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.”
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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.
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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.
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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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