Photo by Rosie Kerr on Unsplash

There are few words that relay the emotions many of us are feeling right now.  Disappointment, sadness, and fear come to mind.  We worked hard and the outcome of this election was not what we had hoped for, and every day we are met with yet another assault on our values.

At the same time, we are already seeing a fighting spirit emerge.  Groups like the ACLU are ready to file lawsuits to protect our civil rights.  Governor  Newsom plans to counter Trump by wielding power at the state level.  And the SCCDP will continue its work.

In the next few months, we will get a better picture of why the election went the way it did, and from that information we will craft a way forward.

The next four years will require us to be patient, persistent and diligent.  Let’s meet the moment.

Meeting the moment

This election cycle, the leaders of SCCDP’s National Team coordinated weekly phone banks into swing states to help win the presidency. To help flip the House, they organized canvasses and phone banks into congressional districts 13 and 22 in the Central Valley. With a whole lot of hard work, they built a list of about 1,400 volunteers.

The Democrats lost the presidency and control of Congress. In CD-22, Democrat Rudy Salas was defeated.  

In CD-13, though, the race remains too close to call, and our National Team leaders continue their efforts to elect Adam Gray by knocking on doors to help likely Democratic voters fix problems with their ballot signatures so their votes will count. 

They know Dems don’t have the House majority, but they’re working to keep the Republican margin of control as slim as possible, making it more difficult for Trump to secure his platform.

“We still have some hope,” team co-leader Rebecca Sayed said.

Kudos to Sayed and other team leaders and members, including Laura Murphy-Wilkens, Ana Mendez, Leeann Bent, Dee Nelson, Christina Thompson, Gilbert Lopez, Rene Wise, Chris Koh, Jelle van Geuns, and Danielle and Bill James.

SCCDP Scores Local Wins

In local elections, where it’s easiest to influence policy, SCCDP volunteers worked hard and it paid off. With most votes counted, it appears that more than 70% of our sole endorsed candidates won.

Unfortunately, MAGA Republicans continued to make inroads into our local school boards. They appear poised to win seats in Cupertino Union, San Jose Unified, and Oak Grove school districts.  

However, we are winning in 12 other school board races where we fought MAGA candidates. This is a struggle we will continue to prioritize.

Our local elections campaign included recruiting candidates and volunteers, soliciting donations, and contacting more than 300,000 targeted Democratic voters - many of them multiple times - through mailers, door hangers, texting and social media ads.



Congrats to our political director James Kim and his headquarters volunteer leaders, including Tom Urquhart, Linda Cortez, Paulette Ciaccio, Phillip Erros, and Mike Purtell, for the wins their work helped secure.

Jan. 6 spurs launch of new Democratic Club

For years, there had been talk in the local Vietnamese community of starting a Democratic Club. After January 6, Buu Thai decided it was time to act.

Thai saw footage of election-deniers storming the Capitol, raising the American flag in disrespect of what it stood for. Joining them was a group of Vietnamese Americans carrying the South Vietnamese freedom flag. At that moment, Thai knew the time had come to start a club promoting democratic values in the Vietnamese community.

This year, the Vietnamese American Democratic Club of Silicon Valley launched, with Thai as its president. Thai, who served on the board of San Jose’s Franklin-McKinley School District for nine years, got elected in November as a trustee of the San Jose Evergreen Community College District. 

Start - or Join - a Democratic Club!

Chartered Democratic Clubs give local activists a way to participate in the SCCDP, and give the SCCDP a way to connect with local activists and recruit volunteers. So start a Club!

Dec. 5 is the deadline for submitting paperwork to start a new Club or to renew the charter of an existing one. For more information, click here. There will be an optional information session via Zoom this Sunday at 1pm, for current or prospective club leaders.

Questions? Contact our Clubs Director Tomara Hall or Chair Bill James.