Jaime Harrison, the Democratic National Committee chairman, underscored his belief in a 50-state, down-ballot strategy Thursday with a stop in Hartford, the capital of a blue state that has twice rejected Donald J. Trump’s presidential candidacies by double-digit margins. Connecticut is not on anyone’s map of presidential battleground states, but the DNC under Harrison has sent money to every state in the form of monthly stipends and a competitive grant program — including a $70,000 grant for organizing get-out-the-vote efforts in this state’s 2nd and 5th Congressional Districts. “I consider myself an acolyte of Howard Dean,” Harrison said. Dean was the DNC chairman when he famously clashed during the 2006 mid-term elections with Rahm Emanuel, then a Democratic congressman leading the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s targeted efforts to recapture the U.S. House majority. The two seats Democrats Joe Courtney and Chris Murphy flipped in the 2nd and 5th districts of Connecticut contributed to Democrats winning control of the House in 2006, when the unpopularity of George W. Bush and the war in Iraq hurt GOP candidates. “I think Rahm got it wrong that year,” Harrison said. “We won seats that Rahm and the DCCC didn’t even target. We won in Kansas with Nancy Boyda. Rahm didn’t put any money there, but Howard Dean did.” Harrison said the ascension of Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee after Joe Biden withdrew before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago has energized the party and its efforts to retain control of the White House and Senate and win back the House. “She’s become bigger than a political force. She’s now broken through and become a cultural force. It’s very similar to Barack Obama in 2008,” Harrison said. “We’re seeing more celebrities going out in order to help. We’re seeing more people willing to volunteer.” In Florida, Democrats signed up 45,000 new volunteers, and nearly 7% are Republicans, Harrison said. Harrison said the Democratic National Committee is investing in state parties while the Republican National Committee is not. “When Donald Trump became president, he ripped out the infrastructure the RNC had, and I guess he’s using the money to pay his legal bills or something, I don’t know,” Harrison said. “But they no longer have boots on the ground. They don’t have coordinated campaign offices like we do, working through our state parties.” Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison and Congressman John B. Larson. Credit: mark pazniokas Trump took control of the Republican National Committee in March, when his daughter-in-law, Laura Trump, became its co-chair. Open Secrets, the non-profit that tracks campaign money, reported earlier Thursday that the DNC is out-raising and out-spending the RNC. In August, the DNC raised about $68.7 million, compared to $40.4 million for the RNC. But Harrison said another difference is where the money is going. “You want to know how much the RNC has sent to its counterparts? Zero,” Harrison said. Ben Proto, the Connecticut Republican chairman, said the state party has not received RNC funding, but there still is a chance if the national party sees an opportunity. “They have regularly in the past,” he said. Proto cast the DNC 50-state spending a political liability, calling blue-state spending a sign of weakness, not strength. Every state is getting a minimum of $160,000 from the DNC, Harrison said. Connecticut’s Democratic Party will be getting at least $220,000, the $70,000 grant and $150,000 in monthly stipends of $12,500. Harrison, 48, is a South Carolinian installed as the DNC chair with the blessing of Biden in 2021. He is a former leader of that state’s Democratic Party, and his selection was largely applauded by other state chairs. He also ran a losing race to U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in 2020. He has a Connecticut connection: He graduated in 1998 from Yale. Harrison did not hesitate when asked about his New Haven pizza preference. “I’m a Pepe’s guy,” he said. “All Pepe’s.” He was headed there for supper.