Swing Left
{{Short description|American political organization}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Swing Left
| logo = File:SwingLeftLogo.jpg
| established = {{start date and age|2017|01|19}}
| founders = Ethan Todras-Whitehill
Miriam Stone
Josh Krafchin
Michelle Finocchi
Matt Ewing
| status = Hybrid PAC
| purpose = Democratic Party victories
| headquarters = Washington, DC
| website = {{url|https://swingleft.org}}
}}
Swing Left is a progressive political group with Hybrid PAC status in the United States that was created following the election of Donald Trump in 2016 with a goal of gaining a Democratic majority in United States legislatures. The group was founded by Ethan Todras-Whitehill, Miriam Stone, Josh Krafchin, Michelle Finocchi, and Matt Ewing to create ways for Democrats to volunteer in their nearest swing district. Its initial mission was to win a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives in 2018 by building a network of volunteers and donors in targeted swing districts across the U.S. Swing Left uses a margin of fifteen points to determine which seats are considered "swing seats", and then concentrates their efforts there.{{Cite magazine |date=2017-01-26 |title=Swing Left and the Post-Election Surge of Progressive Activism |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/swing-left-and-the-post-election-surge-of-progressive-activism |access-date=2022-09-27 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US}} Swing Left cast a broader net in 2019, when they began putting effort toward maintaining a Democratic majority in United States State Legislatures after merging with another organization, Flippable. Swing Left focuses on training volunteers to register voters, phone bank, fundraise, and engage in door-to-door campaigning for Democratic candidates.{{Cite web |date=2022-02-24 |title=Swing Left: What Donors Need to Know |url=https://bluetent.us/api/content/5c4ad75c-6ce8-11ec-8e0f-12f1225286c6/ |access-date=2022-09-27 |website=Blue Tent |language=en-us}}
History
Swing Left was the idea of Ethan Todras-Whitehill, a long-time Democrat who gained interest in starting the platform after being "flabbergasted and devastated" following the results of the 2016 United States presidential election. Todras-Whitehill urged his friends Josh Krafchin, a developer, and Josh's wife, Miriam Stone, a brand strategist, to reach out to developers and designers to help get the organization get off the ground. The group ended up finding marketing strategist Michelle Finocchi and advisor Matt Ewing to focus on outreach and community organization.{{Cite news |last=Pappu |first=Sridhar |date=2018-07-20 |title=Trying to Flip the House, ZIP Code by ZIP Code |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/20/business/swing-left-primary-campaigns.html |access-date=2022-11-21 |issn=0362-4331}} Todras-Whitehill initially decided to focus on gaining a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives which, at the time of Swing Left's founding, was controlled by the Republican Party, because it seemed "tangible". Swing Left determines seats to be "swinging" by seeing which congressional districts were decided within a margin of fifteen points in the previous election.
Political action
File:Swing Left House Party, NJ 7th Congressional District.jpg
Since its launch on January 19, 2017, Swing Left has recruited 300,000 volunteers and raised millions of dollars in donations.{{cite news |url=http://www.thereflector.com/news/article_4265ed70-e4f4-11e7-b6d0-4302685c0860.html |title='Swing Left' takes aim at Herrera Beutler in Washington's 3rd Congressional District |newspaper=The Reflector |date=December 19, 2017 |access-date=January 8, 2018}} It has partnered with the Daily Kos and ActBlue with the goal of raising $100,000 for each of its targeted swing districts.{{cite news |last1=Baumann |first1=Nick |first2=Paul |last2=Blumenthal |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democrats-contributing-unknown-candidates_us_5910e1b9e4b0d5d9049f2a18 |title=Democrats Are So Riled Up, They're Contributing To Races With Unknown Candidates |newspaper=Huffington Post |date=May 9, 2017 |access-date=January 9, 2018}} Swing Left has created sub-chapters, including 31st Street Swing Left, which focuses on the Maryland, Virginia, and D.C area;{{Cite news |last=Lewis-Kraus |first=Gideon |date=2017-11-13 |title=How the 'Resistance' Helped Democrats Dominate Virginia |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/magazine/how-the-resistance-helped-democrats-dominate-virginia.html |access-date=2022-09-27 |issn=0362-4331}} 31st Street Swing Left focuses on funding campaigns of swing-candidates in their jurisdiction.{{Cite news |last=Walsh |first=Joan |date=2018-01-12 |title=In Elections, Every Small Group Can Make a Big Difference |language=en-US |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/31st-street-swing-left/ |access-date=2022-09-27 |issn=0027-8378}} In May 2017, Onward Together named Swing Left as one of the groups whose work it would support.{{cite news |last=Palmer |first=Anna |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/15/hillary-clinton-onward-together-238408 |title=Clinton launches new political group: 'Onward Together' |newspaper=Politico |date=May 15, 2017 |access-date=January 8, 2018}} In December 2017, Crooked Media announced a joint fundraising initiative with Swing Left called the Crooked Seven, to raise money for the eventual Democratic challengers of seven Republican-controlled House districts that Hillary Clinton won in 2016.{{cite news|last=Garofoli |first=Joe |url=http://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Pod-Save-America-about-to-take-its-next-step-12418780.php |title='Pod Save America' about to take its next step |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=December 9, 2017 |access-date=January 8, 2018}} Swing Left engages in phone banking, town halls, organizing events, and voter registration drives.{{Cite web |title=Take Action with Swing Left! · Swing Left on Mobilize |url=https://www.mobilize.us/swingleft/ |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=Mobilize |language=en}}
