Check is in the mail…just kidding!

Folks,

Some donors think the general election begins after Labor Day, and in my home state of Texas, this shows up starkly in our down-ballot races. Downballot candidates run the field and turnout programs that lift the entire ticket. A neglected downballot race can mean a campaign office that never opens, canvassers who never get hired, and turnout infrastructure the rest of the ticket needed and didn’t get.

We all know that marginal dollars matter more in races decided by a few thousand votes than in ones already awash in tens of millions.

These races often carry more structural power than their profile suggests. Let’s remember that in Texas, it took a quorum break to slow a rushed, mid-decade redistricting push. The lieutenant governor and the state legislature draw those maps, and they shape our daily lives more directly than any single U.S. Senator does. Investing early in these races doesn’t just affect this cycle’s laws; it also fills the pipeline for the officeholders of the future.

The real reason down-ballot races struggle financially isn’t a lack of importance. They don’t have the cable hits or the viral moment. This invisible primary for donor attention is really a fight for name recognition, and without it, a lot of good candidates can’t break through no matter how strong their case.

That’s especially true this cycle. If this is shaping up to be a wave year, with Latino voters moving toward Democrats, the case for funding them now, not in October, only gets stronger.

We’re 81 days out. That’s still enough time to change the trajectory of a local race, but only if the money shows up now.

If we believe the public and private polling, then we should believe that Texas is in play. Generational change is within reach, but only if campaigns are taking advantage of the public vibe on, well, everything.

The public mood is sour on the status quo, so that is one less thing campaigns have to convince voters of. People need to know they have an alternative, and door knocking alone will not get this done.

Our work is political media, and we know it’s a vital part of any race. Funding campaigns means they can not only knock on doors, but can follow up with mail and digital ads.

If you are in Texas, or have a project in Texas, let’s talk – I really think this might just be our year.

— Michael Kolenc