Alliance for American Leadership made 1.9 million calls in 2026 midterms

Alliance for American Leadership volunteers made 1,901,428 phone calls for 64 endorsed candidates in the 2026 midterms, helping 57 win and several secure close battleground races. The results bolster the group’s push for the Two Penny Pledge, which calls for dedicating 2% of the federal budget to diplomacy and international assistance.

Why it matters: - Alliance for American Leadership’s turnout effort put diplomacy and international assistance on the ballot in some of the closest races in the country. - The group’s results suggest the issue can help candidates win in competitive districts across party lines. - The campaign also shows organized grassroots fundraising and volunteer efforts can still move turnout in tight House races.

What happened: - Volunteers with the Alliance for American Leadership made 1,901,428 phone calls for 64 endorsed candidates in the 2026 midterms. - Fifty-seven of the 64 endorsed candidates won on Tuesday. - Six of the eight candidates in races rated as competitive won. - The group said its total made Alliance for American Leadership one of the top phone bankers in the 2026 cycle. - The DNC made 3.3 million phone calls, according to the release.

The details: - Derek Tran won reelection in California in a district he had won by 0.2% in 2024. - Amish Shah won in Arizona and flipped the First District. - William Lawrence won Michigan’s 7th District, a toss-up seat Republicans flipped in 2024. - Pia Dandiya won Florida’s 22nd District, a toss-up seat drawn this year to favor Republicans. - Many endorsed candidates signed the Two Penny Pledge, which commits candidates to dedicate 2% of the federal budget to diplomacy and international assistance. - An independent Echelon Insights survey found that seven in 10 Americans, including Republicans and Democrats, support spending 2% of the budget on international assistance alone. - Rep. Lois Frankel, a Florida Democrat and Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs, said the group’s volunteers made more than 100,000 calls for her reelection. - Frankel said young Americans are central to future efforts for compassionate American leadership abroad. - A4AL said it held 52 phone banking sessions a week in the three months before the election. - A4AL said it mobilized volunteers and interns at a scale rarely seen before. - The organization said more than 130,000 Americans read its Substack. - The group said more than 2,000 people have taken part in its youth leadership program. - A4AL’s full list of 64 endorsed candidates is available here.

Between the lines: - The endorsement slate and phone bank were built around a single message: spending on prevention is cheaper than paying for crises after they happen. - The group argued that the COVID-19 pandemic cost the United States $16 trillion and the War on Terror cost $8 trillion. - By tying foreign assistance to security and deficit reduction, A4AL tried to frame global engagement as a fiscal issue, not just a values issue. - The election results give the group a data point it can use to argue that the message travels beyond traditional foreign-policy voters.

What's next: - A4AL says it will press the new Congress to turn the Two Penny Pledge into a budget commitment. - The group plans to continue building its grassroots movement for global development. - More phone banking and volunteer mobilization are likely as the organization tries to convert election wins into legislative support.

The bottom line: - A4AL helped turn foreign aid into a winning campaign issue in multiple battleground races, and the group is now trying to translate those victories into federal spending power.