CAPA21 Donates to Senators Warnock, Kelly, Cortez Masto, and Calif. AG Rob Bonta

By Tamlyn Tomita, CAPA21 Co-Chair

This is my first post in my role as CAPA21 Co-Chair and I want to thank you for supporting our efforts to ensure that Asian Pacific Americans impact the direction of our country through the political process.

First, some bad news that you already know. Democrats were trounced earlier this month in Virginia, losing the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general races, and also losing control of the House of Delegates. The good news is that this is a wake up call for 2022 so that Dems can support outreach to communities of color, and refine their message. The results tell us that our Democratic candidates need to do a much better job connecting with voters of ALL colors. If we take our eyes off the prize in 2022, we can easily lose control of Congress. 

By supporting CAPA21, you’re joining dozens of other donors in providing sorely needed resources for our endorsed candidates. The other good news is that we raised another $45,000, with the total so far of more than $70,000 raised towards our $100,000 match campaign.

CAPA21 is grateful to the sponsors of our $100,000 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 Ai Mori and Dale Minami. We would not be able to do this match campaign without these sponsors and we appreciate their generous support!

We have also approved these donations:
$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

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+
Craig Yamada, MD and Monice Kwok, MD – $10,000
Tani Takagi – $10,000
Alan Sparer and Charlotte Fishman – $10,000

$5,000+
David Louie – $5,000

$2,500+
Walter Fujii – $3,000
Mona Lisa Yuchengco – $2,500
Masako Takahashi – $2,500
Christine Noma – $2,500
George and Brad Takei – $2,500
Gina N. Shishima – $2,500

$1,000+
Paul Lee – $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

$500+
Karen Mori – $500
Eda Fukuyama – $500
Jeanne Sakata – $500
Richard Komatsu – $500

Up to $500
Linda Cabatic – $300
Ikuko Kiriyama – $300
Vida Holguin – $250
Ruth Ashley – $250
Calvin Abe – $250
Ken Kashiwahara – $250
Doreena Wong – $200
William Gee Wong – $200
Jani Iwamoto – $100
Laura Masunaga – $100
Norbert Kumagai – $100
Brenda Wong – $100
Chad Taniguchi – $100
Tia Wu – $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

CAPA21 can only support these candidates with your assistance! So please help once again with whatever you can afford. Your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000 in cumulative new donations.

And please share this on social media (click on the icons below) to let your followers know that you’re engaged in APAs protecting our democracy!

Your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000 in cumulative new donations.

We raised more than $25,000 in just one week following the announcements of our $100,000 match campaign and our new co-chairs, Tamlyn Tomita, Maeley Tom, Ginger Lew, and Dale Minami.

As I mentioned in my last email, Trump remains a danger to our democracy even though he is not (yet) on the ballot. But his anti-democracy Republican acolytes are running for office in 2022 and we need to ensure that Democrats do not lose control of Congress.

CAPA21 is grateful to the sponsors of our $100,000 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 Ai Mori and me. We would not be able to do this match campaign without these sponsors and we appreciate their generous support!

We’re thankful to these donors who responded to our request last week with donations from $100 to $10,000: Craig Yamada, MD and Monice Kwok, MD; Tani Takagi; Walter Fujii; Renie Yoshida Grohl; Maeley Tom; Karen Mori; Wendy Tokuda; Linda Cabatic; Naomi Harada; Jani Iwamoto; Laura Masunaga; and Mari Watanabe.

We will be supporting these Senate races:

1. Georgia where Rafael Warnock barely won in 2020 and is running again;
2. Arizona to support Mark Kelly;
3. Nevada where Catherine Cortez Masto won by less than 5%;
4. Pennsylvania where incumbent Senator Pat Toomey is retiring so the seat will be open;
5. Possibly Wisconsin, North Carolina, even New Hampshire.

For the House races, we are focusing on California first, on races that Republicans are now targeting, and if we raise enough money, we can direct more to other states:

1. Josh Harder
2. Katie Porter
3. Mike Levin
4. John Garamendi

In addition, we will consider Jay Chen who is challenging Young Kim with an aggressive, smart strategy in Orange County. Lastly, we will use some funds to support Attorney General Rob Bonta, and several APA state legislative races.

For the House races in California, we will wait until the state redistricting is completed before we make final decisions.

So please help once again with whatever you can afford. Your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000 in cumulative new donations.

And please share this on social media to let your followers know that you’re engaged in APAs protecting our democracy!

Dale Minami
Co-Chair, CAPA21