David here. This is going to be a longer email, so let me get right to it:
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it takes to build long-term political power — the kind that lasts beyond one election cycle. And honestly? It works a lot like a long-term investment. (Don’t worry — I promise I won’t finance-bro out on you.)
Think of your support for Leaders We Deserve like a 401(k). You contribute steadily over time, and those investments compound into long-term security. The difference is that instead of building a retirement account, you’re building a safety net for American democracy — by helping transform the Democratic Party from the inside out.
Every dollar you invest today helps replace complacent career politicians with a new generation of young leaders who bring urgency, discipline, and decades of fight ahead of them. That’s exactly why we invest so heavily in states like Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Arizona. A dollar spent helping a young candidate in those states in 2026 can have the impact of spending ten times as much in 2030 — when those same states will have gained 4–5 congressional seats and 4–5 electoral votes each, and when we must win legislative control to avoid being gerrymandered into permanent minority rule.
Yes, we’ll work to flip legislatures and congressional seats in 2026. But we also have to plant seeds where future majorities will be decided. Most political organizations operate on four-year timelines, which forces them to focus only on what can be won right now. We can’t afford that. We have to build our future bench in emerging purple states today so we’re not just reacting to power being taken from us, we’re preparing candidates to win the new seats Texas, Florida, and other Sun Belt states are on track to gain.
For too long, Democrats have tried to “time the market” of political change investing emotionally. Meanwhile, Republicans have spent 40 years investing steadily, the political equivalent of consistently investing in the S&P 500. They never stop, no matter whether the environment is favorable or not, no matter who the president is or who has majorities in Congress. Over time, those investments compound. That’s the beauty of young candidates. They have the most valuable thing one can have when it comes to investing or making change: time.
It’s time for Democrats to build long-term, compounding political power too. That’s the work Leaders We Deserve is doing, and your investment is what makes it possible.
And just like any investment, $5 today matters more than $5 tomorrow. The earlier you invest, the greater the return, and last week’s election proved just how far early support can take young leaders. With momentum building, our mid-month deadline tomorrow at midnight, and the midterms less than a year out, now is when investing early matters most.
Leaders We Deserve is just over two years old — and because of grassroots donors like you, we’ve already:
- Elected a young, bold, progressive mayor in New York City
- Supported Representative Dante Pittman in his run that broke the Republican super majority in North Carolina
- By just 74 votes, defeated a candidate in Texas who had previously voted to arm teachers and secured victory for Texas Senator Molly Cook
- Replaced ineffective Democrats with young progressive fighters
- Ran year-round organizing efforts to sustain our work
- Built one of the strongest benches of young leaders in the country and an intergenerational movement standing with them
- Forced the Democratic establishment to make room for the next generation and take our power seriously
If this is what our first two years look like? Imagine what we can achieve in the next five years. The next ten. Twenty.
And we’re already seeing the compounding interest on your early investments. Look at Houston, on track to become the third-largest city in America in a crucial state. As I mentioned, last year we helped elect Molly Cook there, an ER nurse and organizer, to become the youngest (and most progressive) member of the Texas Senate.
She won by just 74 votes — made possible by your support. And because we invested in a year-round organizing program there, when a special election opened up this year for Houston’s congressional seat, we were ready. We backed Christian Menefee, who just won a 16-person primary and is headed to a runoff. That’s what your long-term investment looks like:
Elect one leader —> build turnout —> strengthen a region —> create more wins.
Molly’s win helped build the structure that boosted Christian, and Christian’s win could help fuel the next young progressive in Texas. And on and on — all the way to statewide offices, the Senate, and yes, one day even the White House.
That’s the long game for Leaders We Deserve: making sure the leaders shaping policy on climate, health care, gun safety, reproductive rights, campaign finance, and every issue for decades actually have our future in mind. It’s how we finally end the era of party insiders telling us to wait our turn and start building lasting, generational power.
And we’re doing it because of your investment. We don’t have corporate PACs or special interests backing us. Every young leader we elect is directly powered by people like you who believe our future is worth fighting for.
The more young leaders we elect today, the stronger our bench — and our democracy — will be tomorrow.
Thank you for being a part of generational change.
— David Hogg
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