The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)[a] is the DemocraticHill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body.[1] The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds and organizes races in districts expected to yield politically notable or close elections. The committee consists of the Chairperson (who according to Democratic Caucus rules is a fellow member of the caucus appointed by the party leader in the House), their staff, and other Democratic members of Congress in various executive roles.
The DCCC was created in 1866 as the Democratic National Congressional Committee. Due to the reform of campaign finance legislation in 2004, the DCCC divides its activities among two organizations prior to Election Day:
One organization (the "Coordinated" campaign) continues to work on congressional campaigns, offering relevant campaign advice.
The other organization (the "Independent Expenditure" campaign), makes independent expenditures in congressional districts on behalf of the campaigns but is not allowed to coordinate activities with the campaigns.
In recent elections, the DCCC has played an expansive role in supporting Democratic candidates with independently produced television ads and mail pieces.
Rahm Emanuel assumed the position of DCCC committee chair after the death of the previous chair, Bob Matsui, at the end of the 2004 election cycle. Emanuel led the Democratic Party's successful effort to capture the majority in the House of Representatives in the 2006 elections. After Emanuel's election as chair of the Democratic Caucus, Chris Van Hollen became committee chair for the 110th Congress and the 2008 elections. He continued through the 2010 elections. Steve Israel served as chair for the 2012 and 2014 election cycles.[3] For the 2016 election cycle, Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi appointed congressman Ben Ray Luján to serve as the committee's chair. Luján was selected to serve again for the 2018 election cycle.[4]
For the 2020 and 2022 election cycles, DCCC chairs were elected by the caucus, rather than selected by the party leader.[5][6] After the 2022 election cycle, the Democratic caucus voted to return to having the position be appointed by the leader.[7]
In 2022, workers at the DCCC announced they were forming a union affiliated with the Teamsters.[8]
Controversy
Consultant blacklist
After Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her upset congressional victory over Joe Crowley, the DCCC implemented a policy blacklisting consultants who worked for primary opponents of Democratic Party incumbents. Highly unpopular among progressives, the organization rolled back the policy in 2021.[9]
Primary preferences
In the 2018 election cycle, the DCCC released negative information about candidate Laura Moser, who ran for US Congress in Texas' 7th congressional district.[10] The move backfired, as Moser gained donations and support en route to making the runoff before falling short against Lizzie Fletcher.[11][12] A month after the attack on Moser, the DCCC showed preference in another Texas primary, supporting Colin Allred.[13] The decisions were two among many similar choices made by the organization throughout its history.[14] Similar criticism carried into the next election cycle, prompting Progressive Caucus member Ro Khanna to say:
This unprecedented grab of power is a slap in the face of Democratic voters across the nation. It's something even Rahm Emanuel would not have done and is totally tone-deaf to the grassroots activists across our nation. Voters are sick of the status quo holding on to power and stifling new voices. They are sick of D.C. politicians who care more about holding on to power than a true competition of ideas.[15]
Russian hacking
In July 2016, the DCCC said it was hacked.[16][17][18][19][20] Subsequently, a person described as a hacker and known as "Guccifer 2.0" (Russian Main Intelligence Directorate persona) reportedly released documents and information that were obtained from the cyberattack on the DCCC.[21]
Supporting election deniers
In the 2022 primary cycle, the DCCC assisted Republican candidates that supported the claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. This assistance took the form of attack ads aired during Republican primaries, the content of which ostensibly decried the further-right candidate's election denialism and other views described as "dangerous", with the aim of making that candidate more appealing to Republican primary voters. It was hoped that those more extreme Republican candidates would be more vulnerable to defeat in the subsequent general election. For instance, in Michigan, they aired ads supposedly against John Gibbs, a far-right challenger to incumbent Peter Meijer, who had voted to impeach Donald Trump in the second impeachment.[22][23] Gibbs ultimately lost in the general election to Democratic candidate Hillary Scholten.[24]
