Hudson Valley Congressional Race a Proving Ground for New Fundraising Tools

Aided by online fundraising tools, Democratic challengers in New York's 19th congressional district have already raised millions to take on Republican incumbent John Faso. With election day nearly a year away, it's shaping up to be one of the most competitive — and expensive — House races of the 2018 cycle.

It's a reflection of a long-term trend for Democratic and liberal donors who are increasingly giving directly to candidates, races and issues they support instead of to national groups like the Democratic National Committee or the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

“You have an online base who is smart, they’re sophisticated," said Bill Hyers, who advised Mayor de Blasio’s first election campaign and helped Kirsten Gillibrand win a Hudson Valley House seat in 2006, before she became a senator. “They’re going to be choosy (about) where they give their money. And they want to be motivated and inspired by a candidate.”

Those donors, like Ethan Todras-Whitehill, were also motivated after Donald Trump won the presidency and Republicans retained control of the House and Senate.

“I kind of go through the phases of grief pretty quickly," Todras-Whitehill said of his feelings after Trump's win, "and I was already on to acceptance and I was like ‘What can I do? What can I do?’"

He also knew he had more energy than opportunity — living in the deep blue state of Massachusetts. Then he discovered that the nearest competitive House race was just two hours away, in New York's 19th district.

And that gave him an idea.

Maybe he could raise money for a race, instead of a candidate, from people who didn’t have the time or interest to sort through a crowded primary field, or debate the merits of a $12 versus a $15 minimum wage.

So he and some friends built Swing Left, a website that points people to the nearest Congressional swing district and lets them donate money or volunteer.

“It’s really for the practical-minded people who just want to win," Todras-Whitehill said, "and, you know, worry about those policy issues later.”

Individuals are limited to a maximum donation of up to $2,700 per congressional district, whether they give directly to a candidate or to Swing Left.

But Swing Left gives candidates an extra fundraising operation, with a different pool of donors, early in the process. They collect the money, and then pass it along to whoever wins the Democratic nomination.

So far, they’ve raised more than $3.7 million in 70 congressional races. NY-19 ranks sixth for the number of donors contributing to the race — nearly 700 donors.

“It’s a super swingy district," Todras-Whitehill said. “I think it’s swung five or six points Obama to five or six points Trump. It goes back and forth. It’s sort of like the hard shores where incumbents go to die.”

Todras-Whitehill says it’s partly the proximity to New York City and the many residents who vacation in the district. Also, New York 19 often reflects national trends.

The seat straddles the Hudson River, running through the Catskills from Oneonta to the Vermont border. The incumbent this year is first-term Republican Faso. So far, six Democrats have lined up to run against him.

Two of those challengers have raised more than a million dollars each — a big war chest for any House challenger a year out from Election Day.

One of them, attorney Antonio Delgado, raised nearly a quarter million from fellow lawyers. He’s bragged about  his fundraising prowess on the campaign trail. Another candidate, businessman Brian Flynn, gave $650,000 to his own campaign.

The Swing Left money would only add to those accounts after the primary.

Faso is at the top of Democrats’ wish list after voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act in May. He voted against the GOP tax plan, but his opponents say he’s guilty by association anyway.  

Faso says opponents are always going to use his votes against him during a campaign.

“I’m not worried about next year," Faso said. "I know my district and I’m around my district a lot.”

He’s raised almost as much as his opponents — nearly $900,000, according to his most recent campaign finance report. The biggest chunk — about $100,000 — is from political action committees set up by Republican office holders to help fellow Republicans.

But that’s only part of the story. In 2016, Faso spent nearly three million dollars to win the race by eight points. But he also benefited from more than $6 million in spending by  outside groups. One super PAC received at least $500,000, each, from New York billionaires Robert Mercer and Paul Singer.

The possibility of that big money returning in 2018 is another reason progressive activists are already raising their own money, knocking on doors and calling voters from phone banks — months ahead of past election cycles.

“We have volunteers working now to flip the district,” said Dustin Reidy, campaign director for New York 19 Votes. “Whereas two years ago I think the primary campaigns were probably still in their nascent stages.”

New York 19 Votes is a PAC formed to unite dozens of new and existing left-leaning groups in the wake of Trump’s election. Reidy coordinates its efforts across the district’s eleven counties.

He says many activists and voters aren’t fans of how the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have tried to win the district in the past, because dictating from D.C. how an upstate New York race should be run isn’t something that works.

"There’s a lot of interest in building at the town and neighborhood level up here," Reidy said. "People do not trust the DCCC here, or DNC.”

Hyers, the New York-based political consultant, says campaign contributions have slowly moved over the past decade from the party leadership in Washington directly to local to candidates, races and issues.

The Republican National Committee has crushed the Democratic National Committee this year, raising twice as much money. The DNC even fired its fundraiser in November.

Hyers says technology and changing donor culture has accelerated the trend. Social media makes it possible for once-overlooked races to go viral, nationally.

Online tools like ActBlue make it fast and convenient for small-dollar donors to target where they have the most influence — even from their phones.

But some New York Democrats, like Dutchess County Chairwoman Elisa Sumner, say it’s a challenge to keep up with the growing number of activists.

“I’ve heard of so many groups – Swing Left, Code Blue — I mean, there’s just so many of them out there," Sumner said, adding those groups are the most doing the most legwork to help win the district.  “The average person is not consumed with who their Congressperson is going to be next year — not yet, at any rate.”

Sumner and other Democrats say the party needs to build toward 2018, with a message that also skews local. She’s not enthusiastic about the first pitch out of Washington, the so-called “Better Deal.”

”The national message, do I think it’s resonating up here?" Sumner said. "No. I’m still not sure what it really is.”

Hyers says Faso will be tough to beat.

“We’re going to have to do that," Hyers said, "by showing we care more about the average person than they do”