Starting this weekend, the California-based Courage Campaign is teaming up with United Domestic Workers of America and Flip the 14 to launch a series of volunteer-hosted house parties over Labor Day Weekend in an effort to galvanize California volunteers and get ready to contact voters—particularly young people, women, and voters of color—and win back the House this November.
There will be up to 100 attendees at each voter house party—parties happening across the state, including in vulnerable GOP districts like CA districts 10 (Jeff Denham), 48 (Dana Rohrabacher), and 49 (Darrell Issa)—with the shared goal of reaching at least 350,000 voters this election season.
“We are beyond thrilled to be joining forces with United Domestic Workers and Flip the 14 to bring together like-minded progressives that will make California ground zero in winning back a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives,” said Eddie Kurtz, Executive Director of Courage Campaign. “Courage Campaign believes that the blue wave starts right here in California. With at least eight flippable GOP seats, California’s votes count now more than ever.”
“The 100,000 home care providers who make up our union know better than anyone that there is nothing we can’t accomplish when we stand together. Our members are primarily low-income women and people of color who work to care for our state’s seniors and people with disabilities – so we know firsthand just how devastating the current political landscape has been and how vital it is that we work to make progressive change in California and beyond,” said UDW Executive Director Doug Moore. “We are honored to partner with Courage Campaign and Flip the 14 to help elect leaders who will protect our state’s most vulnerable and help working families thrive.”
“A blue wave is within our reach, but far from inevitable. Elections are won or lost with turnout, and we have the power to turn out voters,” said Doug Linney, Campaign Manager for Flip the 14. “At Flip the 14, we’re grateful to our partners at the Courage Campaign and United Domestic Workers. Our shared strategy to reach and mobilize voters who might need a nudge to vote is based on tested tactics that work. When the people vote, Democrats win.”
Courage Campaign’s #CaliforniaCounts campaign also includes phone banking, peer-to-peer text messaging, and the new voter engagement tool ‘VoterCircle’ to harness the power of the more than 1.4 million Courage Campaign members. Courage Campaign and their partners will use those tools to target infrequent and lapsed Democratic voters in seven districts, including newly registered Democrats.
This Primary election cycle, Courage Campaign:
- Teamed up with the Orange County-based Women for American Values and Ethics (WAVE) for a five-figure effort to drive more than 400,000 women, people of color and infrequent Democratic voters to the polls. Using targeted video ads on Facebook, Courage Campaign told the story of Yolanda Wight, a citizen of California’s 48th Congressional district, and her California story, to highlight the important role that California voters play in the 2018 election.
- Partnered with Flip the 14 to run an active field and digital campaign to turn out enough Democrats via to defeat Republican members in Congress and avoid a Top Two primary disaster. The groups collaborated through a joint phone and text bank campaign, with a special focus on new voters and voters who might otherwise skip the midterm elections.
- Launched the #CaliforniaCounts initiative, #CaliforniaCounts, a campaign to take back the House of Representatives by flipping key seats in California, particularly in the seven districts that are represented by Republicans but voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. The initiative was shared by celebrities and activists Chris Evans, Alyssa Milano, Misha Collins, Kamau Bell, John Leguizamo, and many others. #CaliforniaCounts aims to turn out key voters by leveraging the latest cognitive research into how voters make decisions. The campaign emphasizes emotionally resonant storytelling and highlight real Californians, real California values, and the historic role that California will play in the 2018 election. The first phase of the campaign focused on critical primaries on June 5in CA39, represented by Ed Royce, CA48, represented by Dana Rohrabacher, and CA49 represented by Darrell Issa — districts where there was a risk that a Democrat would not appear on the the November ballot thanks to CA’s Top Two primary system.
- Earlier this year, Courage Campaign launched its third annual progressive report card, Courage Score, which indicates whether state legislators voted as progressively as their districts have on a range of core progressive issues. Those with the scores most out of step with their districts get put in the “Hall of Shame.”
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