Friend,

In the middle of a surge of the ultra-contagious, deadly Delta variant of the coronavirus, Larry Elder sent this tweet:

This would be ludicrous, except for one thing: Talk-show host Elder is the leading candidate to replace Governor Gavin Newsom in the Recall.(1) And he could win with just a tiny fraction of the vote.

We cannot let Larry Elder become governor of California. Will you chip in $5 and help turn out the vote we need to defeat the Recall?

If Elder wins, it is game over for California in this pandemic. We will become another Texas or Florida, rejecting science and suffering wave after wave of the virus, while people die and small businesses crumble.

Polls show that Newsom is basically tied against the Recall effort, and while Republicans are eager to vote, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that despite Democrats having a 2–1 advantage, they aren't paying attention or planning to vote at the rates we need them to in order to win.(2)

Courage California’s election machine is working to change that. We’re reaching out to youth, holding a vote-rallying town hall, and ramping up our media strategy to make sure that people know they need to vote to save our state from anti-vaxxers and Trumpers come September.

Will you chip in $5 and help turn out the vote we need to defeat the Recall?

Californians really counted on this summer to revitalize the economy and reopen schools. To make that happen, the state implemented first-in-the-nation measures to get state and health care workers vaccinated.(3)

Following the state government’s lead, San Diego County, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and San Francisco are requiring vaccinations or weekly testing of their employees, and large employers, including Facebook, Google, and Netflix, are as well.(4)

And it’s working. Not only is California inching up the list of the most vaccinated states, but during this surge, California is still reporting a fraction of the rate of infection as states like Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.(5,6)

Larry Elder would undo all of that progress and send us on a crash course with the Delta variant.

Last month, Elder hosted a Texas “functional medicine” doctor on his show who epitomized the conspiracy theory crowd. The guest said the shots are part of Bill Gates’ effort at “population control,” and are aimed at harming low-income and minority communities. She said the vaccines are particularly dangerous for people who already had COVID-19, and the Delta variant is just one of the many strains the government is releasing to turn people into blind followers. And Elder agreed with her all the way.(7) Now he’s promising to ban vaccine and mask mandates if he wins.

And with the way the polls are going, come September 15, this person just might be governor of California.(8)

We’re running out of time to make sure as many Democrats as possible vote in the Recall election. Will you chip in $5 right away?

Yours in the fight for democracy,

Irene, along with Angela, Annie, Caitlin, Jay, Lindsay, LisaMarie, Raquel, and Scottie (the Courage team)

PS: Courage California is fighting for equity and justice across the state and country. Will you become a monthly donor and help sustain our work?

Donations go to support all of Courage California's work for a more progressive California and country. Follow us now on Facebook or Twitter!

Footnotes:
1. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/gavin-newsom-has-reason-to-worry/?ex_cid=538twitter
2. Ibid.
3. https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/07/26/california-implements-first-in-the-nation-measures-to-encourage-state-employees-and-health-care-workers-to-get-vaccinated/ 4. https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/07/30/following-governor-newsoms-first-in-the-nation-vaccination-measures-california-employers-follow-suit/
5. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/states-ranked-by-percentage-of-population-vaccinated-march-15.html
6. https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/USA-TRENDS/dgkvlgkrkpb/
7. https://larryelder.com/video/youll-want-to-hear-this-physicians-take-on-the-vaccines/
8. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-08-02/editorial-if-newsom-is-recalled-he-could-be-replaced-by-someone-with-a-tiny-fraction-of-the-vote-thats-insane