About
Who’s Behind Blue Tennessee
Blue Tennessee is a project of Every State Blue, formerly known as It Starts Today. It Starts Today was founded after the 2016 election by Jonathan Zucker, former COO and CEO of ActBlue. Convinced that the power of the Democrats’ grassroots community coupled with small-dollar recurring donations could change fundraising forever, he got to work creating groundbreaking national and state-based programs.
Together, we’re going to change Tennessee.
David Pepper
David is a lawyer, accomplished author, political activist, and former elected official. He also teaches election law and voting rights.
He served as the Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party between 2015 and 2021. During law school he was named “most likely to be president … of the Cincinnati Board of Tourism.”
His highly-acclaimed book Laboratories of Autocracy details the risk anti-democratic statehouses pose to our democracy.
Jonathan Zucker
Jonathan Zucker is a political technology entrepreneur and campaign finance attorney. He was the first COO and second CEO of ActBlue.
He has also served at the DNC as National Director of Operations for Finance.
More recently, he has founded or advised several political tech start-ups, including Democracy Engine, Every State Blue, ruck.us, Rep’d and Crowdpac.
Michele Hornish
Michele is a lawyer, highly sought-after communications consultant, and the Executive Director of It Starts Today.
She founded Small Deeds Done, a political action site featured in the New York Times bestseller Good And Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger.
Since 2017 she has focused on Every State Blue’s state-based projects, Blue Ohio, Blue Missouri, Blue Texas, and now Blue Tennessee.
Desia Batiste
Blue Tennessee Advisory Board
Desia is a Veteran and Podcast Host of Advocacy Arena, a weekly discussion to inform and inspire civic engagement. Her career consisted of administrative work in varied industries including for state and local lawmakers. She’s been a poll worker and assisted with local campaigns, and is passionate about civic engagement.
Marcy Meldahl
Blue Tennessee Advisory Board
Marcy was a senior HR manager and management consultant for nonprofit, government and for-profit institutions. Having come from a politically active family, she has been interested in politics her entire life and feels especially strongly about civics education and voting.
Alicia Garza
Blue Tennessee Advisory Board
Alicia is an organizer and software engineer working in the progressive tech space.
She grew up in East Tennessee, and, after a period of political estrangement, realized she wasn’t ready to give up on this place just yet. She is passionate about direct voter contact and how we can use data and technology to help us connect with voters in more powerful and meaningful ways.
Amy Seifried
Blue Tennessee Advisory Board
Amy’s involvement with BlueTN can be traced back to a tweet by Hillary Clinton congratulating David Pepper on his newly-published book, Laboratories of Autocracy. She ordered the book immediately and found the content to be convincing and compelling—Tennessee needs to run Democratic candidates everywhere if there is any hope of denting the Republican supermajority. She soon became a member of the BlueTN working group.
What You Get When You Join Blue Tennessee
• Membership in the only grassroots community that’s focused on making sure every Democratic nominee for TN state legislature has resources to run a campaign.
• At the $10/month level (or more), automatic participation in our monthly Team Blue TN calls.
• Knowledge – backed up with data – that you’re boosting the vote share for the top of the ticket and local turnout, while helping reach the 4.8 million Tennesseans who were left behind in 2022. (See our Washington University study results!).
• Pride that no matter what else you have going on, you’re doing something that’s meaningful and impactful.
• Peace of mind that you’re fighting for a better future for yourself and your loved ones.
• Satisfaction that just by being part of our community you’re telling the TN GOP that you’re on to them. You’re not letting their corruption and lawlessness slide, and you won’t let them sell out your democracy without a fight.
• Gratification that you play a role in holding people in
the statehouse accountable.
How Blue Tennessee Works
Think of us as crowdfunders – for Tennessee’s Democratic nominees for state legislature.
We make it easy for you to join thousands of other people and crowdsource democracy – supporting our nominees for a few dollars a month (which, these days, is less than you might spend on a fancy cup of coffee). And, as a monthly program, you just set it and forget it, knowing that you’re doing your part – no matter what else you have going on.
You
By joining Blue Tennessee, you’re supporting down-ballot Democrats across TN – without breaking a sweat. Kicking in a few bucks a month is doable, and powerful, over the long term.
+ Thousands Like You
Thousands of people just like you want a Blue Tennessee too, and understand that chipping in a few dollars a month (our average is $10/mo) is a small price to pay to protect democracy. Together, you’re amassing power to support Tennessee Democrats in every corner of the state.
= Massive People Power
After the primary, Blue TN distributes community funds directly to the Democratic state legislative nominees, who desperately need your help. And you rest easy, knowing that you are part of the solution. Job done.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does supporting down-ballot Tennessee Democrats boost results statewide?
