National Political Committee
The National Political Committee meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 7 pm.
This committee aims to organize at the national level to elect Democrats and enact a progressive Democratic agenda in the United States. We welcome collaboration with other grassroots groups that share this commitment.
We will organize to put boots on the ground in 2021 and 2022. We will encourage all Club members to participate in critical campaigns via phone banking, text banking, letter, postcard writing, and donating directly to organizations around the country involved in voter registration and fighting against voter suppression.
We will research existing legislative proposals and contribute to the development and advocacy of new ones, generating resolutions and other action items to forward to the Club for deliberation and support.
Our organizing will be virtual until the virus danger abates and on the ground after that.
For past minutes and committee documents, please go here.
To find out about joining the National Political Committee, or for other information, please contact Vincent Casalaina or Ann Schwartz.
Wellstone’s record of participation in Congressional campaigns
We were one of the first clubs to go all-in for Jerry McNerney in then-California’s 11th congressional district, the only California House seat to flip in 2006 as part of the Blue wave that swept the United States House. The Club supported then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama in 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders in 2016, and both Senators Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in 2020. The Club helped elect Josh Harder to California’s 10th congressional district, one of the seven California House seats many of us helped to flip in 2018.
We believe the Club can and should do more to help shape policy formation in Washington, and we intend to identify and organize support for key candidates and issues.
“I think getting a handwritten note in the mail is kind of novel at a time when we don’t really send letters to people, and most of what we get in the mail is junk mail or bills,” — Vivian Chang, Democratic activist from Los Angeles
The Women’s March on January 21, 2017, galvanized participation in election campaigns.
POST CARDING CAMPAIGNS WORK! HERE’S HOW YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE
For our first campaign, we’ll be responding to the seditious action of seven of California’s House representatives who refused to accept the electoral college results for the presidential election. Please let us know if you can send out a batch of twenty-five postcards.
Flip the West is sponsoring this campaign and has already sent over two-hundred-thirty thousand postcards to voters in districts represented by Kevin McCarthy, Devin Nunes, Mike Garcia, and Jay Obernolte. We have requested Flip the West to give us voter contact lists in California’s 25th congressional district (Mike Garcia) and 50th congressional district (Darrell Issa). What names we get will depend on what lists are still available.
The purpose of these postcards is to promote name recognition and accountability. A surprising number of voters don’t know who their Congressional representative is – or how they voted on particular issues. This past election saw a gap between support for the Biden-Harris presidential ticket and votes for “down-ballot” Democratic candidates. These cards will go to registered Democrats and left-leaning independents to inform and remind them of their Congressional representative’s seditious actions.
How it works: Please let us know if you can complete a batch of twenty-five postcards. Vincent will have cards and stamps available for you to pick up from his house in Berkeley. (Please help Vincent recover the cost of the stamps and cards. $12 for a set of twenty-five cards and stamps.) Via email, he will send you a list of names and detailed instructions, including the script, for filling out the postcards.
U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (Chair) and Mark Pocan (former Chair) of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
