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Democratic National Committee executive director Sam Cornale is laying out how he believes the party out-performed expectations in Tuesday’s elections — and what it means for 2024 — in a DNC memo to grassroots donors obtained exclusively by NBC News.
The Democratic wins come against a backdrop of recent polls that show President Joe Biden trailing former President Donald Trump in key battleground states.
“When people count Joe Biden out, it just shows they don’t know how to count,” Cornale wrote to donors, who were among those making more than 1.5 million calls into states ahead of Tuesday’s races. “It’s clear Democrats are running and winning on an agenda that resonates with the American people. And it’s Joe Biden’s agenda.”
After Virginia Democrats raised alarm bells In August that the national party wasn’t doing enough, the DNC announced $1.5 million to support Democratic candidates in some of the state’s closest races.
“So much is at stake in terms of controlling the legislature and I just don’t see that same national energy, candidly, from the White House, on how important Virginia could be not just this year, but next as well,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said this summer.
In this week’s memo, the DNC points out their focus on Virginia did indeed pay off. Volunteers made more than 330,000 calls into the state.
And in Kentucky, where Governor Andy Beshear held off a challenge from Trump-endorsed Republican Daniel Cameron, the DNC credits the $3 million it invested in the state’s Democratic Party as a factor in the win.
“As Trump’s GOP continues to run further to the right campaigning on an unpopular, extreme agenda, they are falling off a cliff with voters who repeatedly reject their extremism,” Cornale wrote.