win a heavily contested primary in New York’s 17th Congressional District. The program is one of the only IEs focused solely on supporting progressives running for Congress.
The PAC’s Co-Chairs, Congressman Mark Pocan, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, and Congressman Jamie Raskin, have guided the organization’s recent strategic planning and fundraising growth. This fall, the PAC will focus on a number of November races, with progressives running in targeted districts.
The CPC PAC’s endorsed challenger candidates so far this cycle include: Dana Balter (NY-24), Kara Eastman (NE-02), Georgette Gomez (CA-53), Jon Hoadley (MI-06), JD Scholten (IA-04), Kai Kahele (HI-02), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Candace Valenzuela (TX-24), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Marie Newman (IL-03), Mondaire Jones (NY-17), Mike Siegel (TX-10), and Beth Doglio (WA-10).
The CPC PAC released a statement on Friday night congratulating Doglio on her victory. Read a detailed round-up of the PAC’s work this cycle here.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC is grassroots-funded, with an average donation of $11.50. The organization does not accept contributions from corporate PACs.
More coverage of the recent primaries below:
The Intercept: Aída Chávez: In Washington State, Beth Doglio Secures a Spot on the Ballot
- Doglio, a priority for the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, placed second in the race for the outgoing Rep. Denny Heck’s seat.
- The Congressional Progressive Caucus, which usually remains on the sidelines in open primaries, made the race in Washington’s 10th Congressional District a key priority and went all in on Doglio’s campaign, as The Intercept previously reported. Its political arm spent nearly $140,000 on TV ads highlighting Doglio’s support of Medicare for All as part of the group’s broader effort to beat centrist candidates in open primaries.
- She also won high-profile endorsements from Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, along with CPC Co-Chair Mark Pocan, and Reps. Katie Porter, Jamie Raskin, and Ro Khanna. Doglio, who rejects corporate campaign funds, entered the final stretch of the primary having outraised the rest of the field.
- This cycle, CPC PAC ramped up its election efforts, making its first major investment in support of Mondaire Jones, a progressive who’s on track to replace the outgoing Rep. Nita Lowey.
Bloomberg Government: Emily Wilkins: Progressives Look to Washington State for Next Primary Win
- House progressives are seeking their next major win in Washington state, where a candidate backed by their caucus is running to advance in a crowded top-two primary.
- The CPC’s campaign arm has picked up several wins including in New York’s 17th District with Mondaire Jones and Candace Valenzuela in Texas’s 24th. The PAC has stepped up its fundraising in recent years for its endorsed candidates and this cycle began an independent expenditure program.
The Intercept: Ryan Grim and Aída Chávez: The Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC is Trying Something New: Winning Primaries
- The CPC’s PAC threw big money into a race for the first time and lifted Mondaire Jones to victory. They’re doing it again for Beth Doglio in Washington.
- In a race to replace the outgoing Rep. Nita Lowey, the CPC set up an independent expenditure arm and spent nearly $200,000 helping Mondaire Jones clinch the nomination against a field of better-funded, more corporate-friendly candidates. Now the CPC wants to replicate that success in the race to replace outgoing Rep. Denny Heck.
POLITICO: Sarah Ferris, Ally Mutnick, Heather Caygle: Progressives snatch much-needed wins in primary gauntlet
- The shakeup in New York also marks a huge moment for the Democrats’ left wing in the halls of Congress, including the 100-plus member Congressional Progressive Caucus.
- And the caucus is likely to pad its ranks even further in 2020 with more Democrats who support their ambitious agenda of tackling climate change, providing universal health care and overhauling the immigration system.
- Tuesday’s primaries were a big test of the CPC’s political arm, which had endorsed two candidates in uncertain open-seat New York primaries with double-digit contenders in each race. Both of those candidates — Ritchie Torres and Jones — are now on track to win in New York’s 15th and 17th districts.
- The CPC’s campaign arm upped its efforts to play in open-seat primaries this year, launching its first ever independent expenditure to provide backing for Jones. It was the first allied group to launch ads supporting Jones, spending nearly $200,000 promoting his candidacy.
- Their efforts this year were a big jump from two cycles ago when the CPC PAC raised just $300,000 in total. Buoyed by small-dollar donations, it has brought in more than $2 million so far in the 2020 cycle, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), co-chair of the CPC, said in an interview last week.
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