Contact: Aly Ferguson
aly@newpolitics.org; 480-363-6465
WASHINGTON D.C. (February 23, 2026) — Today, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced its first round of candidates for the coveted ‘Red to Blue’ initiative, naming three New Politics-endorsed servant leaders to the competitive program. The announcement reinforces that candidates with service backgrounds are positioned to win the races that will determine control of the House in 2026.
The New Politics candidates named to ‘Red to Blue’ are:
Emily Cherniack, Founder and Executive Director of New Politics, released the following statement:
“The DCCC’s inclusion of these exceptional candidates shows what we’ve known all along: service-driven candidates win competitive races. From the battlefield to the statehouse, these candidates have spent their lives putting mission before self to build trust, bridge divides, and deliver results. The DCCC's ‘Red to Blue’ announcement confirms that our candidates are best positioned to win in some of the most critical races in the country. The path to flipping the House in 2026 runs directly through New Politics and the servant leaders we're backing.” New Politics has endorsed 14 candidates in the nation's most competitive House races, with 12 aligning with the DCCC's “Districts in Play.” Data shows Democratic veteran candidates overperform generic Democratic candidates by nearly 6% in competitive congressional districts, often the margin of victory in races decided by 1-3 points. In 2018, New Politics played a key role in flipping the House by helping elect servant leaders like Jared Golden, Chrissy Houlahan, Elissa Slotkin, and Jason Crow, Abigail Spanberger, and Mikie Sherrill. Across the House battlefield, New Politics candidates are on the front lines of some of the most competitive, closely-watched races this cycle.
New Politics is an organization that revitalizes American democracy by recruiting, developing, and electing leaders across the ideological and political spectrum who have committed their lives to serving their communities and our country, either through military service, national service organizations like AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps, or by demonstrating strong service-based leadership in their community. New Politics support includes strategic advising and training in all aspects of a candidate’s campaign, such as fundraising, communications, organizing, hiring, and team building. New Politics has raised over $40 million to support over 475 candidates, successfully electing more than 200 of them to office, from Congress to School Board.
