Campaign

DNC has full access to Obama’s campaign email list

by Ben Kamisar - 08/27/15 6:24 PM ET

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) now has full access to President Obama’s massive campaign email list that played a key role in digital fundraising, the committee confirmed to The Hill.

“President Obama is fully committed to seeing a Democrat elected to the White House in 2016, and he’s taking this important step to help make that future a reality,” Matt Compton, the DNC Digital Director, said in a statement.

{mosads}“The email list will help the DNC expand its reach online, build support for a new generation of leadership, and test new tactics for activating Democratic voters in future elections. Email is critically important tool for fundraising, grassroots engagement in support of key issues, and setting the record straight about the Republican candidates as well.”

Buzzfeed News first reported the development after an interview with Compton at the DNC’s Summer Meeting in Minneapolis, saying it doubles the party’s email list.

The report noted that while the DNC had previously used the list to send approved messages, it now has complete freedom over how to use the list.

Compton added in the statement that the group has already used the list once since it obtained it in August in order to promote Obama’s clean energy proposal.

The list is thought to be a big get. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2014 that more than $500 million of Obama’s 2012 campaign haul came from email or web donations. Organizing for America, the nonprofit that evolved from the Obama campaign, rented the list for more than $1 million a year.

A DNC official told The Hill that the party has no plans to use the list during the primary but will use it to promote the eventual nominee.

The Hill reported in January that Hillary Clinton’s campaign had clashed with Obama’s team over whether it would turn the list over to aid Clinton’s presidential bid.

President Obama turned over a slew of information, including voter data and turnout models, to the DNC in 2013 ahead of the midterm elections, but that haul did not include the email list.

Tags Hillary Clinton