The Democratic National Committee and a liberal organizing group have struck a first-of-its-kind deal among Democrats to seamlessly share voter data collected on the campaign trail, bolstering coordination between outside organizations, party committees and individual campaigns.
The agreement was reached between Swing Left, the Democratic Data Exchange (the Democratic entity that houses the party’s voter data), the DNC and the Association of State Democratic Committees. It is in part an effort to retrofit how the party conducts its field programs up and down the ballot. The goal is to allow Democrats to effectively pool their resources to most effectively and efficiently engage voters.
Officials say they hope the agreement becomes a template for deals between other outside groups and the official Democratic Party infrastructure.
“The DNC is committed to organizing year-round, ensuring Democrats up and down the ballot have the infrastructure to win in 2026, 2028, and beyond,” Catherine Tarsney Kahle, the DNC’s chief technology officer, said in a statement. “We are proud to partner with Democratic Data Exchange and Swing Left to put critical, ground-level voter data directly into the hands of campaigns nationwide and look forward to continuing that work with others.”
Trending
Outside groups that ran door-to-door voter outreach efforts were for years legally prohibited from coordinating with candidates and the party infrastructure; they were able to share only a subset of the data they collected from voters, which officials say was of limited use. But a 2024 advisory opinion from the Federal Election Commission allowed the two sides to collaborate with their field programs.
This deal takes the newly allowed coordination to the next level, allowing all parts of the wider Democratic ecosystem to share the entirety of the data they collect from each individual interaction with voters, and to do so instantly.
“That’s what this agreement does,” said Yasmin Radjy, executive director of Swing Left. “It allows every volunteer conversation to strengthen campaigns, state parties and organizations across the country. It will help Democrats compete in 2026 while ensuring we’re not starting from scratch again in 2028.”
Swing Left has launched a revamped effort this election cycle to reach independent and Republican-leaning voters, hoping its new field program can help Democrats win congressional majorities in purple districts and states.
Some Democratic officials believe the party has fallen behind Republican-backed field programs in recent elections, especially after Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign successfully identified and persuaded many voters who don’t often turn out to vote. They hope the Democratic Party, boosted by agreements like these, can catch up in this year’s midterm elections.
“Sharing this data across the ecosystem — along with our collaboration with partners like the DNC and state parties — makes us stronger, helps us work smarter, and sets Democrats up for big wins this November and looking ahead to 2028,” said Amanda Coulombe, chief executive officer of the Democratic Data Exchange.
DDx officials, who helped create the infrastructure that houses the party’s voter data, helped broker the deal.
Author
