The number of grassroots groups popping up and supporting progressive causes and candidates is staggering. They’ve got a slew of names and they probably overlap in activities. The common goal, though, is to elect Democrats in November—or at least ending Republican control of Congress and the state legislature.

Now, the groups are coming under scrutiny because of our complex series of campaign laws, most of which have been supported by progressives to try to regulate money in politics. Many of the organizers are new to the political process and a few will likely make mistakes that come into conflict with the laws. Republicans are feigning outrage and accusing these groups of grievous offenses at the same time the state GOP is delivering robo calls without a disclaimer. Even the pros make mistakes sometimes.

For Democrats, this is a good problem to have. As Rep. Graig Meyer (D-Orange) pointed out, the groups are truly grassroots, reminiscent of the Tea Party groups that sprung up in response to the Obama administration. Back then, progressives liked to blame the Koch brothers for funding the various groups. Conservatives say George Soros is funding the progressive ones today. Both sides have their conspiracy theories about who’s funding what.

The groups have emerged in reaction to Donald Trump and the failure of Democratic Party to mount a successful campaign in 2016. Like the Tea Party, they’re forming an anti-establishment wing of the Democrat Party. Unlike the Tea Party, they’re made up of younger, more diverse activists. That should worry Republicans.

The Tea Party were largely older white voters. While they were motivated to vote and took that momentum into the ballot box in 2010, a lot of them were probably going to vote anyway. These younger progressive activists might be motivating a whole generation of people who have a history of sitting out midterm elections. Democrats have always struggled to get their younger voters to the polls in off-year elections. These grassroots organizations might solve much of that problem.

These younger activists are the epitome of grassroots in action. They sprung up independently and are resistant to integrating into a  Democratic Party they don’t fully trust. They’re motivated by the emergence of racists like those in Charlottesville, the failure to protect DREAMERs, the #MeToo movement and now the shooting in Parkland, Florida. We may be seeing a generation becoming politicized much younger than in the past. If they show up in large numbers in November, they could reshape the political landscape in single election cycle.

Thomas Mills

Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >