Kids should have a voice in government, and that is why Jonah (age 14), and his 12-year-old sister, Naomi, created Kids Go Blue. Donald Trump and his Republican supporters in congress have been tearing down environmental rules, detaining immigrants, inciting insurrections etc. and kids like us are opposed to that. We want to punish them where it really hurts - by giving them a serious electoral blow.
A Political Action Committee, also known as a PAC, is an organization that is set up independent of a particular candidate's campaign for the particular purpose of influencing elections. PACs can donate to a candidate's campaign or they can run Independent Expenditures, or IEs, where they send out mailers, TV and Social Media ads, phone calls, text messages, knocking doors, or any other sort of communication with voters. These IEs cannot be done in any coordination with a candidate's campaign. Kids Go Blue takes part in both IEs and donations to candidates.
PAC's are required to make either quarterly or monthly filings (Kids Go Blue has chosen quarterly) filings to the Federal Election Commission, or FEC. In these files, we are required to report our contributions and expenditures. Kids Go Blue complies will all relevant FEC laws and regulations. Our filings and other information can be found here.
Kids Go Blue is a non-connected PAC. This means that we are able to take in a limited amount of money ($2,900 per individual per election) from individuals and may disburse that as a part of IEs or directly to candidates. Kids Go Blue is legally prohibited from taking contributions from corporations. A Super PAC, also known as an Independent Expenditure Committee, can only make IEs and are not permitted to coordinate in any way with a candidate's campaign. While this may present a disadvantage, Super PACs are not subject to contribution limits, and this allows rich people to spend unlimited amounts of money on a campaign. Super PACs are able to take money from mega-corporations, and the finances of many Super PACs are opaque. Kids Go Blue is not a Super PAC. Since most people do not know the difference between these, Super PACs give all PACs a bad reputation, including grassroots-led PACs like Kids Go Blue.
Back in 2018, when Trump controlled the White House, Jonah, then age 9, and his 8 year old sister Naomi, decided to start a PAC to take back the House of Representatives. At that time, we targeted six candidates, all in California, and did not take part in any Independent Expenditures, instead giving all the money directly to the candidates. We also hosted many events to raise money and awareness around Kids Go Blue and reach voters. Additionally, we travelled to many other events to raise money.
In 2018, Kids Go Blue ultimately raised over $1,100 to help flip the house, a sizable amount, but not that much in the massive political world. Still, it helped our campaigns, as they didn't have to waste resources connecting with donors and could instead have Kids Go Blue do that. This enabled five of our six candidates to win election to the House of Representatives, with Jessica Morse, who was always the least likely to win in the first place, the only one to lose.
In 2019, our local city-council member in Los Angeles resigned. This news was at first unexpected, but we later learned that he was under FBI investigation over a massive bribery scandal. Our mom ran for City Council to replace him, but ended up losing by 801 votes. This took up most of our time, and we did not work on Kids Go Blue that year. Later that November, three of the five seats that Kids Go Blue won in 2018 flipped back to Republicans, leaving Mike Levin and Katie Porter as the only Kids Go Blue supported representatives in congress.
In 2022, with the midterms on the line and stories about drastic outcomes for Democrats in the House and Senate, Jonah and Naomi, now 14 and 12, and their 5 year old sister Desi, decided to restart Kids Go Blue. After sorting out the necessary logistics with the FEC, we returned with a much greater goal. Not only would we hold onto our narrow House majority, but we would also flip as many as six Senate seats from red to blue. Instead of just giving directly to candidates, we would also conduct Independent Expenditures to reach voters directly. This would enable us to use kids making pleas for their futures as a central part of our ads and also allow us to work in the races that would most impact both Senate and House races. However, we still planned to give money directly to some candidates.
Kids Go Blue employs many methods to choose our Kids Go Blue target districts. The thing that we most pride ourselves on is choosing congressional races that will win the most other races, especially US Senate seats. That's why all but one of our target states have senate seats that we think could flip in 2022. In these seats, we have identified the most important congressional races. Whichever party wins these congressional races is much more likely to win the statewide race, so these races are doubly important. Our focus on independent expenditures enables us to turn out Democrats in these districts once and not have to invest in the same voters twice by donating to a campaign.
Another we figure out is whether a Democrat or a Republican holds the seat. If it is a Republican, we narrow it down to seats that favor Democrats or favor Republicans by a slight margin. If it is held by a Democrat, we are much more likely to invest in that district, since holding onto tough districts is the most important thing we can do. We also look at how much money a candidate has raised and the polling data, if available, for those candidates.
NOTE: Kids Go Blue's participation in Alaska depends on Peltola having a very close loss or win after the final results. While California, Alaska, and Kentucky are not normally considered swing states, Kids Go Blue does have reasons for investing in them. Democrat Mary Peltola flipped Alaska's at-large House seat in a special election and became one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents. Kids Go Blue will attempt to turn out Democrats and hold this seat. In Kentucky, Kids Go Blue is capitalizing on a strong campaign from Charles Booker and is making a long-term investment to flip Kentucky and the rest of the deep south back to blue. Finally, in California, where Kids Go Blue was started, we have more resources to flip some of the many competitive House Seats in the state.
Kids Go Blue is not your normal political entity. We aren't started by or managed by corporations, but run by kids who want to make a difference. More importantly, we're not funded by rich donors, but by people like you, giving a few dollars here and a few dollars there. Kids Go Blue is a true grassroots organization that is working to elect grassroots candidates that will fight for you in congress. Kids Go Blue is transparent: all of our donors and expenditures can be found online in accordance with federal law, and we post our activities on social media and on this website regularly.
Kids Go Blue is the most effective group you can donate to if you want to win the midterms. We have identified the congressional districts that will make the most impact, and we invest in those districts. Unlike other Democratic organizations, we only work in these districts, not a smattering of a few competitive ones all across the country. In addition, our ads are by far the most effective. Anyone who watches one of our "future" ads and doesn't think it's more effective than standard political ads is lying. Finally, we don't spend money on Washington DC political consultants that take up a huge portion of other political organizations' expenditures. This ensures that your hard-earned money is going to win the midterms, not lining someone's pocket.
If you believe in our movement, please make a donation today. We would really appreciate it.