With the midterms less than three months away, Raw America managing editor Carl Gibson interviewed Kelly Dietrich, founder and CEO of the National Democratic Training Committee (NDTC), to talk about how Democrats can get involved in 2026 campaigns, and how they can mount candidacies of their own up and down the ticket in 2028. Gibson and Dietrich covered various topics, including:
How the NDTC trains Democratic candidates in the how-tos of campaigning
How to build the Democratic bench ahead of 2028 in local and national races
The NDTC’s new guide on volunteering for 2026 campaigns
How to persuading skeptical or undecided voters at their doorstep
How Democrats can unite after bitter primary fights
The widening midterm enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans
How to counter the Trump administration’s election interference tactics
What first-time candidates need to start doing now to run in 2028
Why working-class Democratic candidates don’t need to fear fundraising
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What the NDTC Actually Does
As Dietrich explained, the NDTC isn’t an official arm of the Democratic Party, but rather a separate organization that exists to lower the barrier for would-be candidates to get the knowledge they need to mount their own campaigns for office “no matter how small the race or how red the district.”
Dietrich’s organization has trained more than 130,000 Democrats over the past decade, with 1,500 candidates already winning their primaries in the 2026 cycle alone. Dietrich emphasized that his group doesn’t make endorsements, and is committed to neutrality in contested primaries.
“We do not pick winners and losers. If you are willing to stand up and work in your community, you are willing to fight MAGA Republicans... we offer the free resources, tools, and trainings for you to be successful,” he said.
Building the Democratic Bench for 2028 Up and Down the Ticket
With Democrats aiming to flip dozens of Republican seats in a potential blue wave in November, Gibson asked Dietrich what the NDTC is doing to deepen the party’s bench ahead of the 2028 elections, both in Congress and in down-ballot races at the municipal and state levels.
Dietrich said the NDTC’s approach starts with helping people figure out whether running is even right for them in the first place, then pairing candidates with groups and resources that can help them quickly gain ballot access and then start engaging with voters in their own communities.
The NDTC founder and CEO pointed to incumbent Democratic lawmakers, including Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), as examples of people who benefited from the NDTC’s resources and training. Dietrich also stressed that his group works alongside and not in competition with other Democratic organizations like Run for Something,EMILY’s List, Voto Latino and others.
“We are very much a collaborative, not competitive organization,” Dietrich said.
The NDTC’s New How-To Guide for 2026 Campaign Volunteers
Gibson asked Dietrich to walk through the NDTC’s newly released guide on how everyday Democrats can support local campaigns this fall in a volunteer capacity. Dietrich said volunteering is just as easy to learn as it is an essential resource for candidates aiming to reach as many voters as possible ahead of the general election.
Dietrich recalled his own mother’s nervousness the first time she called a Republican U.S. senator’s office to register her disapproval with the senator’s position on an issue. He noted the NDTC’s guide is specifically designed to knock down the hesitation many people may feel when calling their member of Congress or trying to persuade a voter.
“You want to know the best practices, how to knock a door, we got it. You want to know how to do a text bank or a phone bank? We got it,” Dietrich said.
Dietrich also reminded viewers that the high-profile, marquee House and Senate races are far from the only campaigns that need volunteers. This includes candidates running for local school boards, city councils, mayoral offices, county commissions and other elections up and down the ticket.
The Art of Persuading a Gettable Voter
The conversation then turned to various tactics volunteers can tap into in order to persuade voters either while canvassing door-to-door or phonebanking. Gibson asked: if a voter appears unmoved, is it better to double down on persuasion or cut your losses and move on?
Dietrich said the answer ultimately depends on whether the campaign has identified the voter as persuadable in the first place, though he stressed the underlying approach is always the same: listen first, and lead with shared values rather than facts and statistics.
“Let’s be 100 percent clear: facts, figures, logic, and common sense are not the way to persuade swing voters,” Dietrich said. “Start connecting on a personal level. Humans are storytellers.”
The NDTC founder described using his own 13 year-old daughter as his “why” when talking to voters, reminding himself that the whole reason he engages in politics is so that she grows up in a country with a more responsive government. He encouraged campaign volunteers to really lean into asking open-ended questions to find out what’s keeping voters up at night, before pivoting to selling their candidate as the solution.
