{"id":1979447,"date":"2023-07-21T12:31:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-21T16:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/one-of-the-biggest-organizations-helping-democrats-win-elections\/"},"modified":"2023-07-21T12:34:55","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T16:34:55","slug":"one-of-the-biggest-organizations-helping-democrats-win-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/one-of-the-biggest-organizations-helping-democrats-win-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Major Democratic Election Support Organization"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">10<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fone-of-the-biggest-organizations-helping-democrats-win-elections%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1979447&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<div class=\"aplayer_app\" data-source=\"https:\/\/vs1.youmaker.com\/assets\/2023\/0721\/920e025b-70c6-469a-b3f1-d53fa4442b35\/audio.mp3?length=9430029&#038;duration=786\"><\/div>\n<p>The election of state supreme court justices doesn\u2019t always <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-derek-chauvin-agreed-to-plea-bargain-but-trump-ag-william-barr-rejected-deal\/\" title=\"Report: Derek Chauvin Agreed To Plea Bargain But Trump AG William Barr Rejected Deal\">garner national attention<\/a>. But Judge\u2063 Janet Protasiewicz\u2019s\u2064 win in\u200c Wisconsin earlier this year hit the spotlight with a campaign that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/one-of-the-biggest-organizations-helping-democrats-win-elections\/\" title=\"Major Democratic Election Support Organization\">shattered previous national fundraising records<\/a>, and flipped the\u200c Wisconsin Supreme Court to the\u200b left for the first time in 15 years.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Protasiewicz\u2019s win against former state Supreme Court Justice \u200bDan Kelly on April 4 also set\u200b the stage for more significant Democratic victories in Wisconsin and\u2064 beyond.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans hold six out of eight Wisconsin U.S. House seats, but a \u200bliberal court \u200cmajority will likely consider a lawsuit to overturn Wisconsin\u2019s Republican-drawn legislative maps. Nicole Safar, \u200cthe executive director of Madison-based\u200b law firm <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawforward.org\/about-us\/\">Law \u2063Forward<\/a> said\u200c her firm \u200bplans to file a lawsuit once Justice-elect Protasiewicz is sworn \u200bin\u200c on\u200c Aug. 1.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Wisconsin is expected to again be a pivotal\u200b swing state in the 2024 presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>In 2016, Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton by 0.7 percent in Wisconsin,\u2062 or 22,748 votes. But in 2020,\u200d Joe Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.270towin.com\/states\/Wisconsin\">narrowly<\/a> beat Mr. Trump by 0.62 percent, or \u206420,682 \u2063votes.<\/p>\n<p>If election\u2063 lawsuits are \u2064filed in Wisconsin after the 2024 election\u2014like they \u200cwere after the \u20642020 election\u2014Ms. Protasiewicz will be one of seven justices to \u2063decide the case.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5172868\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/04\/05\/id5172868-GettyImages-1474829284-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<p>\u201cBy electing\u200b Judge\u200d Janet Protasiewicz, Wisconsin voters have sent a\u2064 clear \u2064message\u2062 about the kind\u200d of state they \u200cwant\u200d to\u200d live in,\u201d the America Votes Wisconsin\u2063 director and senior \u200bleadership team said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/americavotes.org\/america-votes-wisconsin-director-senior-leadership-team-issue-statement-on-the-results-of-the-2023-wisconsin-supreme-court-election\/\">press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the first time in 15 years, progressives \u2062will lead this highly \u200cinfluential \u2063court. The\u2064 Badger \u2062State resoundingly \u200dvoted\u200c for a court majority that will protect the fundamental freedoms of abortion and voting rights,\u200c the \u200brights of \u2062workers, [and] the LGBTQ+ community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>America Votes\u200b was crucial to Ms. \u2062Protasiewicz\u2019s\u2064 win. Its Wisconsin coalition said it <a href=\"https:\/\/americavotes.org\/america-votes-wisconsin-director-senior-leadership-team-issue-statement-on-the-results-of-the-2023-wisconsin-supreme-court-election\/\">knocked<\/a> on\u2062 more \u200dthan 535,000 doors, made 678,000 phone calls, and, \u200cwith\u200b its partner organizations, delivered nearly 2 million pieces of mail and sent over 4 million text \u2064messages.