Red Wine and Blue launches to target Ohio suburban women for Democrats

A newly formed progressive grassroots advocacy group has launched in Ohio with an explicit mission to target suburban women, a voting bloc that organizers believe holds the key to electoral success for Democrats. The emergence of the startup comes as political strategists debate the viability of the state as a competitive battleground, following poor Democratic performances in prior midterm races and Donald Trump’s prior victory in the state, according to reporting by BuzzFeed News.

Red Wine and Blue was founded by Katie Paris, a Democratic consultant and mother of two living in a Cleveland suburb. Paris previously served as CEO of Shareblue, an organization created by liberal activist David Brock, though Paris noted that Brock is not involved with her new venture. The group operates as a nonprofit with donations collected through a fiscal sponsor, the progressive think tank Innovation Ohio. The organization began placing digital advertisements on social media and plans to invest in several local races as a trial run before an aggressive push.

We are going to use 2019 to learn, Paris told BuzzFeed News in an interview.

The strategic focus on Ohio runs counter to arguments from some national Democrats who favor shifting resources toward states like Arizona and Georgia, where demographic shifts are perceived as more favorable. Paris argued that writing off Ohio is a mistake, pointing to suburban gains made by Democrats in states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan. Her calculus centers on three core tenets, according to her interview with BuzzFeed News:

• There is a viable path to victory in Ohio.
• That path runs directly through the suburbs.
• The deciding factor within those suburbs is women voters.

The launch of Red Wine and Blue coincided with a Democratic presidential debate held at Otterbein University in Westerville, a Columbus suburb located in Delaware County. While Delaware County has historically served as a Republican stronghold, Democrats have targeted the area to narrow margins among affluent, college-educated women. Paris noted that Westerville was chosen as a debate venue for deliberate reasons, prompting her organization to accelerate its public rollout.

Republican strategists have voiced doubts about whether Ohio remains genuinely competitive for Democrats, but they concede that the suburban female demographic remains heavily contested. Jai Chabria, a former senior adviser to former Ohio Governor John Kasich and a Columbus-based Republican strategist, told BuzzFeed News that while he is skeptical of consultant-driven initiatives, the suburban strategy represents a logical approach for the opposition.

The only path for them is through the suburbs. From that perspective it’s not a bad play, Chabria said, as reported by BuzzFeed News. I don’t know if it's an easy play, but it’s probably the only one they have.

The broader national context for suburban women voters involves shifting opinions on federal investigations and executive approval. While exit polls from prior election cycles indicated that a majority of white women voters supported Donald Trump, recent polling data cited by BuzzFeed News demonstrates division among suburban demographics. A poll found that over half of suburban female respondents disapproved of the president, while opinion regarding congressional inquiry processes showed a close split among general suburban voters.

Paris stated that suburban voters are primarily motivated by a desire for administrative competence and institutional accountability without excessive partisan theater. Red Wine and Blue plans to continue utilizing social networks, localized meet-and-greets, and targeted digital messaging to engage voters who feel unconnected to traditional party apparatuses.

What happens next depends on how effectively grassroots organizers can mobilize suburban constituents ahead of upcoming local elections and the broader national cycle. Observers will monitor whether digital-first community building among suburban women can alter political margins in traditional battleground regions, or if structural shifts will render the state solidly out of reach for progressive candidates.