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The DCCC has announced that will be buying television ads and spending to help Democratic candidate Rob Quist win the House special election in Montana.

Elena Schneider of Politico tweeted:

>> @dccc memo signaling it will spend more money in #MTAL, including TV buys. "Voters in Billings and Great Falls need to see on TV…" — Elena Schneider (@ec_schneider) May 2, 2017

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It is the DCCC who coordinates party spending for House candidates, and their decision to spend in Montana was likely influenced by strong showings of Democratic House candidates in Kansas and first round of Georgia House special election voting.

The DSCC jumping into Montana is an example of how grassroots activism can influence party decisions. If Democrats around the country weren’t engaged and donating to these contests, the national party could assume these red state elections are lost causes that aren’t worth putting precious resources into.

Ordinary people have shown Democratic strategists that they have a chance to win in these red states, and to their credit, the rebuilding Democratic Party is listening.

The map in these special elections for seats formerly held by members of the Trump White House was hand-picked by the administration, so flipping one seat would be a major accomplishment. Flipping more than one would signal that Republicans need to very worried about holding on to control of Congress in 2018.

The Resistance is influencing the Democratic Party’s priorities, as there seems to be a growing perception that no Republican-held House seat is one hundred percent safe as long as Donald Trump remains at historic levels of unpopularity.