<\/p>\n<p>The organization credits its efforts for helping to \u201cdeliver historic turnout and a critical progressive win in Wisconsin\u2019s\u200b Supreme Court election.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The\u2064 win in Wisconsin is \u2064just the latest victory for America \u2062Votes, and a\u2062 stepping stone for what it hopes to <a href=\"https:\/\/americavotes.org\/about\/\">achieve<\/a> in the future across several key states.<\/p>\n<p>And thanks to the backing of mega-donors like George\u2062 Soros\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensocietyfoundations.org\/grants\/past?filter_keyword=america+votes\">Open Society<\/a> and \u2064the liberal\u2062 \u201cdark-money\u201d behemoth\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sixteenthirtyfund.org\/\">Sixteen Thirty Fund,<\/a> its political sway is substantial.<\/p>\n<h2>America \u2062Votes<\/h2>\n<p>Initially\u2062 designed to get Democrats elected by reducing duplication\u200c and wasted resources, America Votes is a 501(c)(4) organization\u2064 founded in 2003 by Democratic\u2062 activists and liberal political operatives, including Ellen Malcolm, the founder of\u2064 pro-abortion \u2062Emily\u2019s Group, former \u2062Clinton administration official \u200cHarold Ickes, Sierra Club Executive\u2063 Director Carl Pope, Partnership for America\u2019s Families President Steve Rosenthal, and Andy Stern, the president of Service Employees \u2062International Union.<\/p>\n<p>The organization \u200dwas initially led by Cecile Richards, who went on to \u200dbecome\u200c president of Planned Parenthood \u200cFederation of\u200c America.<\/p>\n<p>Since \u200blaunching, <a href=\"https:\/\/americavotes.org\/about\/\">America Votes<\/a> has\u200d become the \u201ccoordination \u2062hub of the progressive community,\u201d according to \u200bits website. It currently has more \u200dthan 400 state and national partner organizations that it works\u200d with to \u201cadvance progressive\u2062 policies, win elections, and protect\u2064 every American\u2019s right to \u2062vote.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Its <a href=\"https:\/\/americavotes.org\/our-partners\/\">partners<\/a> include the American Federation of Teachers, the Black\u2064 Voters\u2064 Matter Fund, the Democratic Governors Association, the Environmental Defense Action Fund, the League of Conservative Voters, the LGBTQ Victory Fund, NAACP, NARAL Pro-Choice America, the National \u200cDemocratic Redistricting Committee,\u2063 the National Education Association, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, \u2063the Sierra Club, and numerous others.<\/p>\n<p>America Votes\u2019 501(c)(4) status means it\u2019s a social welfare organization, \u200cwhich permits it to engage in \u201csome\u201d \u200dpartisan activity, but that can\u2019t be its \u201cprimary\u201d\u2062 purpose.<\/p>\n<p>In keeping with that requirement, America Votes <a href=\"https:\/\/americavotes.org\/about\/\">claims<\/a> on \u200dits \u2062site that it \u2062carries\u2063 out \u201cnon-partisan, education-focused programs to engage voters.\u201d It \u200dalso <a href=\"https:\/\/americavotes.org\/america-votes-coalition-on-track-to-deliver-record-breaking-voter-mobilization-efforts\/\">admits<\/a> \u2064 it focused on helping \u200bDemocrats in 2022 to counteract the increase in GOP voters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGOP primary turnout sharply increased over 2018 \u2062in states like \u2062Arizona\u2062 (+60 percent), Georgia (+98 percent), Michigan (+9 \u200bpercent), Nevada (+42 \u2064percent), Pennsylvania (+84 percent), and Wisconsin (+52 percent),\u201d America Votes President Greg Speed <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/americavotes\/how-america-votes-and-our-partners-are-preparing-to-meet-the-maga-surge-b5d825290219\">wrote<\/a> on \u2062Medium.