Transparency  |
EMILY's List's website and public facing self-representations not only reveal but also proactively promote the candidates on which it is focusing its work. Leadership was responsive to requests for detailed background information on their work. |
Geographic targeting
 |
EMILY's List does not use a geographic approach in its work. |
| Demographic targeting |
46% of Democratic voters are People of Color, and 35% of the women endorsed by EMILY's List for U.S. House seats are Women of Color. 47% of the dollars it has contributed to these House seats are for WOC (bundled). The top five House recipients of bundled support are WOC. Of the eight regional directors and four finance advisors who live in the states and have influence over how the campaigns are run, three are POC. It is unclear within districts, which voter populations they are targeting, but it is notable and positive that they are exploring partnerships with BlackPAC, Somos Votantes, BOLD PAC, as well as piloting a partnership with One Fair Wage that is focused on service and restaurant workers who are largely WOC interested in changing wage and worker conditions on a local level. We would like to see more information on how much of their spending is focused on trying to persuade supposed swing voters (costly, inefficient, and ineffective) versus trying to mobilize core Democratic voters (best return on investment). |
| Data-informed strategy |
On the positive side, EMILY's List does utilize opinion research to inform their independent expenditure work, and, unlike many in the Democratic ecosystem, they at least did conduct post-election analysis of their work (particularly of their 2018 efforts). Also admirable is the fact that they "know their lane," focus on digital and paid media, and work in partnership with membership groups doing field. Their (and everyone's) data and analysis should go beyond current opinion research to include Census data on district-specific demographic shifts and analysis of past election results to determine the trend line of Democratic performance and potential. |
| OVERALL GRADE |  |
