Where To Give Now | June 25, 2026
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Happy birthday to me and happy birthday America!
I’ve been thinking a lot about patriotism and how we continue to work towards “a more perfect union” in this moment. We’re going to host a Fourth of July party and ask the kids to read the Declaration of Independence out loud. This line sticks with me: “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” I do not consent.
This also gets me thinking about state power. We didn’t get federalism right the first time; the Articles of Confederation only lasted for eight years. And as many Constitutional scholars have pointed out, we used to amend the Constitution when we didn’t like something! We have become too reliant on courts to affirm our rights and we all saw how that turned out with the Dobbs decision (which overturned Roe v. Wade, four years ago this week).
As I have noted before, we need to think about major pro-democracy reforms once we are in power. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act is not enough. We need to think bigger: expanding the House of Representatives and adding proportional representation; constitutional amendments codifying the right to vote, eliminating the electoral college, outlawing gerrymandering, and enacting campaign finance reform; judicial reform including expanding the Supreme Court; and more.
So we are starting off with non-federal races this month. Although I am acutely aware of the looking June 30th fundraising deadline, aka my birthday. More on federal races below.
Non-Federal
While national attention is focused on taking back the US House and Senate, there are a plethora of critical non-federal races, from Governor on down the ticket, as well as a lot of nested opportunities overlapping with federal races.
AZ: Governor Katie Hobbs, Attorney General Kris Mayes, and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes are all up for re-election. Their Republican opponents will be determined on July 21. Additionally, there are three competitive US House races and both chambers of the state legislature are in play.
GA: A trio of Black women are running statewide in Georgia. Keisha Lance Bottoms for Governor, Tanya Miller for Attorney General, and Penny Brown Reynolds for Secretary of State. Senator Jon Ossoff is the only incumbent Democrat in a competitive race and Democrats are trying to flip the state house.
IA: Rob Sand is a strong contender for Governor and Nate Willems is also a competitive candidate for Attorney General. Iowa also has a competitive US Senate race and three of the four US House districts are in play.
IN: Democrats have a chance to win a statewide race with Beau Bayh, grandson of former Sen. Birch Bayh and son of former Gov. and Sen. Evan Bayh, as the candidate for Secretary of State.
KS: Democrats have an opportunity to take the Attorney’s General race with Chris Mann running against controversial MAGA firebrand Kris Kobach.
MI: Once again, Michigan is the epicenter of the political universe. Jocelyn Benson is running for Governor, Eli Savit is running for Attorney General, and Garlin Gilchrist is running for Secretary of State. There is also a competitive US Senate race, four competitive US House races, and both state legislative chambers in play.
NV: Nevada is Democrats’ best opportunity to flip a Governor’s mansion with Attorney General Aaron Ford as the nominee. State Senate leader Nicole Cannizzaro is running to replace Ford as Attorney General, and Cisco Aguilar is running for re-election as Secretary of State. They also have a competitive US House race.
NC: There is a critical race for State Supreme Court with Justice Anita Earls running for re-election.
OH: Democrats have an excellent chance to win in Ohio as Amy Acton is running ahead of Trumper Vivek Ramaswamy in polls. Allison Russo is also running a competitive race for Secretary of State. Ohio also has a competitive US Senate race and four competitive US House races.
Give to any or all: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/2026nonfederal
US Senate
There are a few tougher races that I want to put on everyone’s radar. If Maine goes South, we need some additional backups!
MS: Scott Colom is running a great race in a state that keeps getting closer and closer for Democrats. His opponent, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, is neither well-known nor well-liked. This is a cheap date in a state we can and should win.
MT: Yes, Jon Tester lost last cycle but that was with Trump on the ballot. Independent Seth Bodnar has a great profile but having a Democrat also run makes the general election dynamics complicated.
NE: Dan Osborn is back for a second try as an independent in Nebraska, this time against incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts, a billionaire, setting up a great contrast in this race.
SC: I was a nay-sayer about this race at the beginning of the cycle but Dr. Annie Andrews’ strong campaign has made me change my mind! No one seems to like war mongering Sen. Lindsay Graham, who only won his Republican primary with 56.8% of the vote.
And, of course, continue to support Mary Peltola, Jon Ossoff, Josh Turek, Roy Cooper, Chris Pappas, Sherrod Brown, and James Talarico. I am waiting on Graham Platner (just a few weeks, to make sure everything is OK there….) and we have upcoming primaries in MI and MN as well as FL and KS, which may become competitive.
Give to any or all: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ussenate2026
US House
As I outlined in the May memo, I am focused on the Lean and Likely Republican districts in the R+0 to R+9 range. There are 24 districts I am calling Opportunity Districts, ranging from D+1 (PA-1, Brian Fitzpatrick) to R+9 (CO-4, Lauren Boebert). These districts include AK-AL where ranked choice voting makes Bill Hill more competitive and six districts where the Republican incumbent underperformed Trump by more than five points (Split Ticket’s WAR ratings). It also includes districts like AZ-2, CO-5, IA-2, MI-4, MT-1, and TX-15 which are located outside of major metro areas in cheaper media markets, making for higher ROI. We are still waiting for some races in Florida to shake out post-redistricting and primaries in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Give to any or all: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/opportunity2026
Outside Efforts
I also want to raise up several worthy outside efforts. The Bigger Tent Initiative is focused on expanding the House map. Swing Left’s Ground Truth program combines deep canvassing with AI tools in key House races. Strategic Victory Fund is focused on the midwestern Blue Wall Governors. These efforts supplement the work of candidate campaigns, party committees, and SuperPACs with the added benefit of being non-disclosed 501c4 entities.
Not surprisingly, my House race list overlaps considerably with the amazing work being done by The Hub Project, the best organization you’ve never heard of, as I am a giant and longtime fan of their work. In addition to excellent accountability work against incumbents, they are softening the ground in a number of expansion districts, including districts with late primaries, ahead of the fall. If you would like to learn more, email Kate directly.
Finally, I remain a huge fan of giving through state donor tables. Committee on States now works with donors in 36 states and counting. This is a great way to get engaged in your own state or to adopt a state where you may have ties. Feel free to reach out to be connected to a specific state. And I want to note that Ohio Organizing Collaborative, which was targeted by the FBI with baseless raids, is a major grantee of the Ohio donor table. I have worked with OOC for over a decade -- they are wonderful and are being targeted because they do amazing work. Please give them or their sister c4 organization, Ohio Organizing Campaign, some love in the way of money if you can!