DemCast USA (often simply styled DemCast) is a left-of-center Democratic Party-aligned digital media advocacy and voter mobilization group oriented around supporting Democratic candidates for office and bolstering general support for Democratic policies.

Background

DemCast USA is a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt left-of-center advocacy organization founded in 2019 in Franklin, Tennessee. Nick Knudsen, who leads the organization (the group’s 2019 990-EZ filing with the Internal Revenue Service lists him as president, though its website lists him as executive director) was formerly the founder and editor-in-chief of DemWritePress, a now-defunct Democratic Party-aligned news and opinion blog.¹² The organization promotes Democratic Party talking points in a variety of smaller state-level and larger nation-wide digital media outlets in order to cultivate support for Democratic candidates for office on the local, state, and federal level, as well as create general support for Democratic polices.³

In every state DemCast USA is active, the organization builds a volunteer State Leadership team consisting of at least one “State Content Captain,” “State Social Media Captain,” and “State Outreach Coordinator.”⁴

Activities

According to DemCast USA’s 2020 “Impact Report,” the organization raised $1.4 million for Democratic candidates in that year’s election cycle and voter mobilization groups, particularly Black Votes Matter, through initiatives wherein DemCast USA volunteer members shared fundraising links from ActBlue, a 527 political action committee launched in 2009 to act as “the online clearinghouse for Democratic action.”⁵

During the cycle, DemCast USA mobilized its “Focus14” program, designed to sway voter opinion in swing states, in which the organization’s volunteers sent texts to, made calls to, mailed postcards to, and knocked on the doors of prospective voters.⁶

Partners

Institutional partners of DemCast USA include a variety of left-of-center Democratic Party-aligned voter mobilization and organizing groups, such as BlueFuture, ActionSprout, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, Flip the West, Future Now, Majority 60, Patriotic Millionaires, VoteProChoice, Organizing Together 2020, Swing Left, Organizing Corps 2020, and the Young Democrats of America.⁷

In addition to its institutional partners, the organization also works with influential celebrities to facilitate its advocacy. For instance, according to the organization’s 2020 “Impact Report,” Hollywood actress and activist Debra Messing is cited as a “DemCast Influencer Captain.”⁸

The group is part of Field Team 6, a coalition of lobbying and state election advocacy organizations working towards registering more Democrat voters within key swing states and counties before the 2022 Midterm Elections. ⁹

People

DemCast USA’s inaugural 2019 990-EZ filing with the Internal Revenue Service lists Nick Knudsen as the organization’s president. However, the organization’s website lists him as executive director. Just prior to working with DemCast USA, Knudsen was the editor-in-chief of DemWritePress (which he also founded), a now-defunct Democratic Party-aligned news and opinion blog. ¹⁰¹¹

Rena Korb is the co-content director of DemCast USA. Previously, she worked at Penguin Books USA, a major publishing house based in New York City. ¹²

Mindy Schwartz is the co-content director of DemCast USA. Previously, she worked in the White House in the National Security Council for a period of four years, after which she moved to California and served as president of the San Diego Branch of the National Council of Jewish Women, and as a board member of the San Diego Coalition for Reproductive Choice and the San Diego chapter of Women’s March, Inc. ¹³

1. “About.” DemWritePress. Accessed July 12, 2021. https://demwritepress.com/about/
2. DemCast USA. 990-EZ. Part IV. 2019 https://pp-990.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/04_2021_prefixes_83-84/842590612_201912_990EO_2021041917963233.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA266MJEJYTM5WAG5Y%2F20210712%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20210712T183514Z&X-Amz-Expires=1800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=fc808d0316b0afabf2e79b9c1cbcf015ba7e7412e86acbdc648cbc9ce4230739
3. “About Us.” DemCast USA. Accessed July 12, 2021. https://demcastusa.com/about/
4. “State Content.” DemCast USA. Accessed July 12, 2021. https://demcastusa.com/state-content/
5. Li, Jun. “Where’s the Money?” The Harvard Crimson. April 30, 2008. Accessed July 12, 2021. http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2008/4/30/wheres-the-money-p-alignleftthe-office.
6. “2020 Impact Report.” DemCast USA. 2020. Accessed July 12, 2021. https://demcast.com/impact/
7. “Our Partners.” DemCast USA. Accessed July 12, 2021. https://demcastusa.com/our-partners/
8. “2020 Impact Report.” DemCast USA. 2020. Accessed July 12, 2021. https://demcast.com/impact/
9. “Mission.” FieldTeam6. Accessed April 12, 2022. https://www.fieldteam6.org/mission.
10. “Nick Knusdsen.” DemCast USA. Accessed July 12, 2021. https://demcastusa.com/author/demwrite/page/2/
11. DemCast USA. 990-EZ. Part IV. 2019 https://pp-990.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/04_2021_prefixes_83-84/842590612_201912_990EO_2021041917963233.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA266MJEJYTM5WAG5Y%2F20210712%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20210712T183514Z&X-Amz-Expires=1800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=fc808d0316b0afabf2e79b9c1cbcf015ba7e7412e86acbdc648cbc9ce4230739
12. “DemCast Team.” DemCast USA. Accessed July 12, 2021. https://demcastusa.com/demcast-team/ 
13. “DemCast Team.” DemCast USA. Accessed July 12, 2021. https://demcastusa.com/demcast-team/