Local Resistance: Democracy Action Organizes at Home and Abroad

At the level of city politics, it's easy to forget that various shades of Blue and Green can actually work together to have a real impact across the country. Such is the case with Democracy Action, a volunteer organization helping Democrats take back Capitol Hill and state legislatures across the country.

Founded during John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004 by Democratic party activists Alec Bash, Julie Marsh, Robin Cooper, Mary Jung, Mark Cesare, Becca Foster, Jeremy Friedlander, and others, Democracy Action is now the biggest volunteer phone bank operation in Northern California. They phonebank voters in contested races for Congress and state legislatures, as well as to save the Affordable Care Act.

Democracy Action has already had an impact on the special election this past February for Delaware's 10th Senate District. With their help, Democrat Stephanie Hanson won with 58% of the vote. The race gained national attention because it decided partisan control over the state's Senate, and was the first major opportunity to gauge electoral response to Donald Trump’s Republican presidency.

They’re also helping out with Congressional hopeful Jon Ossoff’s campaign in Georgia, as well as Archie Parnell in South Carolina, Cheryl Turpin in Virginia, and Monica Kirk in Iowa. When we visited their phone banking event in Civic Center, Democracy Action volunteers were working with SEIU organizers to call constituents in California’s GOP-led districts to urge support for the Affordable Care Act.

Democracy Action isn't a Democratic club, political action committee, or an arm of any of the various factions in the City's politics. "What we're doing is certainly political, but we think of it more as ordinary citizens doing our civic duty rather than becoming deeply involved in the political scene," says Julie Uota, who leads the group’s 30-member steering committee. "We’re a group of individual volunteers that come together to get work done."

Uota is one of a number of former phone bank captains for Hillary Clinton's general election campaign that form the nucleus of the group. Growing up in Washington DC, she was "only a little more politically aware than the average child."

That changed with the 2008 election where she volunteered for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. This past year, Ms. Uota supported Bernie Sanders in the primary. But for her, unlike some Berniecrats, supporting Hillary Clinton in the general was a no-brainer.

"Right after the primary, my family were all sitting around talking about politics when my oldest aunt, who was six years old when she was interned, and the only one of my relatives who still has a clear memory of that time, turned to me and asked me if I was going to call volunteer like I did last time. I told her I honestly hadn't decided yet, and I'll never forget what she said next: ‘you know Julie, I don't remember much before we went to camp; all I remember is how it felt. And this feels like that. I think we all need to do everything we can.’"

Another leader in Democracy Action is Susan Pfeifer. A retired media professional and Bay Area resident since 1979, Susan volunteered for Howard Dean’s primary campaign in 2003. Pfeiffer was also a founding member of San Franciscans for Democracy, the “Deaniac” Democratic Club that continues to be active today. She also volunteered on the Kerry and Obama campaigns. She brings that experience to the group's voter registration initiative, coordinating with the San Francisco Democratic Party to register newly naturalized citizens.

"More and more people are becoming citizens now, people who have been putting it off for years, because of what Trump is doing. He’s become the best recruiter for the Democrats in many years," says Pfeifer. "It's sad that this didn't happen before the election because so many people are now being hurt by what he's doing."

Pfeifer is also member of Indivisible San Francisco, helping to coordinate members with volunteer phone bank campaigns all over the Bay Area.

David Bloom creates and maintains the Democracy Action's information infrastructure, and also hosts another phone bank location in Dogpatch. Another Clinton campaign veteran, he's a software engineer at a larger tech company.

Bloom sees the election of Donald Trump as both a crisis and opportunity: "Democrats have a problem where we don't reliably turn out in off years. Marshaling the reaction to Donald Trump is our best shot at fixing that, to make lemonade out of lemons. I really want to elect a Democratic majority to the house that will hold Trump accountable. Plus, activism feels good, and I think this is one of the most consequential forms of activism you can participate in. I sleep a lot better at night now, not just because it's a lot of work, but because of the effect I know it will have."

For more information about Democracy Action or to get involved, visit demaction.us.