Earlier this spring, we met Marni Rubin, a wine seller and educator from San Carlos, who channeled her frustration about the 2016 election into political activism. She helped launch the South Bay chapter of the Sister District Project, a fledgling female-led progressive group determined to turn America blue—one state-level district at a time.
Well, results from the most-anticipated midterm elections in living memory are in, and Sister District-backed candidates managed to push a blue wave (or depending on your sense of scale, a ripple) to take back the House, and some state legislatures along with it.
“Though we have a mostly blue California, we were able to help the big blue wave nationwide through organizations like Sister District,” Rubin said in a follow-up interview with San Jose Inside.
Through phone-banking, texting, canvassing, fundraising, an appearance by former presidential candidate Martin O’Malley, and even an arts and crafts fair, the local Sister District chapter raised over $157,000 for progressive candidates across the nation. They mailed out 7,500 postcards, made 4,476 phone calls and sent over 6,000 texts. “The really fun part,” Rubin said, “is letting people plug in to do something for democracy.”
At Sister District South Bay, Rubin’s main goal was to flip two seats in the Colorado State Senate—a District 16 race supporting challenger Tammy Story and a District 24 race supporting incumbent Faith Winter—to hand the state’s legislature to Democrats.
Sister District’s plan is part of a larger initiative to achieve more blue “trifectas”— states in which Democrats control the governorship, the state senate and the assembly—in toss-up districts across the nation. That often means leaving pristine Tahoe-blue districts in California behind and pursuing assembly and state senate races for swing districts in red-to-purple states like Virginia and New Mexico.
“Since we have a Democratic legislature, many Democratic congressional representatives and two Democratic senators here in California, it often feels like we can't really make a difference,” Rubin said. “Knowing that we can help candidates outside of California with resources and voter contact helps me, and our volunteers, feel much more effective, and that's there's something we can do to bring about progressive change.”
Rubin joined her fellow Sister District compatriots at a local Round Table Pizza last month to watch the 2018 midterm results come in. As the night continued, it was apparent that Democrats would indeed—as predicted—win the House.
“There were about six or seven of us [Sister District South Bay members] there,” Rubin said. “It was very exciting to get live results.”
But, most importantly, both Story and Winter would win their state races and give Colorado a trifecta. That’s a farm team victory which Rubin hopes will set up a major league-win in 2020. All from the ground up.
For Sister District, that’s where the big wins lie. “[Sister District] candidates won 16 of 24 races,” Rubin said. “Overall, we achieved our goal of moving the needle left.”
Dems did however, lose ground in the U.S. Senate, and they’re still split between a progressive and legacy-driven caucus both in the House and in state legislatures in the South and Midwest. Despite all that, Rubin believes Sister District has paved some critical inroads to a more progressive government. Post-midterms, Sister District is looking to partner with fellow progressive organizations and more organizations led by people of color to diversify their political push.
“We’re trying to start a movement that will last,” Rubin said. “I’m really proud of it. It’s something to last past any election.”
Sister District South Bay at one of their meetings earlier this spring. The group has grown in size and influence, both here and in the districts they're working with elsewhere in the U.S. (Photo via Facebook)
That this is a story that was printed and made the national headlines only proves the “Institutional Bias” of the media, such as discovered in Der Spiegal last week.
San Jose Insider, what kind of puff pieces did you write when the “Red Wave” happened? Please, ask yourself that question, provide yourself with an honest answer and then try to justify your claim of “journalism”. You can’t.
If they want to move the whole country left, they can start by moving to Venezuela or Cuba to experience leftwing socialism firsthand. All the poverty, big government bureaucracy, homelessness, despair, government handouts, empty store shelves, high unemployment, high crime rates, etc…due to socialist politics can be experienced in those places and others that socialism has touched and destroyed.
No thanks. I prefer limited government with more individual rights and responsibilities.
I’ve noticed since recreational marijuana passed, most of the SJI comments are all conservatives.
Guess that stuff really does make you forget!
> With Colorado Now Blue, These Silicon Valley Activists Plan to Flip the Rest of the Country
Well, with California now permanently frozen as a Democrat autocracy, and zero suspense about the next election, and zero possibility of change, I’m not surprised that there’s nothing to do in California for progressive activists.
Why wouldn’t they go somewhere else where there’s at least a chance of spotting a lame or wounded Republican and maybe even running them down with attack dogs.
Wasn’t it Churchill who said – “Socialism is fine until you run out of other people’s money to spend.” This is exactly the operation of the dim left – – promise the masses cradle to grave – paid for by others (notice the shrinking middle class?) and capture those votes to maintain control and power – in essence the selling out of America – – how do these worms sleep at night?
> Wasn’t it Churchill who said – “Socialism is fine until you run out of other people’s money to spend.”
Margaret Thatcher.
But, it is such a cosmic truth that Maggie may just have been quoting someone else.