For those who were able to join, we hope you had a great time at this year’s convening. Feedback has been glowing and we look forward to bringing you highlights and takeaways. Check your in-boxes next week! It was so rewarding to gather a group of such smart and powerful women, and we can’t wait to come together in person again. Next up is our convention event in Chicago in August 2024. Stay tuned for details as we begin planning early next year. .
Despite the team’s focus on convening in recent weeks, we couldn’t let this month come to an end without bringing you everything you need to know, including the most important campaign news to come out of October: Third-quarter fundraising totals.
US Senate
The numbers unfortunately continue to be lopsided between men and women, especially on the incumbent side, with male incumbents in competitive races outraising women by millions.
Let’s look at Montana and Nevada, both of which Cook Political Report has rated as Lean D. Sen. Jon Tester raised $4.6 million in Q3, more than double what Sen. Jacky Rosen raised. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio has also raised $4.6 million in a similarly competitive race.
The situation is more equal for two competitive non-incumbent races: Rep. Elissa Slotkin in Michigan and Rep. Ruben Gallego in Arizona raised about $3 million each in Q3.
And Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee continue to lag in California’s US Senate race. Rep. Adam Schiff’s $6 million Q3 haul was nearly twice what Katie raised ($3.4 million) and more than five times what Barbara raised (a little over $1 million). He now has a staggering $32 million cash-on-hand, compared to Katie’s $12 million and Barbara’s $1.3 million.
Click here to see complete fundraising tables for the US Senate candidates we’re tracking.
Raising & Spending
Adam Schiff raises $6.4 million for California Senate run in third quarter [NBC News]
Slotkin leads Michigan Senate fundraising with $5 million in the bank [M Live]
Senate Democrats’ campaign arm ups investments in two targets [NBC News]
Four fundraising takeaways from the battle for the Senate [NBC News]
Tennessee Dem Gloria Johnson raises $1.3M [Associated Press]
Polling & Analysis
Latest Polls, US Senate [FiveThirtyEight]
Latest Ratings, US Senate [Cook Political Report]
Latest Ratings, [Sabato’s Crystal Ball]
Key Race Developments
California’s incoming senator describes her whirlwind trip into history [LA Times]
Sen. Laphonza Butler won’t run in 2024 election [LA Times]
The inside story of how Newsom picked Butler for Senate [Politico]
Former Dodger Steve Garvey jumps into California Senate race as a Republican [NBC News]
A different type of email [Katie Porter’s Substack]
Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig enters the GOP Senate race in Michigan [NBC News]
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore endorses Angela Alsobrooks for U.S. Senate [Washington Post]
GOP gets another candidate U.S. Senate in Delaware [Delaware Public Media]
Tammy Baldwin has won big in closely divided Wisconsin. Can she do it again? [19th News]
Other News
Gillibrand’s low-key path toward reelection: ‘I’m not a shiny object’ [Olean Times Herald]
Hillary Clinton: Our nation is in dire need of leaders like Dianne Feinstein [The Washington Post]
US House
First, the good news: Rep. John Sarbanes (MD-3) has announced he won’t seek re-election, opening another safe Democratic seat for 2024 and giving Maryland Democrats another chance to add a woman to their Congressional delegation, which currently has none.
The bad news comes out of North Carolina, where, following last year’s successful Republican effort to flip the state Supreme Court, legislative Republicans approved a Congressional map that eliminates three Democratic districts, including Rep. Kathy Manning. Democrats have no judicial recourse; in 2019, the US Supreme Court declined to intervene in states’ partisan gerrymandering attempts. Obviously, this makes it harder—but definitely not impossible—to win back the House next year.
Oh, and we have a new Speaker. He’s pretty bad.
Raising & Spending
Five fundraising takeaways from the battle for the House [NBC News]
Campaign cash pouring into southwest WA congressional race [WA State Standard]
What campaign finance reports tell us about PA’s 2024 congressional field [City & State PA]
Click here to see complete fundraising tables for the US House candidates we’re tracking.
