Life of Wry

Quite a large number of people attended a fundraiser for Rudy Salas this evening at a lovely home on the banks of the Putah in old Willowbank. Maybe 100-125? Saw tons of folks I knew — lots of conversation, lots of money raised for Rudy… a dem from CA-22 (down near Bakersfield) who’s vying for a congressional seat currently held by a rep. A very flippable district, which means a lot of national attention is on this race.

My friendraising group has raised money for Rudy. I’ve phone banked and postcarded AND have done some voter registration at one of the community colleges in his district earlier this year. Plus, I’ve given not a trivial amount of money.

So it was nice to get a chance to meet him in person and hear him speak. He’s a great candidate and his winning would def contribute to the democratic effort to regain the House!

I’m going to append below the letter I drafted (and which everyone in our group sent to their list of friends in April).

Below is Antonio making some excellent comments in support of Rudy. Antonio recently ran for a seat on the Yolo Board of Supes, but lost. He’s got all kinds of political experience, having been a staffer for Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro, among other things. He grew up in Davis and went to Chavez (he’s is a few years older than Peter). I like him a lot and hope somebody’ll be introducing him at a fundraiser one day. He belongs in elected public service.

Hello friends,

Welcome to our April opportunity to make a difference. We’re pumped about this one! 

As you know, we often focus on flippable statehouse races in swing states because these low-profile races are, in fact, little bombshells of strategy magic where our dollars make an outsized impact. But this month we are doing something a little different, higher profile, because the stakes are unusually high.

As you also know, the US House of Representatives is NARROWLY controlled by Republicans. California has a swath of congressional districts in the very red Central Valley whose current representatives are vulnerable. These districts are attracting a lot of attention because — were they to flip — they might affect who controls the House next year. 

With that in mind, we have our eyes on CA District 22 (Bakersfield area). The Cook Political Report says that this district is Democrats’ best pickup opportunity in 2024. Democrat Rudy Salas is in a close race against David Valadao, an anti-choice (anti-everything good, as it turns out), incumbent MAGA zealot. 

Rudy grew up in the Central Valley, working in the grape fields with his family. He graduated from UCLA and became the first Latino elected to the Bakersfield City Council. He has served for (5) terms in the California State Assembly. He put Prop 1 on the ballot (abortion access, contraceptives); he’s worked to expand rural healthcare access; he secured funds for social and infrastructure projects, safe water initiatives, climate and wildfire management, and tons more. He would be an excellent representative in the House! 

CA-22 has one of the youngest and poorest electorates in the state. Low voter turnout resulted in a republican win last election. Rudy described the challenge, “The battle is getting the ballot from the kitchen table to the ballot box.” Our early dollars to Rudy’s campaign are vital. Funds now will help build out the campaign, hire staff and canvassers, buy important ad time… all of which will help to reach those low propensity voters. The fact is, Democrats hold an 18-point registration advantage over Republicans in this district. We just need to get them to vote! Everyone knows this will be a close race, but it’s also WINNABLE! 

Election watchers are predicting Rudy’s will be the most expensive House race in the country. As Gavin Newsom said this week, early financial support is important for so many reasons: it shows the press, Rudy’s allies and his opponents that his campaign has strength, depth and momentum. And dollars always beget dollars. 

Both our February and March appeals raised nearly $6000 each. I’m serious when I say our efforts are making a difference in these key races. We are on a roll! 

Whew! Thanks for reading. 

To contribute to Rudy’s campaign, click on this ActBlue link: 

With sincerely thanks,