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Vote Captain

Website:

www.votecaptain.org
Founded:

2018
Website Team:

Lila Nordstrom

Carla Nordstrom

Andy Bobrow

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

Vote Captain is a voter mobilization website that claims to be non-partisan but is run by a left-of-center family that has been active in politics with ties to Democratic politicians. Vote Captain suggests apps and resources for getting people to vote that link to left-leaning voter projects. Social media programs that Vote Captain promotes have ties to the Obama administration, the left-of-center Democracy Alliance, and former Google employees who volunteered for the Obama campaigns.

History

Vote Captain is a voter mobilization website launched in October 2018. 1 The website claims to be non-partisan, but is largely run by a family with ties to Democrat politics. 2 Most of the blog postings are authored by Lila Nordstrom. 3

Programs

The Vote Captain website provides information on registering to vote, state voting guidelines, advice on talking to family and friends about politics and voting, outreach materials for social media and direct contact with voters, and checklists for maximizing voter turnout. 4

Vote Captain has partnered with New Data Project’s app, Vote With Me, to get friends and family to vote. 5 New Data Project designed the app to get more left-of-center people to vote and the company was founded by Obama administration staff members and former Google employees who volunteered for President Barack Obama. 6

Vote Captain promotes Voter’s Edge as “a great non-partisan voter resource” in California for selecting candidates. 7 Voters Edge is a collaborative effort of the California League of Women Voters and MapLight, a non-profit organization listed by the Democracy Alliance as part of the “Progressive Infrastructure Map.” 8 Vote Captain also partners with the Outvote app, which works exclusively with Democrats and left-wing candidates. 9

Leadership

Lila Nordstrom is on the website team at Vote Captain and is the daughter of Andy Babrow and Carla Nordstrom. 10 Lila Nordstrom has advocated for universal Medicare. 11 In 2020, Nordstrom was a fellow with the LGBT social justice Equality California Institute Leadership Academy. 12 A graduate of New York City’s elite Stuyvesant High School, Nordstrom founded StuyHealth, 13 an organization advocating for benefits for students who attended schools in lower Manhattan during and after the 9/11 attacks, who were allegedly exposed to toxic materials. 14

Nordstrom wrote a book, Some Kids Left Behind, with forewords from Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) about her experiences on 9/11 and the fight for health care benefits for former students. 15 Nordstrom works in Los Angeles as a television and commercial producer. 16

Carla Nordstrom is on the website team at Vote Captain and is the mother of Lila Nordstrom. 17 Nordstrom began a website in 2018 to elect a left-of-center candidate to New York’s 19th congressional district. 18 That site provides resources for those thinking of running for election that links to left-of-center and Democrat websites. 19 Nordstrom also donated to candidate Joyce St. George (D) for state representative in the 2018 election. 20

Andy Bobrow is on the website team at Vote Captain and is the father of Lila Nordstrom. 21 Bobrow is a writer, producer, and director of video and multimedia and instructor at The New School and New York University School of Professional Studies. 22 Bobrow posted numerous videos on his YouTube channel supporting Democrat candidate Joyce St. George in the 2018 New York state representative campaign. 23

References

  1. Vote Captain website. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.votecaptain.org/blog/2018/10/8/weve-launched.
  2. Barckhaus, Wendy. “At the Library: Reviewing New Books.” New Franklin Register. Fall 2021. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://franklinlocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/nfr44.pdf; Seeds of Democracy. Accessed 21, 2022. https://seedsofdemocracy.org/running-for-office/; Center for Responsive Politics. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=carla+nordstrom.
  3. Vote Captain. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.votecaptain.org/about-us; Vote Captain website. www.votecaptain.org. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.votecaptain.org/blog.
  4. Vote Captain. Accessed April 21, 2022.
  5. Vote Captain. October 31, 2018. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.votecaptain.org/blog/2018/10/30/vote-with-me.
  6. Cirruzzo, Chelsea. “Former Obama White House Staffers Wanted More People to Vote – So They Created an App.” WUSA9-Washington. October 18, 2018. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/former-obama-white-house-staffers-wanted-more-people-to-vote-so-they-created-an-app/65-605699018.
  7. Vote Captain Twitter. www.twitter.com. October 26, 2020. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://twitter.com/BeAVoteCaptain/status/1320786358076502017?cxt=HHwWgsCnlbyMsNQkAAAA.
  8. Voter’s Edge California. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://votersedge.org/ca/page/about-voters-edge; Influence Watch. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/maplight/.
  9. Vote Captain. “Outvote Can Help Your Friends AND Your Campaign.” November 3, 2018. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.votecaptain.org/blog/2018/11/2/outvote.
  10. Vote Captain website. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.votecaptain.org/about-us; Barckhaus, Wendy. “At the Library: Reviewing New Books.” New Franklin Register. Fall 2021. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://franklinlocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/nfr44.pdf.
  11. Lila Nordstrom Twitter. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://twitter.com/lilainchelsea?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor.
  12. Lila Nordstrom. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.lilanordstrom.com/about.
  13. Lila Nordstrom. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.lilanordstrom.com/about.
  14. [1] Vote Captain. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.votecaptain.org/about-us; StuyHealth Facebook. www.facebook.com. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/StuyHealth/about/?ref=page_internal.
  15. [1] Lila Nordstrom. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.lilanordstrom.com/post/some-kids-left-behind-is-in-stores-now.
  16. Lila Nordstrom website. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.lilanordstrom.com/about.
  17. Vote Captain website. www.votecaptain.org. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.votecaptain.org/about-us; Barckhaus, Wendy. “At the Library: Reviewing New Books.” New Franklin Register. Fall 2021. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://franklinlocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/nfr44.pdf.
  18. Vote Captain. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.votecaptain.org/about-us; Seeds of Democracy. Accessed 21, 2022. https://seedsofdemocracy.org/about-seeds-of-democracy/#.
  19. Seeds of Democracy. Accessed 21, 2022. https://seedsofdemocracy.org/running-for-office/.
  20. Center for Responsive Politics. Accessed April 24, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=carla+nordstrom.
  21. Vote Captain website. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://www.votecaptain.org/about-us; Barckhaus, Wendy. “At the Library: Reviewing New Books.” New Franklin Register. Fall 2021. Accessed April 21, 2022. https://franklinlocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/nfr44.pdf.
  22. “Andy Bobrow.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 25, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/andybobrow.
  23. [1] Andy Bobrow YouTube channel. Accessed April 25, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSPLh7zWioXshALuQfAjU2w/videos?view=0.
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