House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will speak at a first annual Pennsylvania Democratic Party dinner fundraiser, three years after Donald Trump's victory in the state stunned Democrats into trying to fix what went wrong in 2016's presidential election.
Friday's dinner is part of what state Democrats are doing to prepare for 2020 and beyond in the presidential battleground.
The party is employing perhaps its largest field staff ever in an off-year election to build relationships with local candidates and activists, including progressive groups that sprung up after Trump's victory.
Meanwhile, party strategists and activists say 2016's effort relied too much on paid media at the expense of going door-to-door to engage voters.
They also say some county parties had fallen into disrepair while the party lacked focus beyond the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas.
