LUPE (La Union del Pueblo Entero) Votes ¹ is a left-of-center get-out-the-vote (GOTV) and activist organization that targets Hispanic voters in South Texas. ²

The organization supports left-of-center policies towards immigrant justice, ³ citizenship for illegal immigrants residing in the United States, ⁴ and Medicare for All. ⁵ During the 2024 campaign cycle, LUPE Votes  claimed to “completely” endorse the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris. ^{6 7 8}

In 2023, LUPE Votes received $600,000 from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. ⁹ LUPE Votes also received $200,000 from the Way to Win Action Fund and $160,000 from the Sixteen Thirty Fund in 2022. ¹⁰

History and Leadership

LUPE Votes was founded in October 2021. ¹¹

Tania Chavez is the executive director of LUPE Votes. ^{12 1} She is also the executive director of LUPE Votes’s affiliated 501(c)(3), LUPE (La Union del Pueblo Entero), ¹³  and has worked in various roles with LUPE since October 2013. ¹

Activities and Funding

LUPE Votes ¹ is a left-of-center get-out-the-vote (GOTV) and activist organization that targets Hispanic voters in South Texas. The group’s focus is growing support for left-of-center policies and Democratic-affiliated candidates in the region, with a particular focus on the state’s 15th U.S. Congressional district and the Rio Grande Valley. ²

LUPE Votes is the 501(c)(4) lobbying and electoral-advocacy affiliate of LUPE, a membership-based organization founded by left-of-center labor union activists Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta in 1989. ^{14 15} The organization is guided by Chavez’s approach to politics. ^{6 16}

LUPE Votes conducts its activities in English and Spanish. ¹⁷ The organization supports the far-left concepts of immigrant justice, ³ citizenship for illegal immigrants residing in the United States, ⁴ and Medicare for All. ⁵

LUPE Votes also has a political action committee (PAC). ¹⁸ LUPE Votes claims that former President Donald Trump has an “extremist agenda” and works to reject politicians it considers to be “backwards Republicans.” ⁶

Political Activism

LUPE Votes engages in left-of-center political activism and advocacy. In 2024, LUPE Votes claimed to “completely” endorse the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris. LUPE Votes’ endorsement urged its supporters to reject the 2024 presidential campaign of former President Donald Trump, saying that electing Democrats and rejecting what it considers “backwards Republicans” is the best way to advance its interests. ^{6 7 8}

LUPE Votes organizes election day and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) volunteers for election day to support Democratic campaigns in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. ¹⁹ The organization is also focused on “keeping Trumpism out of the White House and Congress” ²⁰ and runs the “We the Pueblo” campaign to mobilize voters on the U.S.-Mexico border to support its preferred candidates and ideology. ¹⁶

During the 2024 election cycle, LUPE Votes endorsed the U.S. Senate campaign of Roland Gutierrez (D) against incumbent U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) ²¹ and the candidacy of Democrat Michelle Vallejo in her challenge to U.S. Representative Monica De La Cruz (R-TX). ²²

In 2022, the LUPE Votes political action committee received $100,000 from the left-of-center Four Freedoms Fund for political activities. ^{23 24}

Controversy

In 2022, LUPE Votes faced controversy for allegedly violating Federal Election Commission (FEC) campaign finance laws during a runoff election for the Democratic Party nomination in Texas’s 15^th U.S Congressional District. ²³ In this primary race, LUPE Votes supported Michelle Vallejo (D) against Ruben Ramirez (D). According to reports, LUPE Votes did not disclose its spending in the primary election until more than one month after the election ended, missing campaign finance disclosure deadlines. As a result, Ramirez supporters filed a complaint with the FEC that accused LUPE Votes of illegally coordinating with the Vallejo campaign after she won the primary election by approximately 300 votes. ²³

Funding

LUPE Votes receives its funding from individual contributions and grants. Individual contributions to the group are routed through ActBlue Civics, a Democratic-affiliated fundraising platform. ² In 2022, LUPE Votes reported revenue of $533,926 and expenses of $357,056. In 2022, the organization reported revenue of $100,363 and expenses of $44,762. ³

