2018 Midterms – CAPA21 PAC

Democrats Took Back the House and You Helped Asian Americans Make a Difference in the Midterms

“I think CAPA21’s fundraising for the midterms has been groundbreaking. I can’t think of another progressive Asian American PAC that has raised $100,000 in an election cycle. More efforts like this are needed to help Asian Americans engage in political empowerment.” ~ Donald K. Tamaki

It was a huge blue wave and Democrats picked up the most House seats in a generation. And “California hasn’t been this blue since the Civil War.”

When CAPA21 launched our Asian Americans #TakeItBack campaign through CAPA21, our goal was to raise enough donations to help Asian Americans play a strong role in wresting the House away from the Trump-enabling Republicans.

You helped us accomplish that. Because of the support of our donors (see list below), CAPA21 reached our $100,000 campaign goal for candidates and field activities.

A few races are still undecided, but we provide below a status of the races we invested in. We also provide links to more information about the field activities we supported.

On behalf of CAPA21 PAC Chair Glen S. Fukushima and campaign partner Hoyt Zia, thank you for your incredible support.

Dale Minami
President, CAPA21 PAC

RESULTS

Note that the races we list as wins are not officially decided until the relevant authorities certify the election results. With your generous support, we made three rounds of donations to candidates in California swing districts and to key Asian American candidates (amounts reflect totals to date).

(WIN) Andy Kim for Congress – New Jersey – $5,000: This race was just called today in favor of Kim, winning 49.9% to 48.8% over incumbent Rep. Tom MacArthur.

(WIN) Mike Levin For Congress – California 49th District – $5,000: Levin won this seat left open by Rep. Darrell Issa’s retirement over Diane Harkey, 55% to 45%.

(WIN) Josh Harder for Congress – California 10th District – $5,000: Harder ousted incumbent Rep. Jeff Denham 51.3% to 48.7%.

(WIN) Katie Hill for Congress – California 25th District – $5,000: Hill kicked out incumbent Rep. Steve Knight 52.6% to 47.4%.

(WIN) Harley Rouda for Congress – California 48th District – $5,000: Rouda beat incumbent Rep. Dana Rohrabacher 52.2% to 47.8%.

(WIN) Jacky Rosen for U.S. Senate (Nevada) – $5,000: Rosen denied incumbent Sen. Dean Heller a second term, winning 50.4% to 45.4%.

(WIN) Gil Cisneros for Congress – California 39th District – $1,500: Republican Young Kim’s lead over Cisneros evaporated and the AP called this race for Cisneros on Nov 17. GOP Rep. Ed Royce’s retirement opened this seat.

(UNDECIDED) Gina Ortiz Jones for Congress – Texas – $5,000: Ortiz Jones is trying to close a 1,150-vote gap with incumbent Rep. Will Hurd. As of this email, media outlets report a recount is possible.

CAPA21 endorsed and donated to the following candidates who executed strong campaigns, but lost:
Andrew Janz for Congress – California 22nd District – $5,000
TJ Cox for Congress – California 21st District – $5,000
Hiral Tipirneni – Arizona 8th District – $2.000
Beto O’Rourke for U.S. Senate (Texas) – $5,000
Heidi Heitkamp for U.S. Senate (North Dakota) – $2,000

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to expend the entire amount of donations raised due to contributions received close to Election Day, but we will use the remaining funds for future efforts including the 2020 races for Congress and for President.

DONATIONS TO FIELD ACTIVITIES AND COORDINATED CAMPAIGNS
Asian Americans Against Trumpism – $7,500
APIAVote – $5,000
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance – $5,000
Blue Momentum PAC (Rep. Ted Lieu’s leadership PAC) – $2,500

Click here to learn how these groups impacted the midterms!

THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS!

