As we pass the first 100 days of President Biden’s administration, we are grateful for the vaccine rollout, stimulus payments, and other policies that have improved the lives of everyday Americans during the pandemic.
While the Biden administration is busy working for the American people, Republicans are stepping up their efforts to suppress voter turnout, and to elect a Republican governor in bright blue California by whatever means possible.
This is where you come in. The SCCDP is hosting phone banks to help Democrats across the nation fight GOP voter suppression efforts. And while the Republican recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom will be on the ballot later this year, we can take action to fend off this brazen attempt to circumvent the will of California voters by jamming through a Republican governor in a special election.
Amidst these high profile events, we don’t just want to play defense or forget about our local communities. We are also taking early action to help reclaim a key congressional seat in California, and we have concluded two campaigns to build relationships with Democratic voters in Santa Clara County.
Whatever your passion, there’s a way to get involved and make a difference.
Fighting voter suppression
In 2020 almost 160 million people turned out to vote in the presidential election, the highest number ever. Millions of people registered to vote, many for the first time. They signed up for mail-in ballots, used ballot dropboxes, and stood in line for hours at their polling places.
Our votes are the most powerful tool we have in our democracy. Sadly the GOP knows this and that is why they are pushing hundreds of voter suppression bills in statehouses across the nation. These bills were introduced based on the lie that the November presidential election was tainted by fraud (it wasn't).
Like pro-democracy groups across the country, SCC Dems are fighting back. Every Sunday from 1 to 3, we are calling voters in Arizona and elsewhere, helping them contact their state legislators to register their opposition to these pernicious bills. Join us!
Beating back the recall
It is unfortunate the campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsrom has qualified for the ballot. The special election to be held later this year will cost the state up to $400 million – money that could have been used to build affordable housing, combat the multiple crises triggered by COVID, or for any number of other pressing concerns, instead of being wasted on an unnecessary election.
Gov. Newsom has led the state through a global pandemic, record wildfires , and two years with Trump in the White House. He has earned the trust and continued support of voters and Democratic Party activists.
To help defeat the recall, use these talking points to write a letter to the editor of your local paper.
Re-gaining CA-21
We’ve started laying the groundwork to help win back the Central Valley’s 21st congressional district, which Dems flipped in the 2018 midterm elections but lost by a razor-thin margin of .8% in 2020. To build relationships with Democratic voters well in advance of next year’s midterms, we are collaborating with the Kings County Dems to hold phone banks into CA-21, contacting people to help them get vaccination appointments. Sign up for one of these phone banks here.
Building relationships at home
We’ve been doing work to reach out to our own Democratic voters here in Santa Clara County. We were running phone banks to help them get vaccination appointments, and we’ve now concluded that effort, as more than 70% of county residents ages 16 & older have now received at least one dose of the vaccine, with the number continuing to climb.
We’ve also completed our rent relief text banking to get the word out that there is state and local aid available to people struggling to make rent payments during the pandemic. We sent out 23,000 texts, resulting in 920 people requesting more information from us.
Choosing our statewide party leaders
The statewide Democratic Party recently held elections to choose its officers, and you can see the results here.
