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We are at a very important moment in history for voting rights in our country. In addition to the partisan gerrymandering by Texas Republicans at the request of the President, we are seeing the Supreme Court deliberate a case that could severely weaken key provisions of the Voting Rights Act. The same court that has eviscerated reproductive rights, affirmative action in higher education, worker and environmental protections is taking a hard right turn toward formalizing voter disenfranchisement.

The voter protections under review by the Supreme Court were championed by our dear John Lewis, crafted in my office when I served as House Democratic Leader, supported by Democratic and Republican Senators and House Members and signed into law by President George W. Bush. These very tactics that we sought to protect voters from are now the overt playbook of President Trump and Republicans — detailed in their Project 2025 manifesto and in their courts briefs — the tactics of a wannabe king and his court of enablers.

Our founders imagined the possibility of a rogue president. What they did not imagine was a Congress that would surrender its constitutional authority and duty to that rogue president’s whims — nor a Supreme Court that would be similarly derelict of its fidelity to our Constitution and its vital framework of checks and balances to ensure our government by, for and of the people. As our beloved John Lewis taught and warned us in the gift of his final message, Democracy is not a state of being — but an act. As we head into No Kings weekend, the most powerful acts that we can undertake to disrupt a wannabe king or dictator are to show up peacefully and to vote.

Today, we are almost two weeks away from Election Day — and, as President Barack Obama said, the whole country is looking to California to deliver a resounding victory with a big Yes on Prop 50 vote. And as we know, this is not just about winning this election. It’s about health care and life itself for millions of Americans and it’s about the future of our Democracy.

Republicans have done a terrible thing to our country with their Big Ugly Law — half a trillion dollars cut from Medicare, millions of people cut from Medicaid and raising the price of coverage on the Affordable Care Act. They are entirely committed to tax breaks for billionaires at the expense of America’s children and working families. The best antidote to the Republicans’ poison is to win this election. So we must pass Prop 50, take back the House and use our power to protect and expand health care, voting rights and our safety net.

Earlier this week, we were inspired by Sen. Adam Schiff, Rep. Ted Lieu, Rep. Jimmy Gomez, SF Labor Leader Rudy Gonzalez and our Save Our Health Care advocate Reggie Hubbard as we rallied our VIPs to keep spreading the word about Yes on Prop 50. Senator Schiff shared a promising report about Democratic Senators holding the line on health care during the Trump Shutdown. Congressmen Lieu and Gomez reminded us that we are only having a conversation if we don’t own the ground and get the votes in and counted as cast. Rudy shared about the great work that construction, transportation, health care and other unions are doing in our communities to maximize voter contacts — especially with swing voters in swing districts. And we left the call with clear marching orders about what we need to do now to win on November 4th!

Let’s get into “good trouble” together to push back against this Administration and Congressional Republicans. That means that we need to ensure that people vote — and the sooner the better. We need to talk to our friends, family and neighbors and work through any challenges or excuses to bank those votes. We need to encourage our friends and family overseas to mail in their ballots. We don’t just want to win on Nov. 4th, we want to win big to send a clear message to the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans — don’t mess with California and stop doing harm to the American people.

We have the mission and we have the people power to be the difference in this election. Over the next days, we must insist on no wasted time, no underutilized resources and no regrets the day after the election that we could have done more. So join us to bring this victory home — for California, for the country and For The Children. >>