 DECEMBER 2022 NEWSLETTER |
| CHAIR’S MESSAGE: I think it has been an incredible year! I am so pleased we could get together earlier this month for our first in-person Holiday Party since 2019. It was a wonderful time to celebrate on behalf of our endorsed candidates and all the volunteers who walked neighborhoods, distributed door hangers, phone banked, sent text messages, or donated to our endorsed candidates during this election. We have accomplished a great deal, starting with our successful efforts to defeat the recall effort against Governor Newsom in the fall of 2021. We have much to celebrate in 2022, including:The re-election of District Attorney Diana Becton! The election of Ken Carlson to the County Board of Supervisors! Wins by over 70 percent of our endorsed candidates in the general election! Stopping radical conservative efforts to take over school boards! Increasing the number of our volunteers! Strengthening our finances with more donors! Seeing Democrats win a 51-49 majority in the United States Senate!Winning all of California’s statewide offices! Stopping the mythical red tsunami! These successes were possible only because Contra Costa Democrats and Chartered Clubs worked hard during this election season. You’ll learn more about this work in the elections recap that follows below. We also demonstrated how every vote counts with the recount victories last week for Tamisha Torres-Walker in Antioch and Cesar Zepeda in Richmond. We’ve done a lot. We’ve learned a lot. And I know we will continue to build and strengthen our party in 2023. Stay healthy, and Happy New Year! Katie Ricklefs Chair, Democratic Party of Contra Costa County OUR ENDORSED CANDIDATES WON MORE THAN 70% OF THEIR RACES We have been busy with three election cycles in just 15 months, starting with our work to defeat the recall against Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2021, the primary elections in June 2022, and the general election in November 2022.  With each of these elections, the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County, thanks to the leadership of its Elections Committee Co-Chairs Chuck Carpenter and Rebecca Barrett, built on what we learned to involve more volunteers, distribute more materials, and coordinate with our clubs and allies to get out every possible vote in the general election. Our Democratic team ended the year by: Distributing over 100,000 door hangers Mailing 84,000 slate cards Sending over 270,000 texts to voters Hosting coordinated precinct walks in six cities covering all of Contra Costa County. In addition to these efforts, our elections team set up coordinated precinct walks to support our endorsed candidates. Thank you to Amy Scott-Slovick (Martinez); Monica Wilson (Antioch); Victor Tiglao (Pinole); Rebecca Barrett (Concord), Champagne Brown (El Cerrito); and Sabina Zafar, Marisol Rubio, Sarah Butler, and Chuck Carpenter (San Ramon) for helping organize our volunteers to support our candidates! As a result of all of this work, our endorsed candidates won over 70 percent of their campaigns in the general election, including: Statewide offices: 100% Congressional seats: 100% County Supervisors: 100% Mayors and City Councils: 72% School and College Boards: 71% Special Districts: 75% We also improved our ability to communicate with voters and respond to severe attacks against our endorsed candidates. For example, in the Board of Supervisors District 4 race supporting Ken Carlson, we responded with a text to every Democratic voter in the district within four hours after a misleading mailer was discovered to clarify that Ken Carlson was the Democrat in that race. We also were successful at defeating efforts by radical Republicans to take over several of our local school boards. “Elections work is about one more door. It is hard,” Elections Committee Co-Chair Rebecca Barrett said. “People don’t want to get up early on a weekend to knock on doors, but when your democracy and community are on the line, that’s what is required.” “In 2022, we fielded some of the strongest, most committed, and most diverse present and future leaders we have ever offered to the voters,” added Elections Committee Co-Chair Chuck Carpenter. “Great candidates build successes, which will motivate new candidates to seek our help. We build the future on today’s foundation.” Thank you to every person who walked, talked, called, texted, or contributed dollars during the recall, primary, and general elections. Without you, our candidates’ success would not have been possible. CONTRA COSTA DEMOCRATS CELEBRATE AT HOLIDAY PARTY The Democratic Party of Contra Costa County hosted its first in-person Holiday Party since 2019 on Friday, December 16.  