As Democrats head into the midterms with historic momentum, the DNC continues to fire up an unprecedented organizing blitz to help put Democrats on target to take back Congress from Republicans, hold Donald Trump accountable, and deliver for working families. In August, the DNC made critical organizing investments through its NextWave Regional Bootcamp, When We Count voter registration fellowship, Southern States Resource Hub, and Local Listeners program. These programs engage voters while building strong Democratic infrastructure for 2026 and beyond.
See below for a few highlights of the DNC’s August organizing blitz:
As part of the ongoing response to the Callais decision, the DNC launched a new Southern States Resource Hub, a historic investment to ensure Southern Democratic state parties have the resources they need to compete — and win — across the South. Through this major initiative, the DNC is expanding its focus on gaining ground across the South by building a stronger coalition of voters and creating more opportunities ahead of the midterms, 2028, and beyond.
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On KGNS: “The Democratic National Committee says they’re making big new investments across the South in states that have typically been red to try to gain more ground. This week, the Democratic Party announced it’s making a new push to turn the country’s fastest-growing region into much more of a battleground in the 2026 midterms and beyond. ‘The South is rapidly growing, and we as Democrats need to meet the moment and meet voters where they are and compete everywhere.’ At the party’s annual meeting in Austin, Texas, the DNC unveiled its new Southern State Resources Hub, a new set of investments for candidates and state parties in a region that’s been a Republican stronghold for decades. ‘So the Southern State Resource Hub is intended to be a one-stop shop for our Southern State parties and campaigns to give them the tools they need to go out there and reach voters and win elections.’ Party leaders say they’re connecting Southern state parties with fundraising support, more data, new staffing, and messaging, starting with this year’s midterm election cycle.”
With a focus on the Midwest, the DNC held its NextWave Regional Bootcamp in Chicago last week. With a seven-figure investment, NextWave is the largest-ever campaign staff training program in Democratic Party history. The Chicago meeting convened more than 100 current and future campaign staffers and leaders for three days of hands-on training to equip them with the tools, skills, and resources needed to help Democrats win up and down the ballot in 2026, 2028, and beyond. After successfully training hundreds of campaign staffers at previous bootcamps in the South, West, and East, the DNC’s Chicago convening aimed to power Democratic momentum and wins across the Midwest.
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CBS 2 Chicago: “The Democratic National Committee is bringing its campaign training program to Chicago in just a couple of weeks. According to Politico Playbook, the DNC is hosting its Midwest NextWave Regional Bootcamp from the 26th to the 28th. There is training on organizing, fundraising, voter registration, and communications. DNC officials say the hope is to develop campaign talent across the country, with the program having already trained staffers in North Carolina, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. The push to train staff comes as democrats look to flip both the House and Senate in November’s midterm elections.”
Politico’s Illinois Playbook: DNC plans a Chicago bootcamp
[Shia Kapos, 8/12/26]
- Chicago bound: The DNC will hold its Midwest NextWave Regional Bootcamp from Aug. 26-28, bringing aspiring and current Democratic campaign staffers from across the region together for three days of training in organizing, voter registration, fundraising, data and communications. The program will offer instruction tailored to participants’ experience levels, along with hands-on workshops and opportunities to connect with campaign professionals and state Democratic parties, according to the DNC.
- It’s part of a seven-figure investment by the DNC to develop campaign talent across the country. The NextWave program has already trained Democratic staffers in North Carolina, Arizona and Pennsylvania, among other states, according to DNC spokesperson Daniela Campos López.
As part of the DNC’s historic voter registration effort, dozens of When We Count fellows are now conducting unprecedented on-the-ground voter registration drives in Nevada. This includes at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas — one of the most diverse colleges in the country — in addition to registering voters at community meetings and outside of sporting events, concerts, stores, and festivals. The DNC’s When We Count fellowship program is part of Democrats’ ongoing partisan voter registration effort to close the registration gap and increase turnout among young voters so that they can have their voices heard. As we gear up for Election Day, the DNC is all hands on deck to reach, register, and mobilize young voters who will determine the outcome of critical elections up and down the ballot this midterm cycle.
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On KLAS: “The Democratic National Committee announced Monday it launched a voter registration program this past weekend in Nevada. In a statement, DNC Chairman Ken Martin says, ‘With our unprecedented investment in voter registration and organizing across Nevada, dozens of When We Count fellows will be on the ground and out in communities to meet young Democrats.’”
Last month, the DNC also announced the findings of its unprecedented Local Listeners Program, which involved more than 400 volunteers making 448,295 calls to voters who voted in 2020 but sat out in 2024. From the nearly 10,000 long-form conversations with 2020 voters living in 61 battleground congressional districts, a majority emphasized that rising costs were a top concern for them. Other drivers of dissatisfaction were Republicans’ attacks on healthcare, the war in Iran, and the Trump administration’s cruelty. Democrats aren’t leaving any stone unturned and will continue to do the work to engage and turn out thousands of 2020 voters while making sure campaigns are well-equipped with what they need to win these voters.
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MS NOW: The DNC thinks it has the right message to get ‘infrequent voters’ back to the polls
[Shawna Thomas and Julianne McShane, 8/13/26]
- The Democratic National Committee thinks it knows what to focus on to reach voters in battleground districts ahead of the November midterm elections, in which control of Congress is at stake.
- To get to that answer, volunteers spent the first half of this year making nearly a half-million calls to disaffected voters who pulled the lever in 2020 for Democrats but didn’t show up in 2024.
- Of those calls, the DNC says volunteers had conversations with almost 10,000 people. And the top issue for those voters is the same thing cited by respondents in repeated public opinion polls. … That issue? The rising cost of living. As one Iowa voter put it: “Healthcare sucks. The cost of living sucks. It all needs to be better.” …
- Other top issues cited by those the DNC talked to were the war with Iran, “Trump administration overreach” and “attacks on healthcare.” …
- A DNC official said the project was “focused on how voters are feeling right now and what would make them likely to vote in the 2026 midterms.”
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