How the DCCC Turned New Jersey into Ground Zero in the Fight for the House

On January 30, 2017, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) released a memo identifying the fifty-nine Republican held Congressional seats on its initial battlefield for control of the House of Representatives. Four out of the five Republican-held New Jersey districts made the list: NJ-02, NJ-03, NJ-07 and NJ-11. It was ambitious, given the longtime incumbents and Republican ancestries of many of the districts.

In New Jersey’s 2^nd Congressional District, Congressman Frank LoBiondo was a uniquely popular incumbent who had held the district since 1995. LoBiondo routinely earned more than 60% of the vote in his reelection campaigns, and President Trump had carried the district in 2016.

In the adjacent Third District, Congressman Tom MacArthur sat in a seat that President Trump had won by six points. A wealthy former insurance executive, MacArthur had put $5 million of his own money into his first race in 2014 and his 2016 opponent only raised $600.

Congressman Leonard Lance held the ancestrally Republican Seventh District, and had escaped serious challenges for several cycles, with most of the opposition coming in Republican primaries. Republicans have held the district for three decades, and Romney won the district easily in 2012, although Clinton won the district by a narrow one-point margin in 2016.

Finally, in NJ-11, Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen held a district centered on Morris County, the GOP capital of the Garden State. The scion of one of American’s foremost political dynasties, Frelinghuysen is also an heir to the Procter & Gamble fortune, providing him with substantial personal wealth. A 22-year incumbent, Frelinghuysen was seen as so unbeatable that Michael Moore famously ran a ficus tree against him to satirize the lack of competition.

At the time the DCCC published its battlefield, Inside Elections and the Cook Political Report rated each of these races either Solid Republican or Likely Republican. Yet today, each of these races is ranked either Toss Up, Lean Democratic or Likely Democratic.

It didn’t happen by accident. From the beginning, the DCCC executed a strategy to compete in these races. We backed impressive, strong candidates who fit their districts. We helped our candidates—including three who were running for the first time—build the fundraising infrastructure necessary to define themselves and their opponents. The DCCC devoted resources, time and energy to win the messaging battle around health care and taxes. We navigated the primary successfully, armed the grassroots and made smart investments that sent us down the path to victory. We did what it took to win.

Strong candidates with compelling profiles that cut across party lines

Put simply, Democrats are feeling the strongest slate of challengers New Jersey has ever seen. Our candidates have records of service, inspiring personal narratives, and profiles that cut across party lines.

Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) has earned more national attention that perhaps any challenger in the country. A former Navy helicopter pilot, federal prosecutor and mom, Sherrill has a profile that appeals to voters of either political persuasion, and resonates in her district. Her message has highlighted her career in the Navy and focused on putting country before party, working with both sides to get the job done. Sherrill has earned every notable endorsement, including the New York Times, Star-Ledger, The Record, and New Jersey Hills.

Tom Malinowski (NJ-07) is a former assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, and served as the Washington director of Human Rights Watch. In a district that swung heavily in 2016, Malinowski’s personal relationship with the late Senator John McCain, and their work together to ban torture, has resonated with independents and persuadable Republicans. Malinowski has won every notable endorsement, including the New York Times, Star-Ledger, Daily Record, and New Jersey Hills, which had previously endorsed Lance.

Andy Kim (NJ-03) is the former director for Iraq on President Obama’s National Security Council, and served in Afghanistan as strategic adviser to Generals David Petraeus and John Allen during their tenure as commanding generals. Kim’s foreign policy experience has cut across ideological lines and resonates in a district with a large military presence. Furthermore, his personal health story centering on the birth of his son contrasts well with MacArthur’s record of trying to repeal health care and protections for pre-existing conditions. Kim won the endorsements of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Star-Ledger and Asbury Park Press.

Jeff Van Drew (NJ-02) is a popular state Senator in one of New Jersey’s most Republican districts. Van Drew is well-known as a bipartisan consensus builder who has worked across the aisle to deliver results for his constituents. Shortly after the filing deadline passed, NRCC Chairman Steve Stivers called the seat a “recruiting hole” for Republican, largely because most credible Republicans chose to sit out the race rather than run against Van Drew. Van Drew has won the endorsement of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Record-shattering fundraising

In 2016, now-Congressman Josh Gottheimer broke New Jersey fundraising records for a House candidate, raising $4.7 million for his successful challenge to Scott Garrett. While that amount remains impressive, each Democrat in the three most competitive races has already surpassed that total, decisively outraising and outspending their Republican opponents in some of the most expensive media markets in the country—the result of a concerted effort from the DCCC, early in the cycle, to set up candidates for fundraising success.

Long before these candidates made a splash on the national stage, and in some cases before they even announced, the DCCC worked closely with our candidates to build a finance operation that would lay the foundation for the war chests they’ve amassed. The DCCC staff recruited and trained campaign finance staff, traveled to their district to provide hands on guidance to staff and candidates, imparted an early focus on investing in a winning digital/grassroots fundraising programs, and facilitated consultations with fundraising experts.

As of the Q3 filing, which runs through September 30, Mikie Sherrill has raised $8.3 million, dominating her opponent Jay Webber, who has raised $1.39 million. Given the fact that candidates receive lower TV rates than outside groups, Sherrill’s decisive advantage has allowed her to blanket the airwaves with her positive message about her Naval background, and highlight Webber’s abysmal record on taxes, women’s issues and LGBT rights. Furthermore, her massive war chest has discouraged outside groups from spending for Webber, who is currently dark on TV.

Tom Malinowski has raised $6.1 million for his race, far outpacing Leonard Lance’s $2.35 million war chest. Malinowski’s fundraising success has enabled him to decisively outspend Lance and help neutralize outside group spending.

