Washington, DC – Today at the Democratic National Committee’s annual winter meeting, DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz released the preliminary findings of the DNC’s Democratic Victory Task Force, an initiative that Wasserman Schultz announced in the days after the 2014 Midterm Election.

The Democratic Victory Task Force’s aim is to conduct a thorough review and assessment of key components of the Democratic Party’s – and related organizations’ – role in recent elections and identify places where the Party can strengthen and improve operations to better serve candidates and constituents in future elections.

Today’s preliminary report recommends specific steps both the national and state Democratic parties can take to improve their performance in future elections, including:

• the creation of a National Narrative Project to work with party leaders, activists, and messaging and narrative experts to create a strong values-based national narrative that will engage, inspire and motivate voters to identify with and support Democrats;
• working with State Parties to build partnership agreements that include training, evaluation, metrics, and incentives and that are focused on ensuring that every State Party is on a pathway to self-sustainability;
• the development of an aggressive, multi-faceted legislative and legal strategy to ensure every eligible American is registered to vote, has access to the polls and has their ballot counted;
• the creation and resourcing of a three-cycle plan, in conjunction with our allies, that targets and wins back legislative chambers in order to prepare for redistricting efforts; and
• the DNC building on its success and playing a proactive role in helping identify, train and foster the next generation of Democratic leaders, especially at the state level.

“The Democratic Victory Task Force plays an important role, consulting people from around the country from all backgrounds, in an effort to continue to strengthen the Democratic Party,” said DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. “We are Democrats because we believe in an economy where hard work is rewarded, and because we are focused on building a stronger and more secure middle class.  We have a lot of work ahead, but we know that when Democrats win elections, the middle class wins.”

Appointed members of the Democratic Victory Task Force – Naomi Aberly, Governor Steve Beshear (KY), Donna Brazile, Maria Cardona, Marc Elias, Teddy Goff, Maneesh Goyal, Colorado Democratic Party Chair Rick Palacio, Lee Saunders and Eric Schmidt – solicited input from a wide array of stakeholders, from activists to outside experts to Party Leadership, who helped guide the findings.

The Task Force will produce its final recommendations by mid-2015.