Democrats running for office better
be strategizing for money that might not be able to be deposited into
their war chests because this organization might not exist soon. ActBlue
is in total turmoil. Top staffers are leaving in droves, with their
unions demanding some explanation for the dysfunction.
These aren’t 2024 election staffers either; these are longtime
operatives who are fleeing for the hills. You could argue that Congress’
probe into the group might be the impetus, but it might be more. The
New York Times shockingly covered this damaging story regarding
Democratic Party fundraising, adding that no one they contacted would go
on the record concerning ActBlue’s meltdown (via NYT):
ActBlue,
the online fund-raising organization that powers Democratic candidates,
has plunged into turmoil, with at least seven senior officials
resigning late last month and a remaining lawyer suggesting he faced
internal retaliation.
The departures from ActBlue, which helps
raise money for Democrats running for office at all levels of
government, come as the group is under investigation by congressional
Republicans. They have advanced legislation that some Democrats warn
could be used to debilitate what is the party’s leading fund-raising
operation.
The exodus has set off deep concerns about ActBlue’s
future. Last week, two unions representing the group’s workers sent a
blistering letter to ActBlue’s board of directors that listed the seven
officials who had left. The letter described an “alarming pattern” of
departures that was “eroding our confidence in the stability of the
organization.”
[…]
According to the letter from the
ActBlue unions, which has not been previously reported and was confirmed
as authentic by three people briefed on its contents, the senior staff
departures began on Feb. 21. That day, ActBlue’s customer service and
partnerships directors, who had both worked at the group for more than a
decade, left, according to the unions’ letter.
“Now, my primary
mission is rest,” Alyssa Twomey,
ActBlue’s departing vice president for
customer service, wrote on social media. “After 14+ years of living and
breathing all things ActBlue, it’s time for a reset. I’m taking an
intentional pause before setting course for my next adventure.”
The
next week, several other senior officials left, including the associate
general counsel — who was the highest-ranking legal officer at ActBlue —
the assistant research director, a human resources official, the chief
revenue officer and an engineer who had spent 16 years building and
maintaining the electronic pipes through which the group’s donations
flow.
As these people left, Zain Ahmad,
who was the last
remaining lawyer in the ActBlue general counsel’s office, wrote in an
internal Slack message on Feb. 26 that his access to email and other
internal platforms had been cut off and that other messages he had
posted in Slack had been deleted, according to a screenshot obtained by
The New York Times. Mr. Ahmad is now on leave from ActBlue, according to
a person briefed on the group’s staffing.
[…]
The unions
asked the board to hire an outside counsel to take “investigatory
actions to better understand the current state of the organization and
evaluate if our C.E.O. is doing her job in an appropriate, competent and
responsible manner.”
ActBlue’s chief executive, Regina
Wallace-Jones, did not respond to requests for comment. Ms. Hughes, the
spokeswoman for the group, did not comment on Mr. Ahmad’s claims of
retaliation or the staff unions’ concern.
Sounds like a toxic work environment, coupled with crippling
incompetence. The current ActBlue crew claims they’re in a period of
transition after the 2024 elections, but it goes beyond that. This is a
Saturday Night Massacre of top staff. Congressional Republicans putting
this group under the microscope doesn’t help, but the publication added
that ActBlue has run afoul of many Democrats. The Biden campaign was the
most prominent, and a tussle between the two camps occurred over the
rates ActBlue was charging.
Right now, no one is talking, and ActBlue is virtually adrift. That’s most Democrats these days.
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