In 2023, LUPE Votes received $600,000 from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. ⁹ That same year, LUPE Votes received a grant from the left-of-center Rural Democracy Initiative through the organization’s Rural Victory Fund. ²⁵

In 2022, LUPE Votes received, $200,000 from the Way to Win Action Fund, $160,000 from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, and $25,000 from the All Hands on Deck Network. ¹² The organization also received a grant from the environmentalist advocacy organization Clean and Prosperous America in 2022. ¹⁰

1. “Tania Chavez.” LinkedIn. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/taniachavez/.
2. “Donate.” ACT Blue. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/lupevotes.
3. “LUPE Votes.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2022. Part I. https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/852786747_202212_990O_2023120722083462.pdf.
4. “Tweet.” Posted December 7, 2021. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://x.com/lupevotes/status/1468235745735417870.
5. Davila, Gaige. “The Rio Grande Valley’s political landscape is changing amid midterm, governor elections.” Texas Public Radio. December 28, 2021. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2021-12-28/the-rio-grande-valleys-political-landscape-is-changing-amid-midterm-governor-elections.
6. “Why We Engage in Electoral Politics.” LUPE Votes. August 28, 2024. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://lupevotes.org/2024/08/28/why-we-engage-in-electoral-politics/.
7. “Tweet.” LUPE Votes Twitter. Posted August 28, 2024. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://x.com/lupevotes/status/1828918698381381799.
8. “Harris.” We the Pueblo. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://lupevotes.org/harris/.
9. “Awarded Grants.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?filter_keyword=LUPe+votes&grant_id=OR2023-90555.
10. “Grant Recipients.” Clean and Prosperous America. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://cleanprosperousamerica.org/youth-community-oriented-campaign/grant-recipients/.
11. “Federal Election Commission Letter.” Federal Election Commission. January 11, 2024. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/murs/7982/7982_34.pdf.
12. “Lupe Votes.” Cause IQ. Accessed October 20, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/lupe-votes,852786747/.
13. Lopez, Portia. “Welcome to Our New Executive Director, Tania A. Chavez Camacho.” LUPE Blog. February 2, 2023. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://lupenet.org/2023/02/02/lets-welcome-our-new-executive-director-tania-a-chavez-camacho/.
14. “RELEASE: Lupe Continues to Fight In Court Texas’ Anti-Voter Law.” LUPE. October 11, 2023. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://lupenet.org/2023/10/11/lupe-continues-to-fight-in-court-texas-anti-voter-law/.
15. “LUPE Staff.” LUPE. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://lupenet.org/staff-at-lupe/.
16. “About LUPE Votes.” We the Pueblo. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://lupevotes.org/about-lupe-votes/.
17. “Spanish.” We the Pueblo. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://lupevotes.org/lupe-votes-welcome-2-2/.
18. “PAC Profile: LUPE Votes.” Open Secrets. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/lupe-votes/C90021304/summary/2010.
19. “LUPE Votes Volunteer Forum.” LUPE Votes. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSccyFu8xYgj2Riw5zQi99JyWamHc9EV1VcqcGdAXpe5fHQ88A/viewform.
20. “Why We Engage in Electoral Politics.” We The Pueblo. August 28, 2024. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://lupevotes.org/2024/08/28/why-we-engage-in-electoral-politics/.
21. “Tweet.” LUPE Votes Twitter. Posted February 15, 2024. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://x.com/lupevotes/status/1758136296101613753.
22. Taylor, Steve. “LUPE Votes encouraged by new poll showing Vallejo closing in on De La Cruz.” Rio Grande Guardian. October 4, 2024. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://riograndeguardian.com/lupe-votes-encouraged-by-new-poll-showing-vallejo-closing-in-on-de-la-cruz/.
23. Svitek, Patrick. “In Democratic runoff for South Texas congressional seat, nonprofit backing a candidate is accused of campaign finance violations.” The Texas Tribune. April 26, 2022. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/26/texas-2022-15th-congressional-district-democrats/.
24. “Contributions.” Federal Election Commission Filing FEC-1587772. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C90021304/1587772/f56.
25. “2023 Impact Report.” Rural Democracy Initiative. March 2024. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://ruraldemocracyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/RDI-2023-Impact-Report-compressed.pdf.