Here's What We Built Together in 2025 (And Why It Matters for 2026)
7 min
A message from our founder and CEO, Kelly Dietrich, on how Democrats win BIG in 2026:
"Most people think they’ve never heard of NDTC.
But we're the largest Democratic training organization in the country. We've trained more candidates than anyone else. Put more people on ballots than any other group. Built more campaign infrastructure. You are crucial to that success today, and will change our country come the 2026 midterms.
Some people even think we're the DNC. We are not, and that’s what makes all the difference. We're the ones in the trenches, in districts and races no one targets, doing the actual work of helping Democrats build long-term power.
And here's why that matters: we work with everyone. We're not competing for candidates or hoarding resources. We're not gatekeeping access or picking favorites. If you want to run, if you want to work on a campaign, if you want to build power in your community — we'll train you. For free.
We work with all 50 state parties, elected officials like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Gov. Wes Moore, along with organizations across the Democratic political spectrum like Run for Something, EMERGE, and Vote Save America, and hundreds of other national, state, and local organizations across the country.
Because we believe the more prepared Democrats are, the more we win. Period.
In 2025 alone — the so-called "off-year" when nobody was supposed to be paying attention — we put 1,433 trained candidates on ballots. More than 970 won.
Why does this matter? Because, despite a bad 2024 Presidential election and what MAGA wants us to believe, the question isn't whether there will be opportunities for Democrats in 2026. The question is whether we'll be ready to seize them.
The Work That Matters (By the Numbers)
126,286 Democrats — that’s how many we’ve trained since our start in early 2016. That's larger than the margin in most swing districts. That's infrastructure that changes the math in close races and creates opportunities in races that shouldn't be close.
63.2% of our 2025 trainees were returning learners. Nearly two-thirds came back for more resources and training. Not just because we're great at marketing (which we are), but because what we teach actually works. You use it, you win with it, you come back for more of it.
115 virtual live trainings with 16,745 registrations —This year, we put on an event every three days. Not boring, static webinars with lousy decks, but tactical trainings on campaign finance, voter contact, message development, and how to win in districts that aren’t major cities like Brooklyn or San Francisco.
27,818 resources were downloaded this year alone. The most popular were our Campaign Start-Up Resources, because our people were learning how to run campaigns from the ground up and win them.
And we launched something new: Spark: Launch — a guided, step-by-step program for people who find themselves thinking "someone should run" and realize that someone is them.
Being Ready When the Moment Comes
Political momentum doesn't announce itself. It doesn't wait for you to be ready. It shows up, and you either have the infrastructure to capitalize on it or you don't.
NDTC is that infrastructure for Democrats.
Since 2016, we’ve seen 384,817 completed trainings through our free website. That’s nearly 400,000 times someone learned a concrete skill they'll use to win an election.
Every finance training is someone who'll outraise their opponent. Every message training is someone who'll cut through the noise. Every Campaign 101 course is someone who won't make rookie mistakes in winnable races.
Our learners aren't just candidates. Nearly a quarter are campaign staff who'll manage and lead winning operations. They're volunteers who'll actually show up. They're local leaders building long-term Democratic power in communities where others don’t invest.
Why All of This Matters
The question isn't whether there will be opportunities in 2026. The question is whether we'll be ready to seize them.
History shows us what happens when preparation meets the moment. But only if the preparation happened first. Only if the infrastructure existed before it was needed. Only if the candidates were trained before the opportunity appeared.
This time, we're not starting from scratch. We have 126,286 trained Democrats. We have proven programs. We have Spark: Launch ready to turn anger into candidacies.
And we've already seen it work. All year long, Democrats overperformed in special elections across the country.
28 newly elected mayors learned their campaign skills with us.
290+ city council and school board members across the country are NDTC learners who are now shaping their communities from the inside.
Over 20% of the 64 delegates who kept Virginia’s House blue are NDTC-trained candidates.
Right now, somewhere in America, there's a winnable seat that might not seem winnable. There's a local race that could shift power. There's a candidate who hasn't realized they should run yet.
We can win those races if more leaders are ready to train with us when the opportunity comes.
The Bottom Line
Democracy doesn't reward the party that hopes harder. It rewards the people that work smarter, prepare better, and show up ready.
We're building the bench. We're training the staff. We're preparing the volunteers. We're creating the infrastructure that turns opportunities into wins.
1,433 candidates on the ballot in an off-year. That's not a fluke. That's what happens when you build a movement, not a moment. That's what happens when you're the largest Democratic training organization that’s become winning campaigns’ best-kept secret — and we’re not done building.
2026 is coming fast. The question is whether you'll be ready to seize it — as a candidate, a staffer, a volunteer, or a donor who makes all of it possible. We're here to help make it happen because future Democrats are waiting for us in every city, town, and neighborhood across the nation. And we provide the tools to reach them – for free.
Sincerely and fired up,
- Kelly Dietrich, NDTC CEO"
