About
Who’s Behind Every State Blue
Every State Blue, formerly known as It Starts Today, was founded after the 2016 election by Jonathan Zucker, former COO and CEO of ActBlue. Convinced that the power of the Democrats’ grassroots community coupled with small-dollar recurring donations could change fundraising forever, he got to work creating groundbreaking national and state-based programs.
In 2017, Michele Hornish joined Every State Blue, and soon thereafter we launched our first state-based project in Missouri. Together with ESB board member, accomplished author, and former Democratic Party Chair David Pepper, ESB launched Blue Ohio in 2022. And in late 2022, ESB launched Blue Texas – a partnership with Power the Vote that supports Democratic nominees and permanent voter protection.
Through its various projects, Every State Blue has raised and distributed over $2 million to Democratic nominees at the state and federal level.
David Pepper
David is a lawyer, accomplished author, political activist, and former elected official. He also teaches election law and voting rights.
He served as the Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party between 2015 and 2021.
His highly-acclaimed book Laboratories of Autocracy details the risk anti-democratic statehouses pose to our democracy.
Jonathan Zucker
Jonathan Zucker is a political technology entrepreneur and campaign finance attorney. He was the first COO and second CEO of ActBlue.
He has also served at the DNC as National Director of Operations for Finance.
More recently, he has founded or advised several political tech start-ups, including Democracy Engine, It Starts Today, ruck.us, Rep’d and Crowdpac.
Michele Hornish
Michele is a lawyer, communications consultant and strategist, and the Executive Director of Every State Blue.
She founded Small Deeds Done, a political action site featured in the NYT bestseller Good And Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger.
Since 2017 she has spearheaded the expansion of ESB’s state-based projects and the development of Forgotten Democrats.