Quick overview

Fundraising season is upon us!

We have been in touch with most of our former partners to determine if they’re a good fit for this election cycle.

We have phone calls lined up with them next week.   Stay tuned over the course of the next few days for a couple more posts addressing our ever-evolving strategy of supporting those groups and (later) candidates where our money can make the most difference.

Is it just me?

Is it just me, or does it feel like the zeitgeist is shifting?  The widespread scorn inspired by Elon Musk, the illegal wars, the murder of American citizens by our government, the vindication of Cricket the dog with the demise of Kristi Noem, etc.   I feel hope, but there’s an enormous amount of work to do.

What’s next

Allow me to reintroduce the charismatic Zee Cohen-Sanchez from the National Ground Game and Unfuck America, with the latter directed to the youth vote.  Balloon Juice first met Zee when we helped her organization, National Ground Game, get last-minute boots on the ground for the April 1, 2025 Florida Special Congressional elections.  The Dems lost both races, but they overperformed their 2024 result by 14 and 17.4 percentage points, respectively.  The Republicans were rattled.

Here’s  Zee on the path forward:

Many people are feeling discouraged because they have not been given a clear reason to reengage.  I believe it is our job to give them that reason and that sense of purpose again.  There has never been a more important time to invest in field work and youth organizing so we can win the midterms and decisively move past the MAGA era.

Track Record in 2025

Zee’s new organization, Unfuck America (UFA), was originally founded to counter-program Charlie Kirk rallies with liberal voices and left-leaning influencers.  But…um….that strategy had to abruptly change.  UFA is now organizing its own stand-alone on-campus GOTV rallies with liberal influencers, TikTok celebrities and campus Democratic Clubs.  And canvassers.   Lots and lots of canvassers!

You may recall that last fall Balloon Juice underwrote that effort on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, in an assembly district held by the Republicans for multiple cycles.  We flipped it – and helped run up Abigail Spanberger’s numbers.  Youth voters swung the races.   According to the Virginia Mercury:

“Youth voters concentrated on and around college campuses specifically played a major role in delivering Democrats a win in Virginia.”

Youth Vote Delivers Democratic Victory in Virginia’s Governor Race

In the weeks leading up to the election, much of the conversation focused on suburban swing voters in Northern Virginia – many of whom have deeply felt the effects of federal jobs cuts and shutdown furloughs. While these groups did contribute to Democrats’ gains statewide, young voters helped swing the race.

While individual voter data won’t be released until next year, using precinct-level data, we’re able to see that areas with high concentrations of younger voters, aged 18 to 29, shifted dramatically toward Democrats. Ultimately, this contributed to an overall Democratic margin of 336,000 votes in precincts with high concentration of young voters. Precincts with large numbers of young voters shifted 4.7 points toward Spanberger compared to 2024—a shift about six times larger than in precincts with fewer young voters.

Even voters at Liberty University in Lynchburg, a traditionally deep-red stronghold that Donald Trump won in 2024, shifted margins +9.1 for Abigail Spanberger.

Youth voters concentrated on and around college campuses specifically played a major role in delivering Democrats a win in Virginia. George Mason University’s precincts in Fairfax posted the largest Democratic swing statewide at 10.3 points, followed by precincts with Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and James Madison University in Harrisonburg at nearly 7 points each.

The largest shift to the Democrats in Virginia was at George Mason University in already reliable Fairfax County.  The second biggest over performance?  Virginia Tech!  I can’t help but think that the rally we funded in Blacksburg helped!

Taking a look at 2026

The youth vote in 2024 largely tanked, and a distressingly high percentage of them (especially young white men) were Trump supporters or Trump curious.  But numerous surveys show his support with the young pups is plummeting.

This is an opportunity, and Unfuck America is one of the ways we can potentially make a huge difference.

Consider these rallies the marriage of “vibe” events and traditional GOTV efforts.

The rallies are fun, well-attended, simultaneously live-streamed and filled with influencers and internet celebrities most of the Balloon Juice demographic has never heard of!  Young voters are entertained, registered, inspired and (later) pushed to the polls!

More about Unfuck America

Unfuck America already has 20 college chapters with the goal of reaching as many as 500 schools by the end of the year.  Four rallies are scheduled for next month:

• Arizona State
• UCLA
• UC Berkeley
• North Carolina State

Plans are in the making for a fall tour that would include schools in swing states we are targeting this year, such as:

• Michigan State
• Wisconsin
• University of Nevada at Las Vegas (or Reno)
• University of Georgia
• University of Arizona

Super exciting opportunities

I am super excited about what this group is up to.  We got our asses kicked by the other side on social media in 2024, and I see this as our chance to get in that game in a meaningful way.  It’s new and different for us, but in a good way, I think – cutting-edge stuff that we can be part of.

That doesn’t mean that we won’t continue to support the kinds of work we have supported in the past.  Of course we will!  Think “both and” not “either or”.

So what’s the plan?

We’re looking at underwriting rallies at strategic locations (for example, swing state schools in Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, Nevada, etc.) and funding a field organization position (contingent up on them finding matches to help fund the position).

Part A:  Fund these 2 upcoming Spring events:

• AZ State on 3/23
• NC State on 4/13

Part B: Fund 1/3 of a field organization position ($35k from us) with this focus:

• getting student chapters set up in swing states
• student chapters make it significantly faster, easier and less expensive to set up school events
• student chapters and school events allow them to partner with local GOTV efforts

Part C:  Fund events this Fall in:

• Georgia
• NC
• Wisconsin
• NV
• Michigan
• AZ

Maybe even Texas, depending on how things are looking in the Fall.

So, what say you guys?

It’s all hands on deck time.

What do you think of these efforts?

Are you up for something new?

If so, is anyone up for a BJ zoom with Zee?

I am pretty sure it’s not possible to talk with Zee and not come away inspired!

We can set up a zoom if there’s interest.

Balloon Juice 2026 Fundraising Efforts: Part 1Post + Comments (18)