Red Wine and Blue’s launch coincides with this month’s Democratic debate in a Columbus suburb — a venue choice that underscores the importance of a key 2020 demographic.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio — A new grassroots advocacy group in Ohio — launched by a Democratic consultant with experience in national progressive media — will target suburban women, a voting bloc that many believe will play a decisive role in the next presidential election. Red Wine and Blue began placing Facebook ads last week and is prepared to invest in several local races this year as a trial run for what its founder says will be an aggressive 2020 push. “We are going to use 2019 to learn,” Katie Paris, a mother of two who lives in a Cleveland suburb, told BuzzFeed News in an interview. The focus, for now, is on Ohio, where Donald Trump won by eight points in 2016 and Democrats performed poorly in key midterm races last year. The results raised doubts about the state’s traditional status as an electoral battleground, especially when Democrats may be tempted to spend more in Arizona and Georgia, where demographics are shifting in their favor.

Paris believes writing off Ohio would be a mistake. When she saw Democrats make strides last year in states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan — gains credited in part to suburban women turned off by Trump — she wondered if a better-coordinated effort in Ohio would make a difference. “Number one, there’s a path to victory here,” she said. “Number two, that path goes through the suburbs. Number three, it’s women.” So Paris quit her job as CEO of Shareblue, an organization created by the liberal activist David Brock that’s had designs on being a Breitbart for the left. After nearly a decade working within Brock’s digital media network, which supported Hillary Clinton in 2016, she felt compelled to start a project of her own closer to home. (Paris said Brock is not involved with the new group.) “I’ve been fortunate to learn about politics from many angles,” said Paris, who has worked with progressive faith-based causes such as Nuns on the Bus and considers former White House press secretary Mike McCurry a mentor. “I’ve drawn lessons about politics and values-based communication from Mike McCurry, about media accountability from David Brock, and building communities around shared values from America’s most effective faith leaders. My most important lesson is that local, authentic voices — just like those of the women who inspired me to create Red Wine and Blue — matter most.” Red Wine and Blue will operate as a nonprofit, with donations collected by a fiscal sponsor, the progressive think tank Innovation Ohio. (The name — aside from its patriotic and partisan notes — is meant to evoke a camaraderie of friends hashing out ideas and problems over a glass of wine.) The organization plans to partner with other suburban activists in Ohio, including Positively Blue, which drew some national attention last year when the Washington Post reported on how a charter school scandal was playing with voters. The groups are collaborating on a wine tasting event later this month with local candidates in Dublin, a Columbus suburb. Paris’s organization plans to reach women with digital advertising, messaging, and organizing, and to engage “concerned but unconnected” voters through their social networks. Paris declined to disclose a budget or a fundraising goal, but she said she already has a staff of six, including several mothers active in local parent teacher organizations, working a mix of part- and full-time. “I can certainly say we’re encouraged by the reception we’ve received so far,” Paris added. “Funders are looking for fresh ideas that are creative and data-driven.” The early Facebook ads preview the startup strategy. One promotes a candidate meet-and-greet sponsored by a Democratic club at a tavern in Mason, a Cincinnati suburb. Another features a woman dressed for fall with a bottle of red beside her: “It is important to allow your wine to breathe and to make sure your local candidates are competent,” it reads.

Red Wine and Blue One of the group's Facebook ads.