Friend,
My name is Natalie Scavuzzo, and I’m an Arena alumni and the acting Executive Director of DigiDems. Like Arena, DigiDems is a program of Zinc Collective, and every election year we deploy highly trained digital experts (often Arena Alumni!) directly onto the most competitive races in the country to help Democratic candidates break through the noise, communicate more effectively with voters, and win elections.
Our goal this year is very simple: flip control of the House and put a real check against Donald Trump’s lawlessness, cruelty, and corruption. To do that, we’re providing critical social media and digital strategy support to over 50 House campaigns in battleground districts that Democrats need to flip or hold to take control of the House 30 days from today.
The sad truth is that newsrooms across the country have been consolidated by massive corporations and hijacked by conservative agendas, which allows Republicans to control the narrative–-unless we find new and creative ways to break through.
That’s where DigiDems comes in. We embed a full-time staffer directly onto the campaigns that will decide the majority, giving what are typically very small and overextended teams the capacity and expertise they need to break through the noise and reach voters where they are: Online. And we are the only organization on the left doing this work.
Before I ran the program, I was a DigiDem on the ground in Pennsylvania, supporting critical battleground efforts for President Biden’s 2020 campaign. I saw firsthand how valuable this work is, how much candidates rely on it, and how it can make the difference between winning and losing—especially in races that come down to just a few hundred votes. And we have the data to back it up: Candidates supported by DigiDems win their races more than 70% of the time, far outpacing the national average.
I worked alongside many Arena alumni in 2020, and it was clear that just like DigiDems, Arena-trained staff provide campaigns the competitive edge they need to win. Working with them inspired me to attend Arena Academy, where I gained foundational digital skills and networks that have helped me to get where I am today.
As of today, the Cook Political Report has classified 22 House seats as “toss ups.” We’re supporting 18 of them. And we are also covering 10 of the 11 races in the “lean Democratic” category, which we must win in order to take the majority.
I know that our work can make the difference. I’ve seen it. Over the next 30 days, we will be providing around the clock support to our campaigns—creating powerful videos seen by tens of thousands of voters, helping them respond quickly and effectively to breaking news, and amplifying their message to voters who might otherwise never hear it. But in these final days, Republicans are going to dump tens of millions of dollars into attack ads in a desperate bid to keep power, and I cannot stand the idea that after all of our work, money could be the thing that keeps us from victory.
Thank you so much for your support!
Natalie Scavuzzo
Acting Executive Director of DigiDems
Arena, 611 Pennsylvania Ave SE #192, Washington, DC 20003, United States