Carolina Federation

History

The Carolina Federation was formed in 2018 to support the election of Democratic Party politicians who support more government control over the economy and who seek to advance more social policies that focus on race and gender. ¹

Theo Luebke and Sendolo Diaminah, the co-directors of the Carolina Federation, have stated that they were inspired to start their organization after attending leadership programs hosted by the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and Black Organizing for Leadership and Development (BOLD). ¹ In addition, the co-directors sought to create a state-wide political machine in North Carolina after learning more about the operations of organizations such as New Virginia Majority, Florida Rising, and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. ¹

Finances

In 2019, the Carolina Federation received $913,238 in contributions, ³ incurred $249,297 in expenses, ⁴ and possessed $648,408 in net assets. ⁵

The Carolina Federation is a beneficiary of the Tides Nexus, a collection of left-of-center grantmaking, fiscal sponsorship, and advocacy nonprofits headquartered in San Francisco, California. ⁶ In 2019, the organization received contributions from All-Hands on Deck ($42,000), ⁷ Tides Advocacy ($54,500), ⁸ Tides Foundation ($15,000), ⁹ and the Tides Center ($7,500). ¹⁰

In 2020, the Carolina Federation received contributions from America Votes ($60,000), ¹¹ Make North Carolina First ($105,000), ¹² Tides Foundation ($60,000), ¹³ the See Forward Fund ($40,000), ¹⁴ and the Mill Valley Community Action Network ($31,000). ¹⁵

Blue Tent

The Carolina Federation receives support from Blue Tent, an organization that connects left-of-center organizations that support the Democratic Party with donors. ¹⁶ In an article advising Democratic Party-aligned donors to support the Carolina Federation, Blue Tent stated that the Carolina Federation was a “small” organization with an annual budget of only $913,238. ¹⁷

Blue Tent has also stressed to donors that the Carolina Federation is an important vehicle for the Democratic Party because North Carolina has a greater expansion potential, defined as the potential to register new voters, for Democratic Party voters with 964,022 potential new voters to the Republican Party’s 753,455 potential new voters. ¹⁷

2020 Election

In 2020 the Carolina Federation conducted a targeted campaign to flip Guilford County, New Hanover County, Forsyth County, and Durham County from Republican Party to Democratic Party counties. ¹

As part of the campaign, the Carolina Federation engaged in 85,711 in-person conversations, 1,169,558 phone calls, 1,899,109 texts, and 31,652 door-to-door conversations in North Carolina. ¹

The Carolina Federation was able to flip the Guilford County, NC Board of Commissioners from a majority Republican Party commission to a majority Democratic Party commission. ¹ The organization also claims credit for electing two Democratic Party candidates to the New Hanover School Board, and New Hanover County voting for the Democratic Party presidential candidate for the first time in 44 years. ¹

Local Activism

The Carolina Federation seeks to incubate social organizations that support the Democratic Party in North Carolina. ¹ In Forsyth County, the organization created the Forsyth County Freedom Federation. After the North Carolina Board of Elections refused to list the organization’s endorsed candidate on the ballot for the Forsyth County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor, the Carolina Federation utilized the Forsyth County Freedom Federation to run a write-in campaign for Forsyth County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor. ¹ While the campaign was unsuccessful, the organization was able to mobilize 1,500 write-in votes for its preferred candidate. ¹

Carolina Federation PAC

While the Carolina Federation is designed around local activism and door-to-door campaigns, the organization also operates a political action committee (PAC). ¹⁸ The Carolina Federation PAC is used by the Carolina Federation to provide financial support to political candidates whose views align with the far-left wing of the Democratic Party. ¹⁸

Leadership

Theo Luebke and Sendolo Diaminah are the co-directors of the Carolina Federation. ¹ Prior to joining the Carolina Federation, Luebke was the North Carolina organizing director for America Votes from 2012 until 2017. ¹ Prior to joining the Carolina Federation, Diaminah was a training director for Black Organizing for Leadership & Dignity (BOLD).