Why ‘No’ Is Still a Good Answer
As the conversation delved deeper into the art of persuasion, Gibson asked how volunteers should actually close the conversation with a voter and ask for a commitment, after presumably building rapport over shared values.
Dietrich reminded viewers that the ultimate goal when volunteering isn’t to get every person to commit to voting for the chosen candidate, but ultimately to deepen the campaign’s knowledge of the electorate.
He argued that while all volunteers would hope for every voter to agree to vote for their chosen candidate, display a yard sign, commit to volunteering and donating to the campaign itself, a firm “no” can also be a very useful data point.
“No is a good answer, which sounds counterproductive, but there’s a reason for it,” Dietrich said, explaining that it helps campaigns avoid wasting limited resources on unpersuadable voters.
How Democrats Can Re-Unite After Hard-Fought Primary Races
Gibson observed that the 2026 cycle has been rife with contested primaries in states like Michigan and Wisconsin. He observed that while Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) agreed to stump with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed through November, unity is still an open question in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary between Democratic socialist Francesca Hong and moderate David Crowley. Gibson then asked the NDTC founder what advice he’d give to Democratic factions looking to reunite after expensive and personal primary fights.
Dietrich replied by first pushed back on the idea that the party is as divided as it’s often portrayed in the media, then reiterating that Democrats should learn from the example of total unity seen in Michigan.
“The algorithms and the right and others have a vested interest in us believing that the split in the party is so much more divisive than it is. We need to remember we agree on 90 to 95 percent of everything,” Dietrich said.
Dietrich also credited Maryland Gov. Wes Moore with a framing he found useful — that Democrats have typically been been seen as “the party of no and later” when they need to be the party of “yes and now.”
“MAGA is the problem, not fellow Democrats,” he added.
Preparing for Election Interference in 2026
The conversation then took on a more sobering tone, with Gibson asking what the NDTC is doing to prepare Democrats for the possibility of the Trump administration’s Department of Justice engaging in voter suppression efforts ahead of the midterms — particularly now that Todd Blanche, who is Trump’s former personal lawyer, has now been confirmed as attorney general.
Dietrich said any response will begin with mass mobilizations of campaign volunteers.
“Everyone watching, listening right now, we need you,” Dietrich said, urging viewers to enlist family and friends as volunteers. “I don’t care where you live, we need you.”
The NDTC founder reiterated that sunlight is still the best disinfectant when it comes to attempts to undermine the midterms.
“They can only cheat if we allow it to happen, and if we are loud and stand our ground,” he said.
Dietrich’s Advice for Potential 2028 Candidates: Start Building Relationships Now
Gibson noted that he has a friend in Kentucky considering a campaign for Congress in 2028, and asked Dietrich what advice he would give someone who has a plan to run but doesn’t know where to begin.
Dietrich said anyone who was considering declaring a run for office should take advantage of the current moment to start building relationships without having to ask for anything in return. He added this is the ideal time to build what campaign strategists call a “power map” of local influencers who candidates can later call on to help them down the road.
According to Dietrich, the most successful campaigns already have a built-in network of contacts ready to help them enlist volunteers, knock doors, phonebank and raise money by the time they declare their candidacy, and that these networks take time to develop.
How to Fundraise Without Having Rich Friends
Finally, Gibson asked about one of the biggest barriers for working-class would-be candidates: how does a candidate who lacks moneyed connections raise enough funds to win, especially when running against candidates with an army of resources?
Dietrich, a who is a former finance director for Democratic campaigns, said that fear of asking for money is common but easy to conquer.
“You are not wrong and not alone in feeling this way,” Dietrich told viewers, before explaining that the NDTC specifically teaches Democratic candidates how to map and grow their personal networks into a fundraising base. He also urged viewers to reframe how they think about asking for money.
“Your reality is not the donor’s reality,” Dietrich said, describing how his own discomfort with asking for large donations early in his career came from projecting his own limits onto potential campaign donors. “You’re going to get used to hearing no, and you’re going to love hearing yes.”
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