Dear Katie, We hope you all had a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for this year. We wanted to inform everyone that our work in the Central Valley continues. Unfortunately, as you may know, Rudy Salas did not defeat his Republican opponent in CD-22. Below is a twitter link to a message Rudy sent about his race. Collectively we put forth a great effort. We canvassed, we concierged, we raised funds, we contacted friends and activists near and wide and enlisted their support for our fundraising, phonebanking, postcarding and canvassing. We have lots to be proud of; we believe we had one of the finest team efforts in catalyzing volunteers and working with the Rudy Salas team. Hopefully, what we did will become a model for how activists can work with campaigns.  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. If you were at Rudy Salas’ watch party, you heard Dolores Huerta say it best. She thanked people from the Bay Area for coming out to canvass; she said we kept coming and coming and coming. And on top of that, Dolores said, we raised $500K to support local grassroots organizations. Let’s take a moment to be thankful and to be proud of what we did. Here is Rudy’s twitter message.

Thank you for investing in and supporting our Central Valley neighbors, Your friends on the Central Valley Matters team

Sent to incoming California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Dear Assemblymember Bonta,

On behalf of the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County, we offer our heartfelt congratulations on your appointment as the first Filipino American to serve as California’s Attorney General.

Throughout your career in public service, you have not shied away from leading the fight for social and economic justice affecting communities of color. Your efforts to reform the criminal justice system, end cash bail, ban for-profit prisons, protect renters from wrongful evictions and strengthen hate crime protections, will serve as a model for states to follow.

Again, congratulations on your appointment! We are honored to have the privilege to continue working with you as California’s Attorney General.

Sincerely,

Katie Ricklefs, Chair
Democratic Party of Contra Costa County

Sent to Senator Alex Padilla.

Dear Senator Padilla,

On behalf of the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County, we offer our heartfelt congratulations on your appointment as United States Senator. We are proud to have you at the helm as the first Latino U.S. Senator from California in our state’s 170-year history.

As Secretary of State, your leadership made our elections more accessible and inclusive, allowing California to reach record turnout. You fought to protect the integrity of our voting systems and in so doing, you made sure every vote was counted, upholding a cornerstone of our democracy.

At a time when our nation is recovering from a global pandemic, we look forward to working with you to implement your vision for a just immigration system, combating climate change and restoring voting rights to build a more inclusive, unified and stronger democracy.

Again, congratulations on your appointment! We are honored to have the privilege to continue working with you as our United States Senator serving the people of California.

Sincerely,

Katie Ricklefs, Chair
Democratic Party of Contra Costa County

Sent to Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra.

Dear Secretary Becerra,

On behalf of the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County, we offer our heartfelt congratulations on your appointment as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

We are proud to have another California Democratic leader at the center of the fight against COVID-19. During such a critical time, your proven leadership is exactly what we need to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, expanding equitable access to vaccinations and getting everyone back to work.

As California’s Attorney General you fought for underserved communities, access to healthcare and justice for all; this is what will heal our nation during this critical time in our history. Your success in defending the Affordable Care Act, protecting women’s health and worker’s rights will rebuild a more equitable health care system that meets the needs of all Americans.

Again, congratulations on your appointment! We are honored to have the privilege to continue working with you as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Sincerely,

Katie Ricklefs, Chair
Democratic Party of Contra Costa County