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo meet the \u200dlooming MAGA Surge, America\u2062 Votes and our state \u2062partners are building on our successful Get Out and Spread\u2063 Out\u200b the Vote\u200d strategy that worked in 2020. That election was a\u2062 turning point for elections\u2063 in America,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>During\u200d the pandemic \u2062many states rapidly expanded \u200bmail-in-voting and early voting, which Speed said \u201copened up\u2063 access to \u2063the ballot\u201d and \u201cput Joe Biden in\u2064 the White House and gave\u2062 Democrats\u2062 control of Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During the 2022 midterms, America Votes <a href=\"https:\/\/americavotes.org\/america-votes-coalition-on-track-to-deliver-record-breaking-voter-mobilization-efforts\/\">zeroed\u2064 in<\/a> on Arizona, Georgia,\u2062 Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania,\u2064 and Wisconsin, stating that they knocked on \u2064over 17.1 million doors in those states.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur\u2064 coalition \u2062is\u200d executing in the \u200clargest, most-coordinated\u2062 midterm voter mobilization effort we\u2019ve ever\u2062 seen,\u201d Mr. Speed said in a\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/americavotes.org\/america-votes-coalition-on-track-to-deliver-record-breaking-voter-mobilization-efforts\/\">press release.<\/a> \u201cMidterm elections especially are determined \u200cby turnout, and in 2022 America Votes is positioned to \u2064mobilize the largest, most diverse \u2062midterm electorate ever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Four days\u200d before the 2022 election, Emerson Morrow, the communications\u2064 manager\u2062 for America\u200d Votes, \u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/americavotes.org\/america-votes-gotv-2022\/\">said<\/a> \u2064the\u2063 efforts employed by America Votes resulted \u200bin \u201cover 32 million Americans \u200dcasting their ballots already, including \u200bhigh numbers of first-time voters, young voters, and voters \u2062of color in many key states.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The result, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/americavotes\/building-to-win-lessons-from-the-2023-america-votes-state-summit-82868911a3c2\">America Votes<\/a>, was that\u200b progressives outperformed expectations in \u201cnearly every battleground state.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Money and Power<\/h2>\n<p>In addition to being the\u200c \u201ccoordination hub\u201d for the progressive community, America Votes <a href=\"https:\/\/actionnetwork.org\/groups\/america-votes\">labels<\/a> itself the leader of \u2064the largest coalition of progressive organizations.\u2062 It \u2062says its coalition \u201crepresents \u200dthe \u200dpermanent campaign\u200c infrastructure built to withstand \u200cmore \u2063than any single election\u201d\u2014meaning \u200bthey work year-round to advance progressive policies, especially at the state level.<\/p>\n<p>For example, America Votes \u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/americavotes.org\/protect-voters-now\/\">details<\/a> how \u200dduring the \u201c2018-2019 legislative session\u201d it had teams of advocates working to influence legislators and election reform policy in Colorado, Florida, New Hampshire, and \u200bNew Mexico.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2785928\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2019\/01\/31\/GettyImages-1087975254-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<p>America Votes can maintain its considerable year-round power thanks to significant support\u2063 from funding \u2063behemoths Sixteen Thirty Fund, the Open Society Foundation, and countless others.<\/p>\n<p>In \u20632021, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensocietyfoundations.org\/grants\/past?filter_keyword=america%20votes&#038;filter_year=2021\">Open Society Foundation<\/a>,\u2062 founded by George Soros and now \u2063chaired by his \u200dson, Alexander Soros, gave America Votes four grants totaling almost $29.9 million. One grant alone was $23.85 million and was\u2064 one of the most significant single grants the Open Society Foundation \u2063awarded in 2021. Open Society hasn\u2019t yet released its 2022 awarded grants. The Open Society Foundation didn\u2019t respond to The\u2062 Epoch Times\u2019 request for comment about its donations to\u2062 America Votes.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, during the height of the\u2063 presidential election, the Sixteen Thirty Fund \u2062gave America Votes nearly $129 million in\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.propublica.org\/nonprofits\/organizations\/264486735\/202103169349311225\/full\">grants<\/a>\u2014the largest \u200dgrant awarded by the \u200dgroup that year.