Andy Kim has raised $6.1 million as of the most recent filing period, nearly $1 million more than Tom MacArthur’s $4.46 million. Notably, Kim raised more than $50,000 before he entered the race through a Crowd PAC launched during MacArthur’s actions during the repeal effort. Kim used his resources to drive his bipartisan and health care messages on Philadelphia broadcast and cable TV, and New York cable. Few observers predicted that outcome, given that MacArthur had spent $5 million on his 2014 race.

Van Drew has raised $1.8 million for his race, a 7-1 advantage over his challenger Seth Grossman.

Winning the messaging battle

While each race has its own unique contrasts, two issues clearly defined the races in New Jersey: taxes and health care. On both issues, the DCCC acted early and aggressively to win the messaging battle and expose the harmful effects of the Republican agenda.

Health Care

Perhaps no issue has defined the New Jersey races more than health care. The DCCC played a major role in winning the fight.

MacArthur’s authorship of the amendment to gut protections for pre-existing conditions, which led to the repeal bill’s passage, is a main reason for his vulnerability. Both Kim and the DCCC have highlighted MacArthur’s role in their messaging, highlighting that MacArthur has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. MacArthur’s duplicity was further exposed when the Star-Ledger revealed he invested as much as $800,000 in stock in health care companies while simultaneously writing and whipping for the repeal effort.

Frelinghuysen’s vote for the repeal effort galvanized the grassroots opposition, who had already been protesting his office for months. Multiple protests occurred following the vote, and his challenger, Mikie Sherrill entered the race just one week later.

While Lance ultimately opposed the bill on the floor, his committee vote for the bill, along with dozens of votes to gut the Affordable Care Act, have defined his race. The DCCC and Malinowski have repeatedly highlighted his dismal record on health care on the trail and on the airwaves.

The DCCC pounced on this issue from the beginning. On March 24, 2017, the DCCC launched its first digital ad campaign against Republican members of the House Budget, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce Committees, including Lance. After MacArthur had revived the bill, the DCCC launched a new round of digital ads, hitting MacArthur on putting a congressional carve out in the repeal bill. And following the repeal bill’s passage, the DCCC hit Frelinghuysen with a 15-second digital ad, and slammed MacArthur with Facebook ads.

The Tax Scam

The Republican Tax Scam hit New Jersey harder than any state in the country, which is why every member of Congress from New Jersey, other than MacArthur, voted against it. A key cause of the financial pain is the capping of the state and local tax deduction, a major tax break that saves Garden State families thousands of dollars per year. Incredibly, 53% of filers in NJ-07 and NJ-11 claim the deduction, which tied for second highest in the country in 2014.

The DCCC latched onto the issue early and often, slamming the Republicans throughout the tax fight, including on Congressman Frelinghuysen’s committee vote. The DCCC made it clear to Republicans—regardless of their individual vote, we were ready and eager to hold them accountable for their party’s agenda. Following the Tax Scam’s passage, the DCCC launched digital ads targeting Lance, Frelinghuysen and MacArthur.

When examining how the Tax Scam has played out in New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill’s race is instructive. Her opponent, Jay Webber, embraced the plan, despite its harmful effects on NJ-11, and Sherill made sure voters knew about their opposing views on the issue. Sherrill is running an ad specifically on the SALT deduction, highlighting that she’ll fight to remove the cap, while Webber won’t.

Navigating the primary

Key to the DCCC’s strategy was avoiding messy primaries. In each race, the DCCC took its cues from local Democrats, putting candidates on Red to Blue only after they had earned the unanimous support of their county organizations. Thankfully, given our early support for Sherrill, Kim and Malinowski, they were able to lock up this support quickly. Sherrill was on the second round of Red to Blue in January 2018, Kim and Van Drew made it on the third round in February 2018, and Malinowski was added on the fifth round in April 2018.

Each DCCC-backed Democrat won their primary—easily. Sherrill earned 77% of the vote, Van Drew took 55 percent of the vote, Malinowski earned 67% of the vote, and Kim ran unopposed. More importantly, unlike the Republicans nominees for the open seats in NJ-02 and NJ-11, because our candidates had the backing of the DCCC and their county parties, they emerged from the primaries with substantial cash on hand, an advantage that carried them through to Election Day.

Smart investments

The DCCC invested more than $6 million in NJ races, including $2.7 million in NJ-03, $2.4 million in NJ-07 and $596k in NJ-11.

Arming the grassroots

Few states can compete with New Jersey for sheer grassroots energy. Importantly, the DCCC worked with grassroots groups during the primaries to build relationships and leverage their support. In NJ-11, the grassroots group NJ11th for Change consistently protested Frelinghuysen and were key early supporters of Mikie Sherrill. The DCCC bolstered their message, launching Twitter ads highlighting Frelinghuysen’s refusal to hold a townhall. The pressure worked when Frelinghuysen targeting an activist with the group, which exploded into local, national and international view, exposing him as out of touch and unethical member of Congress. Notably, the DCCC waited until Sherrill had both the grassroots groups and the local party support to put her on Red to Blue.

The DCCC has also provided online resources for grassroots organizers, formed strategic partnerships with key organizations and launched programs to target Democratic base voters important to turn out for the midterms.

The Bottom Line

From January 2017, the DCCC made competing in New Jersey a cornerstone of its strategy to take back the House. We backed the strongest candidates, helped them raise the necessary resources, won the messaging battle against the Republican agenda and armed our supporters with the tools to win. If Democrats take back the House on November 6, New Jersey will be a major reason why.