The CAPA21 PAC recognizes and thanks those on the front lines – the early donors – who have made generous contributions to this effort:

Hoyt Zia and Leigh-Ann Miyasato
Glen S. Fukushima
Minami Tamaki LLP
Clement Kong
Don Tamaki
Johnnie Giles
Dale Minami and Ai Mori
Mona Lisa Yuchengco
Dr. Craig Yamada and Dr. Monice Kwok
Kei-On Chan
Renie Yoshida Grohl
Bryan Springmeyer
Chris Noma and Steve Fong
Colbert Matsumoto
Dianne Fukami
Henry Der
Joan Haratani
John Yang
Michael G. Lee
Minette Kwok and Gerald Okimoto
Paul Osaki
Richard Sakai and Connie Young
Sydney Kohara
Edwin Oshika
Gayle Chan
Audrey Yamamoto
David Louie
Diane Lee
Emerald Yeh
Jane Chin
Jon Osaki
Roy and Georgette Imura
Tasha Yorozu
Angela Oh
Audee Kochiyama Holman
Hiroshi Shimizu
Maeley Tom
Emi Gusukuma
Jeff Woo and Shirley Tan
Katherine Lee
Louise Ing
Mas and Marcia Hashimoto
Sean Tamura-Sato
Stan Yogi
Vincent Pan
Carol Izumi
Doris Gee
Eddie and Pam Kochiyama
Jeff and Sandy Mori
Laurie Shigekuni
Philip Kan Gotanda and Diane Takei
Sam Mihara
Teresa Tan
Tina Lee and Steve Ngo
Todd Fujinaga
William G. Wong
Shirley Nakao
Ben and Dianne Fong-Torres
Billy Chan
Cal Abe
Celia Lee and Clarke Holland
Dr. Roland Minami
Eddie Wong
Gary Lee and Lisa Oyama
Glenn Magpantay
Kathryn Fong
Martha Nakagawa
Nancy Yamaguchi
Patricia Shiu
Paul Igasaki
Richard Komatsu
Satsuki Ina
Vicky Chin
Wilfred Lim
Yu-Yee Wu
Karen Kai and Bob Rusky
Shin Inouye
Donna Fujii
Darren Teshima
Susan Almazol
Emiko Omori
Mary Ridley

If you donated and don’t see your name here, please let us know so we can recognize you!

Hoyt Zia: Why We’re Digging Deep to Help Take Back Congress

Friends,

Hoyt Zia, Leigh-Ann Miyasato, and CAPA21 Chair Glen S. Fukushima are pledging $20,000 total in matching donations. We surpassed our $50,000 and this match pledge is key to helping us hit our next goal of $100,000.

Donate today and your donation will effectively be doubled!

Below, Hoyt explains why he and Leigh-Ann are digging deep to help take back Congress. They are not frequent donors to political causes. They are not wealthy. But like many of you, they see the extreme urgency of the threat posed by Trump and the Republicans.

Our deepest appreciation to Hoyt, Leigh-Ann, and Glen for their generous pledge on top of their already considerable previous donations!

After Hoyt’s post, I share a list of our total donations after two rounds of contributions and an updated list of our donors we’d like to thank for supporting Asian Americans #TakeItBack!

Thank you for your continued support!

~ Dale

Hoyt Zia: Why We’re Digging Deep to Help Take Back Congress

Leigh-Ann and I recently donated $10,000 to support the CAPA21 PAC and ensure that Asian American’s invest in efforts to take back our Congress. This is the biggest political contribution we have ever made, and we’re willing to contribute even more now because it’s that important.

When we first saw Dale MInami’s email about CAPA21’s Asian Americans #TakeItBack fundraising campaign, we decided to give big. It wasn’t a hard decision because we recognized that we urgently need to stem the horror of watching our democracy being systematically dismantled by that lunatic in the White House and his lackeys. Giving to CAPA21 seems our best way to Resist.

The upcoming midterm elections frankly scare the hell out of us. They will be the most important elections of our generation if not our lifetimes. They will determine what kind of country we leave for our children, one where white supremacists are empowered at the expense of women and people of color—like us—or one in which we continue to enjoy the freedoms and equality that we’ve spent our lives fighting for.