<\/p>\n<p>Amy\u200b Kurtz,\u200c the president of Sixteen Thirty, <a href=\"https:\/\/amy-kurtz.medium.com\/progressive-philanthropy-answered-the-call-in-2020-57f038a6a5d2\">said<\/a> the grants to America Votes \u2062was one of the group\u2019s most \u201cimportant initiatives \u2026 to support \u200dtheir national efforts to \u2064expand access to vote by mail and increase voter turnout in communities of color and among traditionally disenfranchised people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Sixteen Thirty\u200d Fund did not respond to The Epoch Times\u2019 request for comment.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1910982\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2015\/12\/01\/Puerto-Rico-Finances-01_AP-1200x852.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<p>In a U.S. Senate committee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.finance.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/2022%20May%204%20Testimony%20Finance%20Subcom%20IRS.pdf\">testimony<\/a> \u2063in May 2022, Scott Walter, \u200dthe president of Capital Research Center, an investigative think tank, \u2063called the Sixteen Thirty\u200b Fund a \u201cmassive \u2018dark \u2062money\u2019 \u2063network,\u201d that caters to \u201cbig campaign donors \u200bwho want \u200bto have\u2064 impact but hide \u200dtheir identity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Plus,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/america-votes\/\"> \u2062Influence Watch<\/a>, a watchdog group, notes that Sixteen \u2062Thirty\u2019s donation to America Votes \u2063more than doubled\u2062 its revenue from 2019, which likely \u2062facilitated an increase\u2064 in America Votes\u2019 own contributions \u200dto other organizations.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/orgs\/america-votes\/summary?id=D000044640\">Open Secrets<\/a>, a\u200b nonpartisan research\u2062 group, in 2018, America Votes\u2019 total contributions to other organizations such as\u200b the House Majority PAC, the Black PAC, and Planned Parenthood totaled just\u200b under $14.3 million.<\/p>\n<p>In\u200b 2020, total donations from America Votes came to just under $60\u200b million, making it the 13th \u2062\u201cmost generous giver\u201d out of 39,467 organizations,\u2064 according to Open Secrets.<\/p>\n<h2>Controversy and Aggression<\/h2>\n<p>In his testimony,\u2064 Mr. Walter \u200calso detailed how America Votes,\u2064 along with other 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations, helped the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.everybodyvotes.com\">Voter Registration \u200cProject<\/a>\u2018s \u201csecretive,\u200c multi-year, $100+million plan\u201d to\u200b turn out Democrats in battleground states. Influence Watch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/voter-registration-project\/\">notes<\/a> that the Voter Registration Project privately\u2063 goes \u200cby the name \u201cEverybody Votes,\u201d but this\u200d \u201cconnection between the \u200ctwo\u2063 names is kept\u200d a secret.\u201d \u200bEverybody Votes is \u200da \u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mark-kelly-says-hes-a-criminal-justice-moderate-his-campaign-took-350k-from-a-soros-backed-defund-group-2\/\" title=\"Mark Kelly Says He\u2019s a Criminal Justice Moderate. His Campaign Took 0K From a Soros-Backed Defund Group.\">voter mobilization group<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite all the millions of dollars\u2014and votes\u2014and \u200bdozens of\u200c nonprofits involved, no mainstream \u200dmedia story on this project has ever appeared. Nor as \u2063far as we know, any IRS \u200cinvestigation,\u201d Walter stated.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5367574\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/06\/30\/id5367574-06282023-DSC05012-IRS-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The election of state supreme court justices often goes unnoticed, but Judge Janet Protasiewicz&#8217;s victory in Wisconsin made headlines. Her groundbreaking campaign broke national fundraising records and shifted the Wisconsin Supreme Court to the left after 15 years. She defeated former&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1203,"featured_media":1979448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1979447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1979447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1979448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1979447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1979447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1979447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}