Everyday People PAC is a left-of-center political action committee based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was founded with the purpose of defeating then-President Donald Trump in the 2020 election and has continued with the goal of defeating the right and building the left.
Seed the Vote is the focal project of Everyday People PAC. Seed the Vote partners with progressive organizations in select states to provide volunteers to participate in phone banks, knock on doors, and fundraise with the purpose of strengthening the progressive vote.
Background
Everyday People PAC is a left-progressive political action committee focused on defeating “Trumpism.” [1] Seed the Vote is the focal project developed under the auspices of the Everyday People PAC. It was founded by Bay Area left-progressive movement leaders who helped to build San Francisco Rising and Bay Rising to ensure that President Trump was defeated in 2020. The intent of Seed the Vote is to “fight the right, build the left.” [2] Started by California activists, Seed the Vote focused its efforts on swing states, beginning with Nevada and Arizona. [3]
The 2019 FEC Form 1 shows the PAC web site as “https://www.everydaypeoplepac.org.” This URL redirects to “https://www.seedthevote.org/” as of August 2022. [4]
The PAC is continuing its efforts in the 2022 mid-terms to build a left-progressive congressional majority. Volunteers participate in phone banks, knock on doors, and fundraise. [5]
Programs and Partnerships
Seed the Vote is supported by Action Network, [6] an online tool for organizing and fundraising the progressive movement. [7]
In the 2020 election cycle socialist organization LeftRoots worked with Seed the Vote to campaign for Joe Biden even though Biden was not their candidate of choice. LeftRoots supported more left-wing candidates but moved to support Joe Biden rather than risk having then-President Trump remain in office. [8]
National collaborators during the 2020 election cycle included Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) Action Fund, People’s Action, Mijente, and United Against Trump Table. [9]
State partners during the 2020 election cycle included Care in Action in Georgia, Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA) and Unite Here Local 11 in Arizona, Dream Defenders and New Florida Majority in Florida, New Georgia Project and Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) in Georgia, and Working Families Party (WFP) in Pennsylvania. [10]
Generation Rising is a partnership between the Center for Empowered Politics and Everyday People PAC to organize young people of color to support a left-progressive agenda. [11] It is a national program focused on supporting progressive issues including racial and climate activism and open immigration. [12] Generation Rising provides training to young people to impact elections in the swing states and defeat the right. [13]
In 2022, Seed the Vote is focused on the mid-term elections in the battleground states of Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Wisconsin, and North Carolina, partnering with left-of center organizations Unite Here, Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), Asian American Action Fund, and Working Families Party (WFP) to knock on doors and make calls to “defeat the right.” [14]
Financials and Donors
For the 2020 election cycle, the PAC raised $1,822,875. [15] For the 2022 election cycle, the PAC has raised $847,551. [16]
The largest individual donor for the 2020 election cycle was Elsbeth Gilmore, [17] director of development at Bend the Arc, a Jewish left-wing activist group. [18]
Donor organizations for the 2020 election cycle included Movement Voter Project, [19] a left-of-center direct funding organization focused on building “progressive power,” [20] and Asian American Advocacy Fund PAC, [21] a left-progressive advocacy organization for Asian Americans. [22]
Leadership
Emily Ja-Ming Lee was a co-founder of Seed the Vote. [23] Lee is director of San Francisco Rising and previously political director of the San Francisco Chinese Progressive Association. [24] Lee was a co-founder of San Francisco Rising and helped start Bay Resistance, a left-wing organization focused on fighting the right. [25]
Le Tim Ly is the director of Everyday People PAC. [26] Ly is CEO of Resilient Strategies LLC, [27] which provides infrastructure for progressive political and activist organizations. [28] He is COO for Center for Empowered Politics [29] and CFO of Chinese Progressive Association.
Rose Mendelsohn is organizing director of Seed the Vote. [30] Previously she was an organizer for Bay Resistance and digital organizing manager for Bay Rising.
Jill Shenker is campaign director of Everday People PAC. [31] She is an anti-racism trainer and a consultant for progressive organizations Bay Rising, Chinese Progressive Association (San Francisco), International Domestic Workers Federation, and San Francisco Rising. [32] Shenker founded National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) and was North American coordinator for International Domestic Workers Federation. [33]