We’ve known many of you, our fellow CAPA21 contributors, for decades, and the arc of our lives has been the same as yours. We’ve worked like you to take care of our families, provide for our kids and prepare for retirement, and although we’re not crazy rich Asians we’ve managed to save enough. While we generally prefer to make our donations to charitable causes instead of political campaigns, this upcoming election presents a stark choice, and we choose to give more now for a brighter, hopeful future against a political regime that has and will continue to strip the rights and undo the social justice causes we’ve spent our lives fighting for.

As Asian Americans, we’ve been talking about political empowerment for our community since the Clinton Administration, but our political giving hasn’t matched our demands for empowerment. Now that we’re facing political extinction of everything we hold dear as Americans: shouldn’t we be doing more? We’re willing to do so; will you join us?

CAPA21 has raised $50,000 so far to fight the good fight. But for this fight to salvage and protect everything we believe in, Leigh-Ann and I feel we have to do more, so we’re kicking in another $5,000 to join with other major donors to the CAPA21 PAC in a matching campaign to raise another $50,000 in additional funds for a total CAPA21 war chest of $100,000 to expand and increase the contributions to Asian American candidates running for Congress and candidates running in swing districts or those districts with large Asian American electorates or whose elections will make a significant impact on the direction of the country.

Please join us with your donation to CAPA21 PAC today. Together with a pledge of $10,000 from Glen S. Fukushima, we will match new donations made by October 5 dollar-for-dollar up to $20,000.

WE MADE OUR SECOND ROUND OF DONATIONS

Because of your generous support, we made two rounds of donations to candidates in California swing districts and to key Asian American candidates:

Mike Levin For Congress – California 49th District – $2,500.00
Andy Kim for Congress – New Jersey – $4,000.00
Josh Harder for Congress – California 10th District – $2,500.00
Katie Hill for Congress – California 25th District – $2,500.00
Harley Rouda for Congress – California 48th District – $3,500.00
Andrew Janz for Congress – California 22nd District – $4,500.00
Gina Ortiz Jones for Congress – Texas – $4,000.00
TJ Cox for Congress – California 21st District – $2,000.00

New donations to:
Beto O’Rourke for U.S. Senate (Texas) – $1,000
Jacky Rosen for U.S. Senate (Nevada) – $1,000

We also donated the following to support field efforts:
Asian Americans Against Trumpism – $5,000
APIAVote – $2,500
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance – $2,500

We can give more with your support! Your donation will be matched 1:1 up to $20,000!

THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS!

The CAPA21 PAC recognizes and thanks those on the front lines – the early donors – who have made generous contributions to this effort:

Hoyt Zia and Leigh-Ann Miyasato
Glen S. Fukushima
Minami Tamaki LLP
Clement Kong
Don Tamaki
Johnnie Giles
Dale Minami and Ai Mori
Dr. Craig Yamada and Dr. Monice Kwok
Bryan Springmeyer
Chris Noma and Steve Fong
Colbert Matsumoto
Dianne Fukami
Henry Der
Joan Haratani
John Yang
Kei-On Chan
Michael G. Lee
Minette Kwok and Gerald Okimoto
Paul Osaki
Randy Choy
Richard Sakai and Connie Young
Sydney Kohara
Audrey Yamamoto
David Louie
Edwin Oshika
Emerald Yeh
Renie Yoshida
Tasha Yorozu
Emi Gusukuma
Jeff Woo and Shirley Tan
Mas and Marcia Hashimoto
Sean Tamura-Sato
Stan Yogi
Vincent Pan
Angela Oh
Audee Kochiyama Holman
Carol Izumi
Eddie and Pam Kochiyama
Hiroshi Shimizu
Jeff and Sandy Mori
Todd Fujinaga
William G. Wong
Ben and Dianne Fong-Torres
Cal Abe
Celia Lee and Clarke Holland
Doris Gee
Dr. Roland Minami
Eddie Wong
Gary Lee and Lisa Oyama
Maeley Tom
Martha Nakagawa
Nancy Yamaguchi
Patricia Shiu
Paul Igasaki
Philip Kan Gotanda and Diane Takei
Richard Komatsu
Sam Mihara
Satsuki Ina
Teresa Tan
Wilfred Lim
Shirley Nakao
Emiko Omori
Mary Ridley

If you donated and don’t see your name here, please email us so we can recognize you!

