WASHINGTON – DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz issued the following statement on today’s primaries and how Democrats are building an unprecedented general election operation:

“As our primaries wind down, Democrats should be proud of the substantive campaigns our candidates have run. Their values and priorities have matched those of the American people and spoken to their aspirations and shared ideals. Even before voters went to the polls today, more than 24  million voters had turned out to support our Democratic candidates in primaries and caucuses. And in state after state, exit polls have shown that overwhelming majorities of Democrats are excited about our candidates.

“At the same time, a majority of Republicans lament their own divisive primary, and even the Republican Speaker of the House continues to struggle with having to support his own Party’s standard-bearer. Republicans have nominated a divisive and dangerous candidate in Donald Trump, and we are going to hold him and all of their candidates accountable.

“With only five months left until Election Day, we must now build on the momentum our candidates have generated by ensuring that we have a superior general election effort to reach an unprecedented number of voters across our great country. We cannot hold back nor cede any ground to Donald Trump, so we will continue to support our 50-state strategy while investing in coordinated campaigns in key battleground states.

“We’ve already begun recruiting, training, and mobilizing top talent in everything from research, to communications, social media, and voter targeting, and we have begun to deploy them to help Democrats win up and down the ballot in November. We’re proud of the investments we’ve already made in the long-term operations of the Democratic Party, and we’re beginning this next phase with a data and analytics advantage that our Party leveraged to secure victories in the last two presidential elections. We’re also matching that advantage with a field and outreach edge worthy of our eventual nominee. We’re ahead, and we’re going to keep it that way.

“Our team in Philadelphia is kicking off an inclusive and engaging platform process and preparing for an exciting convention. We’re going to make sure that by the time we nominate the next President of the United States, we have the staff, volunteers, and resources up and running to lead us to victory in November. We’ve come too far over the last 7 years, and we’re not going back.”