Fundraising
Swing Left gathers donations from both organizations and individuals. Some notable donors of Swing Left include George Soros, Chris Sacca, and Tom Ford as well as organizations like Onward Together and Majority Forward.{{Cite web |title=Swing Left PAC Donors |url=https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/swing-left/C00632133/summary/2020 |website=Open Secrets}} In 2020, days after Michael Bloomberg dropped out of the Democratic campaign for president, he donated $2 million to the organization, saying that the organization would help with the ultimate goal of "defeating Donald Trump".{{Cite web |title=Bloomberg gives $2 million to grassroots organization Swing Left |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mike-bloomberg-swing-left-2-million/ |access-date=2022-09-27 |website=www.cbsnews.com |date=17 March 2020 |language=en-US}} During the 2020 election cycle, Swing Left raised over $15 million, which was donated to different Democratic candidates in swing districts.{{Cite web |title=Swing Left PAC Summary |url=https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/swing-left/C00632133/summary/2020 |website=Open Secrets}}
Vote Forward
Vote Forward is a 501(c)(4) affiliate of Swing Left.{{Cite news |last=Battaglia |first=Danielle |title=Biden administration hires UNC Charlotte grad and NC native |url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article279096594.html}}{{Cite news |title=Playbook: Spending talks go off the rails |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2024/02/26/spending-talks-go-off-the-rails-00143259}} that encourages voting through volunteer hand-written letters.{{Cite magazine |date=2020-10-09 |title=How Old-Fashioned Letter-Writing Became 2020's Campaign Innovation |url=https://time.com/5898643/letter-writing-get-out-the-vote-2020-race/ |access-date=2024-03-03 |magazine=TIME |language=en}} Scott Forman started Vote Forward in 2017 experimenting with 1,000 handwritten letters to inconsistent registered voters in Alabama. Turnout was 3.4% higher than the control group.{{Cite news |last=Castle |first=Shay |date=2020-10-28 |title=A Cutting-Edge Tactic to Get Out the Vote in 2020: Handwritten Letters |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/us/politics/vote-forward-letter.html |access-date=2024-03-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Over 200,000 volunteers wrote letters in 2020. Letters could be written over months and sent at a strategic moment{{Cite magazine |date=2021-10-01 |title=Surprising Data Shows Political Letter-Writing Still Gets Out the Vote |url=https://time.com/6103451/campaign-letters-vote-democrats/ |access-date=2024-03-03 |magazine=TIME |language=en}} called the Big Send.{{Cite web |last=Berman |first=Russell |date=2020-04-30 |title=A Throwback Way to Win a Pandemic Election |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/04/2020-election-letter-writing/610879/ |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}} 17.6 million letters boosted targeted voters' turnout by 0.8 percentage points.
Flippable merge
In 2019, Swing Left merged with Flippable, a group with a similar mission focused on flipping state legislatures from Republican to Democratic control. The groups stated that their joint goal was to better strategize and prepare volunteers and donors for the 2020 election. One of their first initiatives as a group was to raise money for "competitive state-level districts".{{Cite news |last=Resnick |first=Gideon |date=2019-05-22 |title=Two Groups That Helped Dems Win Back the House Are Joining Forces for 2020 |language=en |work=The Daily Beast |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/two-progressive-groups-swing-left-and-flippable-are-joining-forces-ahead-of-2020 |access-date=2022-09-27}} After the merger, Swing Left shifted focus on the Virginia state elections, in which their team raised $863,000 for Democratic candidates. The merger with Flippable shifted Swing Left from their original goal of focusing on maintaining a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives to also maintaining Democratic majority in state legislatures.
Other activities
In 2018, Swing Left launched a campaign titled "The Last Weekend", where they partnered with Mandy Patinkin, Tracee Ellis Ross, Elizabeth Warren, Anna Wintour, and Kerry Washington, to encourage people to get out and vote through a series of videos.{{Cite web |date=2018-10-03 |title=Swing Left's Most Famous Volunteers Want You to Get Out the Vote |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/swing-left-the-last-weekend-video-when-we-win-midterm-elections |access-date=2022-09-27 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}} "The Last Weekend" also hosted a variety fundraising events in which they hosted performers Beck, David Grohl, and Karen O.{{Cite magazine |last=Aniftos |first=Rania |date=2018-11-03 |title=Beck Performs 'Where It's At' With Dave Grohl as Drummer at Swing Left's The Last Weekend |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/beck-where-its-at-dave-grohl-drummer-swing-left-8483054/ |access-date=2022-09-27 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}}