Democracy Summer, founded by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., in 2006, has grown into a national fellowship pipeline placing student organizers on congressional campaigns across the country.
During Raskin’s first campaign for Maryland State Senate, where he ran against a 32-year incumbent who was president pro tem of the Maryland Senate and chair of the Montgomery County Senate delegation, he recruited his three kids, along with dozens of nieces and nephews, to help him campaign. That summer, the Democracy Summer fellows, along with their friends and families, knocked on 35,000 doors.
“He went from ‘impossible’ to ‘inevitable’ in nine months,” Democracy Summer’s website states.
According to the Democracy Summer website, anyone who is in high school, college, or in that age group is eligible to apply. Fellows, upon acceptance, commit for 15 to 20 hours to the program for six weeks. The programming includes four to five hours of virtual seminars, discussions, and workshops, while 10 to 15 hours are in-person organizing with the campaign.
Since Raskin founded Democracy Summer, the program has partnered with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the “official campaign arm” for Democrats in the House of Representatives.
“Democrats understand that strong grassroots organizing is vital to winning elections,” Raskin stated.
Raskin for the 2026 election cycle is one of the grassroots engagement chairs, alongside Rep. Maxwell Frost, R-Fla. When DCCC and Democracy Summer relaunched in 2022, he served as DCCC’s vice chair. Due to this partnership, Democracy Summer has partnered with dozens of House of Representatives candidates who are running on the Democratic ticket.
“I’m excited to partner Democracy Summer with the DCCC once again so House Democrats can build a robust team of well-trained and talented organizers who will help power us to victory this November,” Raskin stated.
Some of the candidates this past summer included Frost and dozens of others like Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va. Another partner with Democracy Summer is Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich. She said Raskin, who is a “good friend,” asked her to join, and she accepted.
Scholten also defined her vision of a “pro-democracy leader” as someone who “believes in elections, in voting rights, in checks and balances, and who is willing to fight to protect and preserve the democracy that we have here in the United States of America.”
As Democrats prepare for competitive congressional races across the country in 2026, Raskin’s program is expected to remain a fixture for campaigns seeking to scale grassroots outreach while training the next generation of political organizers.
Scholten represents Michigan’s third congressional direct, one she flipped for the Democrats in 2022 by beating Republican candidate John Gibbs by winning 54.9 percent of the vote. She re-won the seat with 53.7% of the vote in the 2024 general election cycle. She said Democracy fellows are helping her maintain voter contact across a district of 750,000 residents.
“People ask me all the time, ‘How did you flip this district?’ It’s because people here know me. People know who I am,” she said.
But Scholten added that keeping the “connection alive" takes work, and the eight fellows Democracy Summer brought to her campaign were a “game changer.” She added that while doing the in-person portion of the program, their responsibilities include collecting signatures at festivals, staffing events, and organizing an end-of-summer community gathering.
“Democracy Summer helps me fulfill that mission by keeping in touch with the voters and constituents who need to hear about the work we’re doing in Washington and why it matters.”
For Scholten, the program has created future opportunities for students. She said some former fellows of Democracy Summer she worked with have transitioned into paid positions on her campaign or have found other positions in D.C.
“Democracy Summer is an awesome program,” Scholten said. “I encourage anyone who’s interested in getting involved and being part of the change we need in the United States—and in the Democratic Party as well.”
Maggie Rhoads was a cohort member in Common Ground USA's Journalism program, where Hugo Balta served as an instructor. Balta is the executive editor of the Fulcrum, and the publisher of the Latino News Network.
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