Rapid Resist Action, also known as Rapid Resist, is a left-of-center agitation group created in 2017 to oppose the election of President Donald Trump and the Trump administration thereafter. Rapid Resist claims to have managed the “largest peer texting operation in the US in 2017” with 132 clients, including Planned Parenthood. ^{1 2}

Background

Yoni Landau and Jennifer Friedmann originally founded Rapid Resist under the name California Organizes, which focused on rallying left wing activists in Republican-held Congressional districts in Ohio, Kentucky, Idaho, and Arizona. As of 2025, Rapid Resist has moved to Chicago, Illinois. ^{1 3}

Early on, Rapid Resist identified single mothers as the largest demographic of left-wing political activists who could engage in left-of-center political agitation. The goal was to reach out to potential activists quickly and efficiently, especially to protest events with media coverage.¹

Activities

Rapid Resist Action engages in left-of-center activism by sending text messages to activists informing them of protest and other activities in which they can become involved. ⁴

Rapid Resist advocates for left-of-center protests by identifying potential agitators and asking them to protest local events with peer-to-peer texting campaigns. According to tax filings, as of 2022 Rapid Resist had a single staff member, though as of 2019 it was reported there were with approximately 50,000 volunteers completing most organization of protests in local areas. ¹

Rapid Resist advocates for left-of-center causes including immigration, government funded education and healthcare programs, and promoting the claim that President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign engaged in a conspiracy to assist Russian intelligence efforts to hack the Democratic National Committee’s emails and otherwise interfere in the 2016 general elections. ⁵

Rapid Resist solicits other left-wing organizations to gather information about newsworthy rallies and political events to direct potential agitators. ⁶ To determine where to rally volunteers, Rapid Resist uses information gathered through Indivisible and similar organizations. ⁷

After identifying locations for protests, Rapid Resist volunteers contact potential agitators using a peer-to-peer texting platform developed by Hustle, an organization that caters to left-wing organizations. Rapid Resist purchases contact lists of potential targets, improves targeting parameters, then gives those lists to volunteers to send personal messages via SMS text messages. Since its creation, Rapid Resist has sent over 5.5 million text messages to left-wing activists. ⁸

Rapid Resist claims to have reached over 600,000 activists and to send over 92,000 texts a week. ⁹

Elections

In 2024, Rapid Resist Action was behind a nationwide text message campaign conducted by AllVote that was criticized for sending misleading election information causing voters to think that their ballots had not been counted. ¹⁰

In 2018, Rapid Resist claims to have recruited 10,000 people to run races in districts held by Republican incumbents. By approaching left-wing activists in local townhalls to encourage them to run, about 8 percent agree to running for local office. ¹

In March 2017, Rapid Resist used their platform to protest then-U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV), who was running for re-election. It notified local activists who disrupted a local fundraiser to protest Senator Heller’s position on a conservative healthcare bill. Senator Heller reversed his position after a Rapid Resist-assisted demonstration. ¹¹ Senator Heller was the only incumbent Republican Senator to lose in the 2018 midterm elections. ¹²

Associated Groups

Rapid Resist Action claims to have supported over 230 left-of-center activist organizations across the country, including America Votes, a left-of-center lobbying and advocacy coalition that receives funding from the left-leaning dark money group Sixteen Thirty Fund of the Arabella Advisors network; California Calls, a left-of-center nonprofit that advocates for state-wide tax increases; Fight4OurHealth; Keep Cannabis Legal; Muslims for Social Justice; Movement to End Racism and Islamophobia; Working America, the “community affiliate” of the AFL-CIO; and Indivisible and Indivisible-affiliated organizations in Georgia, Alabama, Arkansan, Tennessee, Alaska, Louisiana, California, Ohio, Texas, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, Kansas, Tennessee, Florida, Nevada, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Missouri, Oklahoma, and more. ⁹

Leadership

Yonatan (Yoni) Landau is the co-founder and CEO of Rapid Resist Action. As of April 2024, Landau was also the chief executive officer of Movement Labs, a left-of-center nonprofit technology consulting organization  formerly known as Resistance Labs; a board member of Central Valley Empowerment Organization; and a principal at Public Results. Previously, Ladau was the interim executive director of Inequality Media, an associate at Double Bottom Lione Investors, a performance management associate at the White House Office of Management and Budget during the Obama administration, co-founder of the Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive, and program consultant at Parker Street Foundation. ^{3 13}

Landau was reportedly behind a misleading text message campaign in Arizona through an organization called VoteWin that incorrectly told voters they were not eligible to vote by mail. ¹⁰

Co-founder Jennifer Friedman worked as the Ohio regional organizing director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, and senior communications advisor for the Obama presidential campaign. Friedman also worked as Organizing Fellows Manager for Organizing for America, to increase support for then-President Barack Obama’s policy priorities while in office. ^{14 15}

Financials

According to tax filings, in 2022 Rapid Resist Action reported $1,987,939 in revenue, $291,959 in expenses, and $383,200 in assets. Nearly all the organization’s expenses that year ($290,167) were spent to promote left-of-center activism. The organization received all its income that year from contributions, gifts, and grants. ³

