HRC is Spending $15 Million to Get Voters to Back Biden
The Human Rights Campaign is launching a effort to educate pro-LGBTQ voters in key states on the importance of the 2024 election.
The Human Rights Campaign is pledging a $15 million spending blitz to help re-elect Democratic President Joe Biden in this year’s upcoming presidential election.
HRC’s public education campaign, first announced by NBC News, will cover the six key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada, with the intent of mobilizing voters to back Biden over former Republican President Donald Trump and various third parties in November.
Known as “We Show Up: Equality Wins,” HRC’s campaign is geared toward educating, informing, and activating voters to become politically engaged while communicating the importance of the upcoming election and what’s at stake depending on the outcome of various races for the presidency, Congress, and state office.
The campaign will highlight not only the Biden administration’s record on LGBTQ issues but will contrast it with the Trump administration’s record. It will also highlight Trump’s current messaging, in which the former president has employed anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and has specifically promised to roll back rights or legal recognition for transgender individuals.
The campaign will have staff on the ground in California, Texas, New York, and Delaware to support historic LGBTQ congressional candidates whose victories will likely be crucial to putting a pro-equality majority in control of the U.S. House of Representatives next January.
HRC says the $15 million strategic investment will help fund paid advertising, new staff hires, field campaigns, and voter mobilization events in battleground states targeting equality voters, which the organization defines as people who are more likely to vote in favor of a candidate with pro-LGBTQ positions.
“This group of voters, when you break them down by state, can actually make the difference,” Kelley Robinson, the president of HRC, said in a statement. “This is a powerful constituency, a powerful community…. [W]e’re going to be knocking on doors, making phone calls…to make sure that our people turn out.”
HRC has identified nearly 75 million potential “equality voters” across its target six swing states. Of those, 80% say they are highly motivated to vote, although that figure is much lower among subgroups like youth, people with lower levels of education, and individuals of color, according to a 2024 survey conducted by polling firm GQR.
Equality voters are more motivated to vote by issues and causes than blind partisan loyalty, and they are more likely to support candidates whom they believe share their values.
HRC is warning that about one in three equality voters is wavering in their support for Biden. Hundreds of thousands are at risk of abstaining from voting altogether, while a separate subgroup is considered so-called “double doubters,” who are more likely to vote for a third-party candidate.
One example of possible “double doubters” are those LGBTQ people and allies who have previously supported Democratic candidates for federal office, but have become disgruntled due to the Biden administration’s refusal to push for a ceasefire in Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.
GQR found that 22% of equality voters say they would vote for a third-party candidate if the election were held today. However, half of those would support Biden if they came to understand their vote for a third-party candidate could assist Donald Trump in winning back the White House.
Additionally, GQR found that HRC is considered a trusted messenger for many equality voters, boasting a 70% favorability rating. The organization is well-poised to deliver the message to equality voters about their voting habits, the potential ramifications of their choices, and the importance of re-electing Biden instead of Trump.
“In 2020, LGBTQ+ people, young people, women, and people of color came together across lines of difference to drive Trump from office,” Robinson said. “This November, HRC is going to make sure we do it again. Because when we show up, equality wins.”
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