Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

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The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), commonly referred to as the "D triple C" or the "D-Trip," for short, is the Democratic organization (or Hill committee) charged with getting Democrats elected to the United States House of Representatives. The DCCC is primarily responsible for campaign strategy and fundraising, and its duties are comparable to that of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Legally, it is a separate entity from the Democratic National Committee, and is not an official committee of Congress, although its chairperson is a member of the Democratic House leadership appointed by the Democratic House leader, and the committee shares a headquarters with the DNC and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, among other Democratic organizations.

The DCCC plays a critical role in recruiting House candidates, raising funds for campaigns, and consulting in districts that are expected to yield politically notable or close elections.

Due to campaign-finance reform legislation effected in the 2004 election cycle, the DCCC splits into two organizations 120 days before each Election Day. One organization can continue contact with the individual congressional campaigns, offering advice and suggestions to candidates and their staffs in each race. The other organization, which makes "independent expenditures" (a term with special significance under FEC codes) on behalf of the campaigns, is not allowed to coordinate activities with the campaigns. DCCC independent expenditures in recent elections have been used mostly for voter contact and field programs as well as television and radio advertising. In both the Democratic and Republican parties, independent expenditures are used overwhelmingly for negative advertising against opponents in races.

The DCCC was chaired by Representative Rahm Emmanuel (IL-05) for the 2006 election cycle. The DCCC, along with Emmanuel, is credited heavily with helping the Democrats to gain 30 seats (and the majority) in the House of Representatives in 2006. Previously, the position was held by Representative Robert Matsui (CA-05), who died at the end of his term as chair. In December 2006, Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi named Chris Van Hollen as the DCCC chairman for the 2008 election cycle. [1] Van Hollen previously served as one of Emmanuel's deputies at the DCCC during the 2006 cycle, and was primarily responsible for candidate recruitment.

The DCCC was founded in 1866 as the Democratic National Congressional Committee.