Hi, my name is Shasti Conrad. I’m a DNC Vice Chair and Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party (WA Dems). I love my dog, Beyoncè, and winning elections for Democrats. For five election cycles in a row, Washington State Democrats have increased or maintained our majorities in the state legislature, and we have an 8-2 Democratic majority in our U.S. House of Representatives delegation. Given the historic results we saw in our state’s August Primary this year, we are well poised to keep that streak alive.
2026 Could Be Historic
In this year’s August Primary, Democratic candidates received 50%+ of the vote in 35 of Washington’s 49 Legislative Districts – that’s 71%! We are forcing Republicans to defend seats that are traditionally ruby red, including in Eastern and Southwest Washington. Four Republican State House incumbents were trailing their Democratic challengers in Southwest Washington, and Republican U.S. Representative Michael Baumgartner failed to crack 50%. It will be an uphill climb to flip this seat that hasn’t gone for a Democrat since former U.S. Speaker of the House Tom Foley lost his seat there in 1994, but the independent candidate has already endorsed the Democrat in the race, former State Department official Carmela Conroy.
The Washington Blueprint
In the 2024 general election, every state had major shifts towards Republicans – but not Washington. As the rest of the country saw an average shift of 6% towards Donald Trump, Washington state held the line, keeping the shift below 0.5%. We won every statewide election, added seats in the legislature, and protected all 8 of our Congressional incumbents, including in the R+5 3rd Congressional District.
We estimate that in 2024 we turned out 538,000 more core Democrats than core Republicans and 77,000 more lean Democrats than lean Republicans. How did we do it?
A few ways…
Progressive Policies are Popular
100% mail-in voting. Automatic voter registration. Paid family leave. The highest state minimum wage in the country. We were already talking about kitchen table issues that most impacted real people in our state. Voters have rewarded Washington’s Democratic lawmakers fighting for tangible policies that improve their lives.
Professional and Year-Round Team
After November 2024, we didn’t stop organizing. We continued building out our field operation in 2025. The Washington State Democratic Party is one of the largest state parties by headcount, and we were the first state party in the nation to unionize. This gave us the benefits of long-term, year-round staff who bring institutional knowledge and deep community connections to the table. In 2024, we fielded one of the largest organizing staffs in state history, hiring 30 field staff to raise an army of volunteers. This year, we launched an early coordinated campaign to build talent, volunteer, and staff pipelines sooner than ever – and then we never stopped.
Year-Round Infrastructure
Our 2026 campaign is a direct outgrowth of the 2024 coordinated campaign. In 2025, we hired our first year-round Organizing Director and worked within communities to conduct deep organizing – knocking doors and making phone calls, not to ask people to vote for a specific candidate, but to listen to them and identify the issues that are top of mind for the people we need to turn out in order to win. This work helped us deliver historic results in this year’s midterm primary, including a pathway to a supermajority in our State House. DNC Party Infrastructure funding greatly supported this effort by providing essential monthly grants directly to state Democratic parties across the country. These key investments helped build permanent campaign infrastructure, keep year-round staff, and grow local voter registration and outreach before the midterms. This formula works, as we’ve seen in Washington state and as Chair Ken Martin accomplished in Minnesota. A well-resourced, strong DNC directly translates into greater opportunities, infrastructure, and wins on the ground all year, every year.
National and Down-Ballot Advocacy
As both a State Party Chair and DNC officer, I see it as my duty and responsibility to bring state and local issues to the national stage. State parties are the nerve center that provides real-time information to our national party about the issues motivating voters, and they are also the limbs of the party that implement national strategy on the ground. State parties in every U.S. state and territory are actively expanding the Democratic map, and I could not be more proud as these efforts bear fruit and lay the groundwork to restore Democratic leadership at all levels of government.
Get Involved with the Washington State Democrats
Grassroots organizing is the heart of our victories in Washington State. Whether you can knock on doors, make phone calls, or help power our ground game in your local community, every action makes a difference. Join our year-round organizing efforts, volunteer for local campaigns, and help support our field operations across the state to keep Washington moving forward.
Support Our Battleground States
Our path to victory runs through battleground states, and we need your help to cross the finish line. With the midterms being a crucial opportunity to regain control of the U.S. House and Senate, we are recruiting for Late Help roles in key battleground areas. Whether you’ve completed one cycle or twenty, your experience is invaluable in these final, critical weeks. Sign up for a Late Help role today to help us organize, mobilize, and turn out the vote where it matters most.
Share Your Story
With Election Day just around the corner, every voice counts more than ever. We’re working around the clock to turn out every single voter, but we need your help to amplify the stories that define this movement. Don’t just watch history happen, help us shape it.
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Just would like to know if my current donations to the DNC are going to elect candidates or just pay down debt.
If it’s pay down debt, there are many other more impactful organizations I could support.
I’m very sad that in this moment of opportunity the DNC has chosen infighting over fighting for democracy.
Prove me wrong. I’d love it