And we welcome new donations to our Asian Americans #TakeItBack campaign!

Asian Americans can make a difference in taking back Congress and stopping the vilest president we have known. We can reverse this current climate of anti-immigration laws, hate crimes, revival of internment prisons and discrimination. #TakeItBack

Asian Americans #TakeItBack: Our first round of donations, what candidates are saying

President Barack Obama last Saturday jumped into the November elections to help #TakeItBack with his endorsement of Democratic candidates in Orange County: Mike Levin, Harley Rouda, Katie Porter, Gil Cisneros, Josh Harder, and T.J. Cox.

These are the same candidates that we’re supporting through CAPA21’s Asian American #TakeItBack campaign, having raised an incredible $47,500 in just over a month for candidate donations and efforts to reach voters.

Help us reach our next $50,000 goal! We’re just $2,500 shy and your donation can help move us to the next level!

Read on below for details of our first round of donations, including terrific feedback from our endorsed candidates, and an updated list of our donors supporting Asian Americans #TakeItBack!

Thank you for your support!

~ Dale Minami

WE MADE OUR FIRST ROUND OF DONATIONS

Because of your generous support, we already made our first round of donations to candidates in California swing districts and to key Asian American candidates:

Mike Levin For Congress – California, 49th District – $1,500.00
Andy Kim for Congress – New Jersey – $2,000.00
Josh Harder for Congress – California, 10th District – $1,500.00
Katie Hill for Congress – California, 25th District – $1,500.00
Harley Rouda for Congress – California, 48th District – $1,500.00
Andrew Janz for Congress – California 22nd District – $2,500.00
Gina Ortiz Jones for Congress – Texas – $2,000.00

Andy Kim: My wife and two baby boys are my world. I am running for Congress to protect our families and give us every opportunity to provide strong and stable futures for our children.CAPA21’s support will help us reach hundreds more Asian voters across the district through doors knocked, phones called, and ads on television and online.

Katie Hill: If we can mobilize our low-propensity voters here in the 25th district, I know we will be able to ensure that our values are represented in Washington. One-in-three AAPIs who are eligible to vote don’t turn out on Election Day. CAPA21’s support will allow us to have even more critical conversations with voters.

TJ Cox: As the son of immigrants from China and the Philippines, diverse communities are central to our campaign. Filipino, Sikh and Punjabi communities are significant voting blocs in CA21 . We are laser-focused on turning out these voters through door-knocking, phone banking, and community-centered earned media. Support from CAPA21 helping us in these efforts.

THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS!

The CAPA21 PAC recognizes and thanks those on the front lines – the early donors – who have made generous contributions to this effort:

Hoyt Zia
Glen S. Fukushima
Minami Tamaki LLP
Johnnie Giles
Don Tamaki
Dr. Craig Yamada and Dr. Monice Kwok
Dale Minami
Sydnie Kohara
Richard Sakai and Connie Young
Randy Choy
Paul Osaki
Minette Kwok and Gerald Okimoto
Michael G. Lee
Kei-on Chan
John Yang
Joan Haratani
Dianne Fukami
Colbert Matsumoto
Chris Noma and Steve Fong
Bryan Springmeyer
Tasha Yorozu
Renie Yoshida
Edwin Oshika
David Louie
Audrey Yamamoto
Vincent Pan
Stan Yogi
Sean Tamura-Sato
Mas and Marcia Hashimoto
Todd Fujinaga
Eddie and Pam Kochiyama
Audee Holman
Angela Oh
Teresa Tan
Satsuki Ina
Sam Mihara
Richard Komatsu
Philip Kan Gotanda and Diane Takei
Paul Igasaki
Patricia Shiu
Nancy Yamaguchi
Martha Nakagawa
Maeley Tom
Hiroshi Shimizu
Eddie Wong
Dr. Roland Minami
Doris Gee
Carol Izumi
Cal Abe
Shirley Nakao

If you donated and don’t see your name here, please let us know so we can recognize you!

And we welcome new donations to our Asian Americans #TakeItBack campaign!