This coalition of rural, progressive and Democratic organizations from across the United States is urging Ken Martin, the new chair of the Democratic National Committee, to substantially shift more of the Party’s time, attention and funding into rural and working-class communities. Regretfully, our earlier post of this petition campaign omitted the link for those who want to sign it. They should click here. Also, here is the link for making contributions and signing up for the coalition mailing list.
To: Ken Martin, Chair, Democratic National Committee, and fellow DNC officers
As you know, Democrats spent over $4 billion on advertisements in the 2024 campaign cycle, outspending Republicans on the presidential race as well as both Senate and House races. Meanwhile, rural and factory town Democratic committees and candidates were starved for funds, as they have been for many years. Allocating a small percentage of those funds annually to long-term organizing and outreach in these communities would, we are confident, do far more
to broaden our base of voters and win elections.
The signatories to this letter fight for rural and working-class people. Most of us hail from or reside in small towns and rural communities. Whether through local organizing and party building, developing concrete tools for policy and communications, or careful analysis of what
works and what does not, our collective experience can help Democrats change course and
rebuild our base.
We extend this invitation to you to work together in prioritizing and fixing the Democratic Party’s profound deficits with rural and working-class voters. We have an opportunity, right now, to change course and begin to win back millions of people now alienated from our party, including demoralized rank-and-file voters, donors and activists. Anything less than a major course correction will, we fear, lead to the loss of even more voters, including the women,
minorities, youth, and working-class men who once comprised the party’s base.
In the attached addendum to this letter, we highlight what we believe to be the most important causes of our losing trend and propose seven promising steps most likely to reverse our decline in rural America. The DNC has profound influence and moral authority within the Democratic coalition. If the leadership of the DNC would passionately and forcefully call upon the complex network of large and small contributors and Democratic fundraising organizations to explicitly direct just 10% of their resources to rural and working-class districts and candidates, it could produce deeply significant and enduring long-term gains for the Democratic Party as a whole. If Democrats had done this in 2024, we’d now have $400 million in organizing infrastructure to help mobilize and rebuild our base before the midterms.
We offer our partnership to you, committing our experience, tools and resources and on-the-ground networks to this essential mission and work. Thank you.
Signatories below:
Elected Officials and Candidates
Rep. Ro Khanna – Congressman, California’s 17th District
Sam Rasoul – Delegate, Virginia House
Ken Tole – Former State Senator in Montana
Antoinette Sedillo Lopez – New Mexico State Senator, District 16
Javier Martinez – Speaker of the NM House of Representatives
Andrea Romero – NM House of Representatives
Patricia Roybal Caballero- New Mexico House of Representatives
Dayan Hochman-Vigil- New Mexico House of Representatives
Charles Maughan – Mayor, City of Corvallis, OR
Mauree Curry – Councilwoman in Easton, MD
Christopher Wier – OK HD 4 Candidate, 2024
Tegan Malone – OK HD 95 Candidate, 2024
Ellen T Wright- Candidate for GA state senate SD29
State Parties, State and Congressional District Caucuses
Indiana Democratic Party – Mike Schmuhl Chair
Washington State Democratic Party – Shasti Conrad, Chair
Maine Democratic Party – Imke Schessler-Jandreau, Vice Chair, BJ McCollister
Tennessee Democratic Party – Carol V. Abney, Treasurer and Executive Committeewoman
Virginia Democratic Party 9th Congressional District – Rebecca Daly, Chair
Minnesota Democratic Party 7th Congressional District- Jennifer Cronin, Chair
Iowa 4th Congressional District- C.J. Petersen, Chair
Missouri Democratic Party Rural Caucus – Jacqueline Farr
Maryland Democratic Party Rural Caucus – Judy Wixted
Georgia Democratic Party Rural Council – Leonard Fatica
California Democratic Party Rural Caucus – Katie Jaycox
Virginia Democratic Party Central Committee – Joan Kark
Oregon Democratic Party Education Caucus- Liz Marlia-Stein, Communication Secretary
New Mexico Democratic Party Labor Caucus – Sara Attleson, Chair
Arizona Democratic Party State committee – Aaron J Essif
Washington State Progressive Caucus – Sharon Abreu