In 2020, we ran a study and found that having a Democratic nominee for state legislature on the ballot increased the vote share for the top of the ticket by 1.5%. We know from a peer-reviewed study of 20 states that funding a challenger at $0.36 per eligible voter adds a whopping 1% boost to voter turnout!
So there's a potential 2.5% bump for the top of the ticket if we run and support a Democratic nominee. Statewide, that leads to massive gains up and down the ticket! Bottom line: we can elect more Democrats. We just need to work together. Ready to get started? We're glad to have you on board. Click here to join>>
Which nominees does Blue Tennessee fund and how?
What are some of the "soft benefits" of running a supported Democratic nominee in every district?
Just by supporting the Democratic nominees that are running for state legislature, TN Democrats can build a bigger bench, build up local Democratic infrastructure, make Republicans fight (and spend) everywhere, and spread a progressive message through a local lens.
If we're serious about reaching voters across all 99 TN Districts (and we are), then supporting the Democrats already doing the hard work is the most efficient and effective way to do it.
How much do most people contribute?
The average is just over $10/month. As an added bonus, everyone who contributes at $10/month is eligible to join our monthly team call! They're always informative and often entertaining – and a great time to ask any questions you have about Tennessee politics.
What do I get for contributing?
Most importantly, you know that you're part of the solution, and you're doing something really powerful every single month. And – if you're contributing at $10/month or above, you're also added to our monthly Blue TN Team call, where we get together on Zoom with our Blue Tennessee family to talk about recent events, progress, and all things TN. All donors are added to our Blue TN Update email.
What does my donation support? How much will Tennessee's Democratic nominees receive?
As a member of Blue Tennessee, your donation supports Tennessee's Democratic nominees – and the community we're building to lift them up. One hundred percent of your donation goes to supporting Democrats in Tennessee; 75% is directly dispersed to the nominees who need it the most using our "bottom-up bathtub" method. The remaining funds support our community's ability to lift up the nominees, build Democratic infrastructure, and flex grassroots muscle.
We're also completely transparent about credit card processing fees. You may not realize it, but entities like ActBlue deduct credit card processing fees from your donation before sending it to candidates. So the candidate you're supporting is getting less than you intended! Not with us – 100% of your donation goes exactly where you intended it to go. So if you want your donation to be $10/month, it is $10/month; the $0.57 in processing fees is added to your donation total for a monthly charge of $10.57. If you want your monthly charge to be a flat $10, no problem – just enter $9.44 into the donation field, and together with the processing fees that will all come out to $10/mo.
We also use a processor, Democracy Engine, LLC, that charges a lower percentage in processing fees. While ActBlue collects 3.95% and Kickstarter keeps 5% on top of processing fees, Democracy Engine collects a 3.75% + $0.20 processing fee.
Are you part of the Tennessee Democratic party?
No. While we support the efforts of the collection of national, state, and local organizations that make up the Democratic Party, we do not coordinate with them. Our goal is to break radical Republican control, support and elect more Tennessee Democrats, and preserve democracy.
Are you doing this kind of project in any other states?
Yes! We have active projects in Ohio, Missouri, and Texas and are hard at working bringing this project to other states that could use the same short-term electoral benefit and long-term investment. (The states on our short list of expansion projects include AZ, GA, MI, NC, PA, and WI. If you are interested in discussing any of those states, we'd love to hear from you. Just send an email to info@everystateblue.org.)
How does guaranteed funding help us run more nominees?
Fundraising is one of the toughest, and most detested, parts of running for office. It's even worse for nominees who are in challenging, conservative districts. Eliminating the fundraising barrier means more people are willing to run, which makes recruitment much easier.
How can I help?
Glad you asked! First, you should join! (Do that HERE.) Second, we need people like you from all over the state (and country) to help spread the word. If everyone who asked this question could get five friends to join, we'd be well on our way to amassing the power that Tennessee Democrats need.
Also: if you would like us to speak to your local group or organization, just reach out to us at info@bluetennessee.org.
When will my subscription end?
Democracy is a long game, and we're in this for the long haul. So unlike most Democratic organizations, we're not focused on any one cycle. Your subscription will continue until you tell us to stop. Just contact us at info@bluetennessee.org at any time. We’re very approachable!
How do I stop or change my recurring donation?
Easy! Just contact us at info@bluetennessee.org at any time. We’re very approachable! (A tech build to create a software application that would allow user-modifiable donations runs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and right now our focus is on fundraising for the nominees rather than fundraising for technology. It was a priority call of ours, and we think it's the right one. Still, that sort of platform is on our radar and wish list for future cycles.)
How do I contact you?
You can contact us at info@bluetennessee.org at any time. We’d love to hear from you.