We want to thank UA Local 342 for hosting and giving us the opportunity to thank our volunteers and celebrate our election victories. Recruitment Committee Chair Cody Keller did an outstanding job organizing this event, and people once again enjoyed the catering provided by Cindy Gershen. In addition to having the chance to gather together, attendees also heard updates about the efforts of our Committees over the past year, from fundraising to issues, to elections in Contra Costa County and the Central Valley.  Successful County Board of Supervisors District 4 Candidate Ken Carlson told the crowd, “I want to say thank you for how Democrats came together to support my campaign and other endorsed candidates. We still have a lot of work to do together in the future. There are more open seats in the next election, and we need to be prepared for what is coming our way.”  Congress member Mark DeSaulnier also thanked Democrats for their work and urged them to continue their efforts. “There are people who are organizing today because they don’t like that young people and people of color are gaining more of a say in our society. We have to get up every day and work because we cannot assume the future will be okay. The future will only be okay if we fight for it.” Chair Katie Ricklefs also honored several of our volunteers with year-end awards. These included: Chair’s Pick (for the person who best represents what the DPCCC stands for): Carolina Villaseca Full Enthusiasm (for the person who exemplifies energy with excitement, rallying, and fun: Justin Brown and Champagne Brown Grace Under Fire (for the person who held their own under difficult circumstances): Endorsement Committee Co-Chairs Tamela Hawley and Irene Tait Dedicated Democrat (for the person who stepped up when needed and persevered): Amy Scott-Slovick Organizer Extraordinaire (for the person who raised money or was there to move things along in an ordinary fashion): Sue Hamill and Rebecca Barrett Best Dance Partner (fun and self-explanatory): Carolyn Wysinger and Marisol Rubio Went the Distance (person who literally went the distance for our candidates): Sarah Butler and Cecilia Minalga      THANK YOU TO OUR HOLIDAY PARTY SPONSORS Thank you to the sponsors of our 2022 Holiday Party! Your support helped us have a successful night celebrating our volunteers and our endorsed candidates!  VOLUNTEER ACTIVISM REPORT FOR 2022 Contra Costa Democrats continued and expanded our volunteer activist group efforts in 2022. With the spirit to promote and support activities or contacts led by other clubs, labor, and groups, we actively partnered with local organizations, as well as other Central Committees, labor, and grassroots organizations. We accomplished so much, and Contra Costa Democrats are trending as the “go-to” organization for Bay Area activism. There is certainly extensive planning and work still to be accomplished as we expand and evolve toward the 2024 elections. Founding Partner of Bay Area Coalition – The Coalition launched in early 2022 to harness the power of Bay Area activists to win elections in key races to promote a democratic, equitable, and just society, focusing on California Central Valley, Arizona, and Nevada. We were joined by more than 20 partners, including six SwingLeft groups, East Bay Activist Alliance, Commit to Democracy, Democracy Action Marin, Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Francisco central committees.Our congressional leaders, led by Congressmembers Garamendi and Lee, organized close to $30,000 in funds for our partner Central Committees to support CD22 canvasser gas, hotel, food, and supply costs. In addition to their direct help, they arranged for funds received from Congressmembers DeSaulnier, Eshoo, Thompson, and Lofgren. Additionally, CADEM provided CD22 lunches of almost $2,500, plus ballot-curing hotel rooms.To promote our volunteer actions, we created Training and Speaker Series programs, with recordings on our Bay Area Coalition YouTube channel. These included:Motivational interviewing and Telling your Personal Story trainingSpeakers Dan Pfeiffer and Mike LuxAlthough CD22 was our primary canvassing focus, we promoted door knocks for Josh Harder (CD9) in coordination with his campaign team and Adam Gray (CD13) in coordination with the North Valley Labor Federation. Despite our Central Valley outcomes, I’m proud of what we accomplished leading up to the election:  Partnership with Central Valley Matters – Contra Costa Democrats partnered with Central Valley Matters (https://www.centralvalleymatters.org/), a group of Bay Area volunteers that raises funds for grassroots groups in the Central Valley…and, as of today, raised $500,000 for these very deserving organizations. Central Valley