Polling & Analysis
Latest Polls, US House [FiveThirtyEight]
Latest Ratings, US House [Cook Political Report]
Open Seat Tracker, US House [Cook Political Report]
Latest Ratings, US House [Sabato’s Crystal Ball]
David Wasserman: The Battle for the House in 2024 [Cook Political Report]
2024 Downstate New York House Analysis [Cook Political Report]
2024 Upstate New York House Analysis [Cook Political Report]
Key Race Developments
North Carolina’s new GOP gerrymander could flip four House seats [Politico]
JR Majewski rejoins race to challenge Democratic Rep. Kaptur [Associated Press]
The California town that could hold the key to control of the House in 2024 [The Guardian]
These California Democrats are thrilled about the House’s new speaker [SF Chronicle]
Sarbanes won’t seek reelection in 2024 [Maryland Matters]
The big House recruitment holes [Politico]
Other News
‘Too smart to want the job’: Why no women are running for speaker of the House [NBC News]
Alaska Congresswoman Peltola back in D.C. following husband’s death [AK Public Media]
NM congresswoman leads efforts to support ag in arid environments [NM Political Report]
‘Freakin’ take control’: Rep. Crockett on House dysfunction [Politico]
State & Local
If election night is prime television viewing for you like it is for us, make sure you’re tuned in next week to what happens in Ohio and Virginia, where state elections will have the biggest ramifications for women and Democrats overall and serve as a bellwether for 2024. Abortion is on the ballot in both states.
That’s quite literally in Ohio, where voters will need to say ‘Yes’ to Issue 1 to add protections for abortion rights to the state constitution. Angela Kuefler of Global Strategy Group gave a great presentation last week on abortion polling in the states—including why ‘Yes’ votes are harder to win—which you can view here.
In Virginia, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has been spending the last several weeks crowing about his support for the 15-week abortion ban he’ll try to implement if Republicans win a trifecta there next week. We’re hoping this proves toxic, but if it isn’t, the nationwide ramifications for 2024 and beyond will be dire.
And don’t forget about Kentucky. Every statewide office is up for grabs there too, and Democratic women are running in every race except Secretary of State (the current Lieutenant Gov., running on the gubernatorial ticket, is a woman, Jacqueline Coleman).
Raising & Spending
Democrats pour another $200,000 into Virginia legislative races [NBC News]
Youngkin’s PAC sets $1.4 million ad push on abortion issue [Richmond Times-Dispatch]
Abortion rights side wins fundraising battle as out-of-state money flows [Cincinnati Enquirer]
Polling & Analysis
Virginia’s legislative contests may be the most important races in 2023 [FiveThirtyEight]
Voters under 30 are trending left of the general electorate [FiveThirtyEight]
Ohio Abortion Vote Leads List of Key 2023 Statewide Ballot Issues [Sabato]
Two Weeks To Go: Pre-Election Preview of Virginia’s Legislative Races [Decision Desk HQ]
Key Race Developments
Ohio Democratic-stronghold counties exceeding early voting expectations [ABC Cleveland]
Abortion rights are on a winning streak at the ballot box. Ohio could test that. [19th News]
Conservatives target Ohio to end their losing streak on abortion votes [Politico]
Red-state Democrats diverge on abortion approach in big 2023 races [NBC News]
In deep red Kentucky, Democrats bet abortion will be a winning issue [NBC News]
Virginia Could Decide the Future of the GOP’s Abortion Policy [The Atlantic]
Other News
WATCH: When it comes to the issues facing New York, ‘it’s personal’ to Gov. Hochul [Gothamist]
Chicago is moving to an elected school board but half of voters aren’t aware [WBEZ]
After 30 years of silence, Althea Garrison is claiming her place in LGBTQ+ history [19th News]
What it takes to defend diversity [19th News]
National & Women
Happy belated birthday(s) to two of the most influential women in politics, Vice President Kamala Harris (Oct. 20) and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Oct. 26)!
Speaking of Kamala, we’ve compiled recent news reports about what she’s up to the campaign trail and in her official duties. As we discussed at our convening, EWA is here to lift up Kamala and help re-elect the first woman and Black woman vice president. We are committed to being leaders in the VP’s re-election campaign.
Polling & Analysis
Latest Polling, US President [FiveThirtyEight]
Electoral College Ratings [Cook Political Report]
Electoral College Ratings [Sabato’s Crystal Ball]
Key Developments
In Search of Kamala Harris [The New York Times]
The Kamala Harris Problem [The Atlantic]
The relaunch of Kamala Harris [Financial Times]
At CSN, VP Harris stresses importance of youth participation in politics [LV Sun]
With Maine gunman on the run, Vice-President Harris points to Australia’s gun laws [ABC News]
VP Harris to Visit UK for AI Summit [MSN]
Diversity numbers among delegates trigger alarm at DNC meeting [Politico]
Women donors are underrepresented in fundraising for state elections. [19th News]
Deficit Worries Making a Return as a 2024 Political Issue [Bloomberg]
Other News
Most Powerful Women in Washington [Washingtonian]
Supreme Court to consider abortion pills, guns, social media in its new term [NPR]
U.S. Mint announces final 5 women as it finishes its quarters program in 2025 [19th News]
‘Suffs’ Heads to Broadway With Hillary Clinton as a Producer [NY Times]