Key Point: “Last month the DNC announced it is steering more investment to state parties, with an extra focus on red states intended to help organizers build long-term infrastructure. Under the new formula, red states would get $22,500 per month, a 50 percent bump, whereas their blue state counterparts will get $17,500, a 30 percent increase over current funding levels. That cash can help state parties hire more staff, open new field offices and conduct research that helps state parties hone the right message.”

Politico: Democrats are looking to make gains in the South next year. It could be their last shot.

By Liz Crampton 

• A new class of Democratic leaders in the South are pitching voters on their party’s proposals to lower costs and increase wages, while casting blame on Republicans for an unsettled economy under President Donald Trump.
• […] newcomers are encouraged by the recent election of Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, who ran Minnesota’s state party for years. 
• Last month the DNC announced it is steering more investment to state parties, with an extra focus on red states intended to help organizers build long-term infrastructure. 
• Under the new formula, red states would get $22,500 per month, a 50 percent bump, whereas their blue state counterparts will get $17,500, a 30 percent increase over current funding levels. That cash can help state parties hire more staff, open new field offices and conduct research that helps state parties hone the right message.

• Martin, in an interview, recounted a conversation he had with Brandon Presley, the Mississippi Democrat who came within 3 percentage points of defeating incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves. Presley said one reason he came up short was there was no infrastructure on the ground to help him.

• “That, to me, was a real, real damning indictment, and one that I’ll never forget,” Martin said. “The party’s responsibility is to build infrastructure so that we meet the moment.”