AAPI, Black and Latino GOTV Campaigns Beat Republican Takeover with $3.5M by the California Donor Table

20 Community Organizations Led Recall Defeat by Engaging 41% of California Voters

Oakland, CA — The California Donor Table, a network of donors committed to building power in California’s communities of color and making lasting progressive political change, raised and distributed $3.5 million to engage AAPI, Black and Latino voters to successfully prevent the recall of Governor Newsom.

“California isn’t a blue state without us,” says Executive Director Ludovic Blain. “Politicians and the Democratic Party must take note that voters of color in the Central Valley, Orange County, San Diego, and the outskirts of LA are critical to our country’s future, where the battle for keeping the House in 2022 will be waged next.”

California Donor Table distributed funding to 20 grassroots organizations throughout the state, predominantly in the Central Valley, Inland Empire, San Diego County and LA County, where pro-recall spending and polling was highest. Together, these organizations educated an estimated 41% of Californian’s 22 million voters about the recall:

AAPI Force

Alliance San Diego

Black Women for Wellness

CA Native Vote Project

CHIRLA

Communities for a New California (CNC)

Courage California

Inland Empire United (IE United)

Khmer Girls in Action

LA Voice

Latino Community Foundation

Lift Up Contra Costa (LUCC)

Los Angeles Labor Federation

Million Voter Project Action Fund

Movement Labs

Nail Salon Collective

Orange County Civic Engagement Table (OCCET)

Power CA

Power California

Grassroots organizers asked 2.6 million voters to reject the recall of through door-knocking, digital ads, phone calls, and text messages, hiring over 750 paid campaign staff from local communities, contacting voters in 9 languages including English, Spanish, Hmong, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Tagalog, Khmer, and Punjabi.

“These groups are the boots on the ground across the state, including in the non-coastal areas where this election will be won or lost,” says Eva Grove, a California Donor Table member and founder of the Eva Grove Foundation. “These groups have a proven track record of organizing Californians of color and other underrepresented populations to get involved in their communities and vote, and I’m so grateful for their infrastructure and expertise in delivering this win.”

California Donor Table, originally called the Progressive Era Project, began in 2005 with five donors from three families. Combining political strategy with community organizing and training, the project aimed to develop and support Black, Latinx, and Asian Pacific Islander progressive leaders, organizations and candidates. To date, the table has invested and aligned approximately $40 million over 15 years. It has financially supported 58 candidates (75 percent people of color, 51 percent women, 42 percent women of color, 23 percent Latina women, 14 percent Black women).

About the California Donor Table

The California Donor Table is a statewide community of donors who pool their funds to make investments in communities of color so they have the power and resources to (1) elect people who represent their values and needs and (2) help govern and hold decision-makers accountable. California Donor Table believes that California can and must lead the nation in becoming a healthy, just place to live with shared economic success and a democracy that works for all our people. Please visit: californiadonortable.org