Matters, like the Bay Area Coalition, is an all-volunteer group. CD22 Next Steps Steering Group Representing Contra Costa Democrats, Cecilia Minalga remains an active member of this statewide group supporting CD22. Field Team 6 Partnership Contra Costa Democrats continue to partner with FT6 to promote both their California and national virtual actions. Communications Team We continue to support the communications team, who launched our new and improved DPCCC website. Sent 27 Action Network email blasts to our mail lists of over 9K contacts, of which over 5K are in the Contra Costa county area. Mobilize postings, via CADEM account. This continues to be an effective promotion tool for local, California, and national actions, in addition to supplying new “opted-in” contacts from all our events. We appreciate all of the work that Cecilia Minalga has done to organize our efforts in the Central Valley. As Central Valley Matters put it in a post-campaign mailing, “Although there are way too many people to thank individually, we do want to give a special thank you to Cecilia Minalga for her tireless leadership throughout our canvassing process.” DPCCC DUES ARE DUE JANUARY 1 To remain a member in good standing, which enables DPCCC members to vote in the upcoming DPCCC Organizational Meeting elections on January 19, 2023, you must pay your DPCCC dues by January 1, 2023. Please click here to pay your dues ($40 for Regular Members; $24 for Associate Members). If your dues are not paid by the deadline, you cannot vote at our January 19, 2023, Organizational Meeting! DPCCC REORGANIZATIONAL MEETING ON JANUARY 19, 2023 On Thursday, January 19, 2023, the DPCCC will hold a membership meeting focused on our organizational structure for the next two years. Regular members in good standing will vote for DPCCC Officers (Chair, First Vice Chair, Second Vice Chair, Controller, and Secretary). Regular and Associate Members in good standing (dues paid) will vote for District Directors and DPCCC Delegates to CADEM. DPCCC Dues must be paid by January 1, 2023. Click here to pay your DPCCC dues now. DPCCC Officers To date, several candidates have submitted Candidate Statements for DPCCC Officer positions (Chair, First Vice Chair, Second Vice Chair, Controller, and Secretary). To view all Candidate Statements, go to candidatestatements.contracostadems.com. Nominations for these positions will remain open until January 19th, and you can submit a candidate statement by emailing it to secretary@contracostadems.com. You can also click hereto learn more about the responsibilities of these positions. District Directors After the election of our Officers, we will split into Supervisorial District caucuses, where we will vote for District Directors and CADEM Delegates. To view all Candidate Statements submitted so far for District Directors, please visit candidatestatements.contracostadems.com. DPCCC Delegates to CADEM For more details about these elections, please click here. Candidates who seek election as a Delegate to the Democratic State Central Committee are encouraged to submit a Candidate Statement. Click here for the DSCCC Candidate Statement Form. REGISTER TO VOTE FOR THE CADEM ASSEMBLY DISTRICT DELEGATE ELECTIONS Don’t forget that the California Democratic Party’s ADEM Vote By Mail Participant Registration window closes on December 31, 2022. Assembly District Delegates are elected at CADEM Assembly District Elections Meetings held in each of the state’s 80 Assembly Districts in January of each odd-numbered year. Each Assembly District will elect seven “self-identified female” and seven “other than self-identified female” delegates and one Executive Board member. You can click here to register to vote by mail or in person for your Assembly District’s ADEM election. To learn more about what an Assembly District Delegate does, please click here. To see the list of candidates for whom you can vote for in your district, click on the links below: District 11 (Discovery Bay/Knightsen/Oakley) District 14 (Albany/Berkeley/El Cerrito/El Sobrante/Hercules/Pinole/Richmond/San Pablo) District 15 (Antioch/Bay Point/Brentwood/Clayton/Concord/Martinez/Pleasant Hill/Pittsburg) District 16 (Alamo/Blackhawk/Danville/Lafayette/Moraga/Orinda/San Ramon/Walnut Creek)These Assembly Districts are new after redistricting. Please click here if you would like to confirm the Assembly District in which you live. LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK Do you have any questions or feedback about this DPCCC Newsletter? We would love to hear from you! Please send your comments to commsdir@contracostadems.com. |
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December 2022 Newsletter
Posted in newsletter.