With key races in red and purple states like Texas, Alaska, Georgia and Arizona, Democrats are turning to Republican validators to help them win statewide contests.
Candidates are trotting out endorsements from prominent Republican officials, and even bringing some on to join their campaigns. Many of these contests are in states where the GOP has a significant registration advantage, or recent statewide contests have been extremely close, so nabbing some share of the vote from those who haven’t pulled the lever for a Democrat before is essential.
“Every Democrat says we need a bigger tent, but it’s up to each candidate to show that they actually mean it,” said Andrew Mamo, a spokesperson for The Bench, a group that has boosted center-left Democrats in contested races this cycle.