By Dale Minami, CAPA21 Co-Chair

With our deepest gratitude, I join our CAPA21 co-chairs Maeley Tom, Ginger Lew, and Tamlyn Tomita in thanking the dozens of donors who contributed to our latest fundraising campaign and helping us reach our $200,000 goal!

We are especially grateful to the sponsors of our matching donation challenge: Raymond L. Ocampo Jr. and Sandra O. Ocampo, Joan Haratani, Clement Kong, Kei-on Chan and Sonia Ng, Don Tamaki, Minami Tamaki LLP, Dianne Fukami, and my spouse Ai Mori. We would not be able to do this match campaign without these sponsors and we appreciate their generous support!

In our previous announcements, we listed our first three donations to Senator Rafael Warnock in Georgia, Senator Mark Kelly in Arizona, and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada. As the events in the Capitol this week show, it has become more and more clear that we need to expand the Democratic majority in the Senate as we see Republicans holding our democracy hostage and Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema helping them.

Senate Democrats could have passed The Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act without any Republicans, but Manchin and Sinema refused to support an exception for voting rights from Senate filibuster rules. The 60-vote threshold has been modified more than hundred times before, including to pass Trump’s tax-cuts and confirm lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court. Manchin and Sinema chose instead to support this Jim Crow era rule and potentially allow large numbers of voters across the country to be disenfranchised.

Although Manchin and Sinema are not up for re-election until 2024, it is clear that we must strongly consider primary challenges to these Senators enabling the Republican obstructionist agenda. We must also work on expanding the Democratic majority in the Senate and CAPA21’s contributions in 2022 will reflect this goal.

Here are CAPA21’s donations in 2021:

• $5,000 to Senator Rafael Warnock in Georgia
• $5,000 to Senator Mark Kelly in Arizona
• $5,000 to Senator Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada
• $2,000 to Calif. Attorney General Rob Bonta
• $5,000 to Georgians Advancing Progress PAC (GAPPAC)
• $5,000 to Asian Americans in Action (Orange County, Calif.)
• $5,000 to Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (Pennsylvania)
• $5,000 to One APIA Nevada

These are the first phase of CAPA21’s donations in 2022:

• Rep. Andy Kim: A critical member of our AAPI delegation in Congress targeted by the GOP
• Rep. Josh Harder: Running for re-election in a new Calif. district with significant AAPI electorate
• Jay Chen for Congress: Strong challenger to Rep. Michelle Steel (R) in new Calif. District 45
• Stacy Abrams for Georgia Governor: An incredible leader supported by AAPIs in Georgia whose candidacy will help AAPI voter turnout
• Assemblymember Evan Low: An AAPI champion in the Calif. legislature running in a new district
• Annie Cho for Calif. State Assembly: Important challenger to Assemblywoman Suzette Valladares (R) will help address a critical gap in the Calif. legislature that does not have a single AAPI woman
• We are also earmarking funds for the Democratic nominees in Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania

This list of contributions is only the first wave of donations we’re making in 2022. There will be more to come!

We’re so thankful to all our donors: CAPA21 expresses its appreciation to the following donors for their support of our matching campaign!

$25,000+
Raymond L. Ocampo Jr. and Sandra O. Ocampo – $25,000

$15,000+
Clement Kong – $15,000

$10,000+
Dale Minami and Ai Mori – $10,000
Craig Yamada, MD and Monice Kwok, MD – $10,000
Kei-on Chan – $10,000
Tani Takagi – $10,000
Alan Sparer and Charlotte Fishman – $10,000
Donald K. Tamaki and Suzanne Ah-Tye – $10,000

$5,000+
Dianne Fukami – $5,000
David Louie – $5,000
Minette Kwok and Gerald Okimoto – $5,000
Christine Noma – $5,000
Minami Tamaki LLP – $5,000

$2,500+
Walter Fujii – $3,000
Mona Lisa Yuchengco – $2,500
Masako Takahashi – $2,500
George and Brad Takei – $2,500
Gina N. Shishima – $2,500
Jacinta Titialii-Abbott – $2,500
Lorna Randlett – $2,500

$1,000+
Ginger Lew – $2,000
Paul Lee – $2,000
Emil De Guzman: $2,000
Celia Lee and Clarke Holland – $1,000
Renie Yoshida Grohl – $1,000
Maeley Tom – $1,000
Steven Gotanda – $1,000
Stuart and Naomi Kubota Lee – $1,000
Johnnie Giles – $1,000
Paula Higashi – $1,000
Emily Leung and Ricky Ho – $1,000
Elaine H. Kim – $1,000
Jeanette Ishii – $1,000
Debra Nakatomi – $1,000
Laura Hong – $1,000
Jeanne Sakata – $1,000
Karen Mori – $1,000

$500+
Eda Fukuyama – $500
Richard Komatsu – $500
Jan Yanehiro – $500
Les Jin – $500
David Oppenheimer – $500
Steven and Karin Wing – $500
Carol Izumi – $500
Mark Morodomi – $500

Up to $500
Linda Cabatic – $300
Ikuko Kiriyama – $300
Vida Holguin – $250
Ruth Ashley – $250
Calvin Abe – $250
Ken Kashiwahara – $250
Diane Ono – $250
Dee Hayashi – $250
Doreena Wong – $200
William Gee Wong – $200
Renee Tajima – $200
Jani Iwamoto – $100
Laura Masunaga – $100
Norbert Kumagai – $100
Brenda Wong – $100
Chad Taniguchi – $100
Franklin Odo – $100
Doris Gee – $100
Charles Igawa – $50
Emily Murase – $50
Carolyn Ikari – $50
Glenn Magpantay – $35
Julie Abo – $25

Donors (amount not disclosed)
Joan Haratani
Wendy Tokuda
Kiroku Kato
Shirley Nakao
Naomi Harada
Mari Watanabe
Grace Yoo
Lynda Hirose
Miya Iwataki
James Toma
Lucy Lee
Edwin Oshika
Ken Wada
Tia Wu
Jeffery Ogata
Thuy Nguyen
Mika Hiramatsu
Camille Chun-Hoon

Donor list updated on January 20, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. Pacific.

Thank you again for your support!

DALE MINAMI
CAPA21 Co-Chair