NGP VAN provides tools used by Democrats, from the White House to local school boards, to raise money and mobilize voters. But with new management in recent years, it has been stripping its operations to the bare bones.
The potential decline of these tools — which have given Democrats a significant technology edge over Republicans over the past few cycles — would be so threatening to operations that a handful of top Democratic digital firms recently called a roughly hourlong Zoom meeting with leadership of the company to seek answers. Among their demands: reassurance that NGP VAN wouldn’t dismantle one of its top products, an online organizing and fundraising tool called ActionKit. Without it, Democrats worried about their prospects during the 2024 cycle and beyond.
“I’m hoping that I’m wrong, that we’re all wrong, that everyone’s fine,” said a former NGP VAN employee, granted anonymity to speak candidly about their former employer. “But this could mean something really bad for 2024.”
The alarm relayed on the call reflected a larger concern: that the Democratic Party has grown too dependent on a small handful of companies to carry the bulk of its campaign operations.
Democrats up and down the ballot have long relied on NGP VAN to run their campaigns. Now, consultants and former employees are concerned that repeated layoffs will lead to problems with the party’s most vaunted tech tools. Some consultants are on the precipice of turning their back on NGP VAN altogether, according to six NGP VAN clients who spoke with POLITICO.
But the company’s monopoly-like grip on Democratic campaigns means there’s no clear alternative that can immediately replace it.
What’s to stop some Republican billionaire from buying the company and shutting it down entirely before 2024? Maybe you get sued for damages but that doesn’t undo an election. They have to be a lot more prepared for situations like this.
It would trigger 5-10 news article in the first week, uproar for the days after in the comment sections and social media, 2 years later an AG would pick up the case, in the 4th year after a report would be released detailing how it was found that a company financed by a billionaire of an opposing party had interfered in the election campaign of the Democratic Party. In the 6th year 2-3 people have to stand trial for these findings. In the 7th year all of them are found not guilty, but the (already shut down) company with the billionaires ties would have to pay a hefty 30.000 $ fine as that was not correct to do. Rinse and repeat.