California Democratic Party – Rocky Fernandez, Regional Director
New Mexico Democratic Party Veterans and Military Families Caucus – Claudia Risner, Chair
Minnesota Democratic Party 9th Senate District – Jane Stock, ChairTulsa Young Democrats – David Wilson, Chair
Maine DNC Committeeperson – BJ McCollister
Democrats Abroad – Sue Alksnis
Eastern Shore, Maryland Democrats- Judy Wixted, Chair
Democratic County Committees
Cecil County, MD, John Dixon
Allegany County, MD, Cresta Kowalski
Druid Hills Community, DeKalb County, GA, Michael St. Louis
Marshall/Wicomico County, MD, Demetria Marshall-Leonard
Garrett County, MD, Judy A. Carbone
Port Townsend Precinct, Jefferson County, WA, John Collins
Tuolumne County, CA, Elaine Hagen
Washington County, NY, Jay V. Bellanca
Eau Claire County, WI, Gloria Hochstein
Cherokee County, NC, Diane Snyder
Coos County, OR, Garrett Kin
Conesus Town, Livingston County, NY, Maureen McCarron
Russell County Democratic Committee, VA – Dustin Keith
Scott County, VA, Patricia Kilgore, Chair
Pottawatomie County, OK – Kerri Keck, Ben Parker, and Sandy Ingram
Montgomery County, VA, Gretchen Distler and Deborah Olsen
Hart County, GA, Margaret O’Neal
White County, GA, Leigh Stephens
Oglethorpe County, GA, Jane Kidd
Lac qui Parle County, MN
City of Radford, VA, Vicki Tolbert
Columbia County, GA, Ron Battista
Benton County, MO, Jacqueline Farr
Talbot County, MD, Naomi Hyman, Rudy Reyes and Kaye Dutrow
Caroline County, MD, Jessica Taylor
Dorchester County, MD, Sydney Bradner-Jacobs
Kent County, MD, Muriel Cole
Morgan County, TN, Joel Derek Hawn
Bernalillo County, NM, Marisol Enriquez
Yamhill County, OR, Bill Bordeaux
Cambria County, PA, John Soyka
Denton County, TX, Anjana ParasharCumberland County, ME, Heidi J Vierthaler
Benton County, OR, Holly Shutta
Staten Island, NY, Elaine A. Friedland
Santa Clara, CA, Margaret Okuzumi
Linn County, OR, Susan Heath
Boone County, IA
Union County, OR, Randy L Knop
Riverside County, CA, Judy Rice
Mansfield Town, Bristol County, MA, Tyler Putnam
Palm Beach County, FL, Jill Sheridan
Trinity, Pasco County, FL, Ronald E Simpson
Wine Country Young Democrats (Sonoma County), CA
Adelante Progressive Caucus, NM, Colton Dean
Tioga County, PA
Grayson County, VA, Terry Dunlevy
Kent County, MD, Paula Reeder
Democratic Women’s Club of Greenbrier, WV, Carol F Evans
Phelps County, MO, Robert Cesario
Tuscarawas County, OH, Mike DiDonato
National Organizations
Progressive Democrats of America- Alan Minsky (Executive Director), Donna Smith (Chair of
National Advisory Board), Mike Fox (Deputy Executive Director)
American Family Voices- Mike Lux, Founder, Director
Rural Urban Bridge Initiative- Anthony Flaccavento, Executive Director
Community Works- Meredith Dean, Director
No Dem Left Behind- Hassan Martini, Executive Director and James Bartosh, Digital Director
Movement Labs/Contest Every Race- Yoni Landau, CEO
State Democratic Party Progressive Network- Sandra J. Klassen, Steering Committee
Dirt Road Democrats
RootsAction- Sam Rosenthal, Political director
Young Men Research Project and Democratic Messaging Project (DMP)- Lisa Liddle
State and Local Organizations
State and regional chapters of Progressive Democrats of America in
● Arizona
● Maryland
● Iowa
● Oregon● Nebraska
● New Mexico
● Florida
Blue Missouri
Rise Up WV
Network NOVA
Giles Political Action
Our Revolution Northern Virginia
New Rural Virginia
Tuolumne County Indivisible
Blue Horizon Texas
Center for Common Ground
Ohio Poor People’s Campaign
NJ Universal Healthcare Coalition
Indivisible VT
Open Democracy NH
California Nurses Association
Healthy Aging Coalition
Indivisible Northwest Indiana
El Dorado Progressives
Fighting 50 PAC
Speak Out Against Hate
Major Democratic Donors
Roger Milliken
Bernard Cossell
Donna Sylvester
Margaret Gupta
Edward Rice
Sally Ketcham
Shashi Gupta
Rural/Working Class Organizers, Advocates, and Analysts
Jim Hightower- Former Texas Agriculture Commissioner and lifelong activist
Andrew Levison- Editor, the Democratic Strategist
Arlie Hochschild- Writer, author of Stolen Pride
Beth Ruck- New York state rural and urban advocateJustin H. Vassallo- Writer/researcher, political economy and American political development
Jared Abbott- Director, Center for Working Class Politics
Bill Hogseth- Rural organizer, Wisconsin
Sage Lawrence- Rural organizer and former Campaign Manager for US Rep. Val Hoyle
Jared Jodts- Former Organizing Director, Wisco Project
John Russell- Founder, editor at The Holler
Georgia de la Garza- Illinois/Jackson-Union Editorial board of People’s Tribune/
Beth Macy – Writer and author of Factory Man
Local Democratic/Progressive Activists
As of this date, over additional 500 people from all walks of life have signed this letter or a petition with the same essential requests.