In 2022 and 2021 Rapid Resist Reportedly received a total of $664,000 from major Democratic fancier Reid Hoffman through two nonprofit organizations, American Future Republic and Patriotic Republic. Rapid Resist has also reportedly received $500,000 from Democratic Party donor and cryptocurrency investor James McLave through the BEMC 4 Association as well as five- and six- figure donations from government worker union AFSCME, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, and America Votes. ¹⁰

In 2023, Rapid Resist reportedly received $934,828 from Hoffman-affiliated Super PACs. ¹⁶

According to Open Secrets, in 2024 Rapid Resist Action gave millions of dollars to various left-of-center organizations, including $6,000,000 to Voters of These 50 States America, $2,000,000 to Did They Vote PAC, $600,000 to Building America PAC, and $150,000 each to Contest Every Race PAC, Nevada Political Innovations, Political Innovations PAC, Rapid Recruit PAC, North Carolina Movement Labs, Nevada Progress Incubator, Texting Solutions PAC, Pennsylvania Political Innovations, Pennsylvania Progress Incubator, Texas Movement Labs, Pennsylvania Movement Labs,  Texas Political Innovations, Wisconsin Political Innovations, North Carolina Political Innovations, North Carolina Progress Incubator, Nevada Movement Labs, Wisconsin Movement Labs, Georgia Movement Labs, Georgia Progress Incubator, Arizona Political Innovations, Florida Movement Labs, Arizona Progress Incubator, Michigan Progress Incubator, Florida Political Innovations, Arizona Movement Labs, Movement Labs, Michigan Political Innovations, and Michigan Movement Labs. ¹⁷

1. “Connecting the Resistance via Text Message w/ Rapid Resist’s yoni Landau & Hustle’s Perry Rosenstein | Episode 64” Resistance Dashboard. November 6, 2017. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://www.resistancedashboard.com/node/309
2. “Home.” Rapid Resist. Accessed May 4, 2019. https://rapidresist.org/
3. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Rapid Response Action. 2023.
4. “Register.” Rapid Resist. Accessed April 7, 2025. https://register.rapidresist.org/opt-in/rapid-resist.
5. Novick, Ilana. “Resistance against Trump is just a text message away – and organizing leaders say it’s working.” Salon. August 12, 2017. Accessed May 1, 2019. https://www.salon.com/2017/08/12/resistance-against-trump-is-just-a-text-message-away-and-organizing-leaders-say-it-is-working_partner/
6. “Connecting the Resistance via Text Message w/ Rapid Resist’s yoni Landau & Hustle’s Perry Rosenstein | Episode 64” Resistance Dashboard. November 6, 2017. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://www.resistancedashboard.com/node/309
7. “Rapid Resist Activates Protestors.” Fast Company. May 25 ,2017. Accessed April 25, 2019. https://www.fastcompany.com/40423982/rapid-resist-activates-protestors-so-lawmakers-can-hear-what-their-constituents-really-think
8. “Home.” Rapid Resist. Accessed May 4, 2019. https://rapidresist.org/
9. “The Resistance Text-Bank.” Rapid Resist. Accessed April 7, 2025. https://rapidresist.org/home-1.
10. Ross, Chuck. “’Something That the Feds Really Need To Look At’: Liberal Dark Money Network Sends Inaccurate Election Texts to Voters Across US.” Washington Free Beacon. November 1, 2025. Accessed April 7, 2025. https://freebeacon.com/elections/something-that-the-feds-really-need-to-look-at-liberal-dark-money-network-sends-inaccurate-election-texts-to-voters-across-us/
11. “Rapid Resist Activates Protestors.” Fast Company. May 25 ,2017. Accessed April 25, 2019. https://www.fastcompany.com/40423982/rapid-resist-activates-protestors-so-lawmakers-can-hear-what-their-constituents-really-think
12. “Rapid Resist Activates Protestors” Giving Compass. July 27, 2017. Accessed April 24, 2019. https://givingcompass.org/article/rapid-resist-activates-protestors-so-lawmakers-can-hear-what-their-constituents-really-think/
13. “Yani L.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 7, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoni-l-534b4b16/details/experience/.
14. Novick, Ilana. “Resistance against Trump is just a text message away – and organizing leaders say it’s working.” Salon. August 12, 2017. Accessed May 1, 2019. https://www.salon.com/2017/08/12/resistance-against-trump-is-just-a-text-message-away-and-organizing-leaders-say-it-is-working_partner/
15. “Jen Friedman.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 4, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jen-friedman-22447660/
16. Ross, Chuck. “Marc Elias’s Law Firm Linked to Network of Dem Super PACs Behind Deceptive Text Message Operation.” Washington Free Beacon. December 12, 2024. Accessed April 7, 2025. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/marc-eliass-law-firm-linked-to-network-of-dem-super-pacs-behind-deceptive-text-message-operation/
17. “Rapid Resist Action: Donor Detail.” Open Secrets. Accessed April 7, 2025. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending//donor_detail?cycle=2024&id=Rapid%20Resist%20Action&type=O&super=Y.