Swing Left

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.[1] 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.[1] The group ended up finding marketing strategist Michelle Finocchi and advisor Matt Ewing to focus on outreach and community organization.[4] 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.[1]

Swing Left Organizing Event for New Jersey's 7th Congressional District

Since its launch on January 19, 2017, Swing Left has recruited 300,000 volunteers and raised millions of dollars in donations.[5] It has partnered with the Daily Kos and ActBlue with the goal of raising $100,000 for each of its targeted swing districts.[6] Swing Left has created sub-chapters, including 31st Street Swing Left, which focuses on the Maryland, Virginia, and D.C area;[7] 31st Street Swing Left focuses on funding campaigns of swing-candidates in their jurisdiction.[8] In May 2017, Onward Together named Swing Left as one of the groups whose work it would support.[9] 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.[10] Swing Left engages in phone banking, town halls, organizing events, and voter registration drives.[11]

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.[12] 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".[13] During the 2020 election cycle, Swing Left raised over $15 million, which was donated to different Democratic candidates in swing districts.[14]

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".[2] After the merger, Swing Left shifted focus on the Virginia state elections, in which their team raised $863,000 for Democratic candidates.[3] The merger with Flippable shifted Swing Left from their original goal of focusing on maintaining a Democrat majority in the House of Representatives to also maintaining Democrat majority in state legislatures.[2]

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.[15] "The Last Weekend" also hosted a variety fundraising events in which they hosted performers Beck, David Grohl, and Karen O.[16]