Red Wine and Blue (RWB) is a left-of-center Democratic advocacy and activist training group consisting primarily of “white, college-educated and affluent” suburban mothers. ¹ Founded in 2019 in Ohio, the group has since expanded nationally. RWB is a fiscally sponsored project of Innovation Ohio ² and accepts donations through ActBlue. Red Wine and Blue founder Katie Paris has worked with left-of-center activist groups, including Media Matters for America. ³

RWB launched with a Facebook ad campaign. It eventually rallied members for get-out-the-vote efforts, campaigns against book bans, and to distribute a guide to “fight back against far-right extremism in your kids’ schools.” ⁴ RWB sometimes works with similar groups, like Positively Blue. ⁵

As of August 2022, RWB’s Facebook group had over 220,000 members. ⁶ RWB is a member of the online left-of-center platform Action Network. ⁷ RWB’s PAC, the Red Wine and Blue PAC, has given almost $12,000 to Democratic candidates since 2019. ⁸

History

Red Wine and Blue was founded in 2019 by media executive Katie Paris in response to the election of President Donald Trump. According to Paris, suburban women played a key role in President Trump’s surprise victory, especially in her home-state of Ohio where Black women (who voted overwhelmingly Democrat) had far higher voter turnout rates than white women. Disappointed by the results of Ohio’s 2018 midterm elections, Paris founded RWB to increase voter turnout among liberal suburban women in Ohio during the 2020 election. ^{9 10} Paris partially determined the organization’s strategy based on research which found that personal connections and social networks had higher voter conversion rates than standard forms of political advertising. ¹¹

The organization’s headquarters were initially based in Dublin, Shaker Heights, and Mason, all affluent Ohio cities with six-figure average household incomes. ¹²

After the 2020 election of President Joe Biden (D), Paris expanded RWB nationally with initial operations in states with contested U.S. Senate seats: Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. ¹³

Michigan Abortion Referendum

In July 2022, Red Wine and Blue aided a signature campaign in Michigan to get a referendum on the ballot to establish state-level abortion access rights. The effort surpassed the required 425,000 signatures. A spokesperson claimed they used social networks, educational events, and house parties across the state to get signatures, with an 88 percent success rate. ¹⁴

Anti-Book Bans

Red Wine and Blue organizes opposition to alleged book bans instituted in schools and libraries. The group’s website has a map identifying dozens of sites across the United States where book bans have been implemented, defeated, or are under consideration. RWB partners with numerous other left-of-center groups for its anti-book ban campaigns, including PFLAG, Fems for Democracy, Race Forward, and Stand for Children. ¹⁵

Leadership

Red Wine and Blue founder Katie Paris previously led the American Independent, a left-of-center pro-Democratic publication, from 2017 to 2019. Prior, Paris held numerous roles at Media Matters for America intermittently from 2004 to 2017, ending her time as senior executive adviser. From 2013 to 2015, Paris was a senior adviser at the Franklin Education Forum, which trains left-of-center activists. In 2010, Paris co-founded Message Matters, a political communication platform based in Washington D.C., which she left in 2013. From 2005 to 2010, Paris served as a strategic program and communications director of Faith in Public Life, a left-of-center policy group focused on economic and social issues. ¹⁶

Paris has said that she considers former President Bill Clinton’s press secretary Mike McCurry to be a mentor. ¹⁷

Funding

In 2020, Red Wine and Blue received $138,396 from its fiscal sponsor, Innovation Ohio. ¹⁸ RWB has also received funding from the Rural Democracy Initiative. ¹⁹

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2. Gomez, Henry J. “Suburban women helped Biden, Democrats win. This group wants to keep it that way.” NBC News. April 29, 2019. Accessed August 30, 2022. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/suburban-women-helped-biden-democrats-win-group-wants-keep-it-n1265880.
3. “Katie Paris.” LinkedIn. Accessed August 30, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-paris-0534285/.
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11. Ingles, Jo. “Wine, Texts and Buses Are Just A Few Things Involved In Getting Out The Vote This Year.” Statehouse News Bureau. October 30, 2020. Accessed August 31, 2022. https://www.statenews.org/government-politics/2020-10-30/wine-texts-and-buses-are-just-a-few-things-involved-in-getting-out-the-vote-this-year.
12. Oprea, Mike. “Can Hidden Networks Of Suburban Women Swing The Midwest Blue.” Ozy. January 6, 2020. Accessed August 31, 2022. https://www.ozy.com/news-and-politics/the-hidden-networks-of-suburban-women-trying-to-swing-the-midwest-blue/252572/.
13. Gomez, Henry J. “Suburban women helped Biden, Democrats win. This group wants to keep it that way.” NBC News. April 29, 2019. Accessed August 30, 2022. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/suburban-women-helped-biden-democrats-win-group-wants-keep-it-n1265880.
14. “Ballot Initiative to address abortion rights in Michigan surpass signature requirement, group says.” WILX. July 8, 2022. Accessed August 31, 2022. https://www.wilx.com/2022/07/09/ballot-initiative-address-abortion-rights-michigan-surpasses-signature-requirement-group-says/.
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19. “Grants From RDI Support Rural Leaders to Mobilize Voters Ahead of 2022 Elections.” Rural Democracy Initiative. July 12, 2022. Accessed August 31, 2022. https://ruraldemocracyinitiative.org/july2022-grantmaking.