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ACTION SPEAKS - It’s a display of resilience born of grassroots leadership and real grit. The week that began with a sucker punch from the Supreme Court to enable racial profiling and abductions of L.A. residents by roving masked agents will culminate with a campaign launch in the heart of Northeast L.A. to fight back vs. Trump’s power-grabs by voting YES on Prop 50.
On Sunday, Sept. 14, from 10 am to noon, East Area Progressive Democrats (EAPD) will kick off an effort to educate and activate 150,000 voters throughout the “Greater Eastside” of L.A. and adjacent communities of Glendale, Pasadena, South Pasadena, Alhambra, East L.A., and Montebello. The goal is to engage and mobilize 300 volunteers to be trusted messengers within their communities and large networks of family, friends, and neighbors to vote YES on the Election Rigging Response Act, or Prop 50.
Victory for Prop 50 is not a foregone conclusion. Millions of dollars from right-wing donors is bankrolling glossy mailings and television ads to confuse voters and divert attention away from what Trump and pushover Republicans are doing to remove any guardrails to his unchecked authority.
The strong counter-message from EAPD? We The People have the power. That’s what democracy means, and we are fighting back to protect it. Voting YES is one good and necessary step to exert OUR muscle in California and elect MORE Members of Congress who will do their job to hold this lawless President accountable. Protecting democracy takes ALL of us. When each of us does our part, and when grassroots Democrats lead the way by using the tools of democracy to inform Californians and guide voters toward the light, we all WIN.
The ballot measure is the centerpiece of a special election on Nov. 4. It allows Californians to temporarily reset districts for U.S. House elections and to choose more Members of Congress who promise to do their job under the Constitution to hold the President and executive branch in check and exert decency as well as apply the rule of law.
The measure emerged in August, with Gov. Gavin Newsom and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta as architects, as a counter-weight to demands by President Trump that pliant, obedient lawmakers in Texas and other states redraw their Congressional districts to send even more Republicans to Capitol Hill who refuse to question or challenge Trump’s actions, no matter how rotten or abominable.
Such efforts were rightly characterized as a bid by Trump and his enablers to rig the 2026 elections in advance in order to short-circuit any accountability. Reinforcing that argument is evidence from the current Congress, where Republicans hold an overall majority of only 3 seats in the U.S. House. In essence, those 3 seats came from a shift in districts orchestrated by a Republican Party power-play in just one state, North Carolina, in 2023, when a right-wing majority on the state supreme court changed the state’s election boundaries, or gerrymandered, to ensure 3 more Republicans could win election. That’s exactly what ensued. And Rep. Mike Johnson, a lapdog for Trump, is still Speaker.
Prop 50 earned that number since it was the next in sequence in the state’s system for items to appear on a statewide ballot. Prop 50 immediately sent a charge of excitement through many voters outraged over ambushes and detention of state residents, including children and several U.S. citizens, by armed, masked federal agents, all on Trump’s orders.
That jolt to action owes not only to the relevance of the measure, but also to the power it puts in the hands of Californians. Prop 50 grabs Trump by the ballot to push back on his abuses of power, his profiteering and corruption of honest government, and his lawless cruelty of targeting and terrorizing of Angelenos without due process. Prop 50 also gives every California voter a voice and a choice in choosing more Representatives in Congress who will actually rein him in, instead of rolling over and acquiescing to rot and the unhinged whims of a wannabe dictator.
On Wednesday, L.A.’s City Council voted unanimously to endorse Prop 50, with Coulcilmembers Adrin Nazarian and Ysabel Jurado, both endorsed by EAPD members in the 2024 election, taking lead roles in pushing for the winning resolution.
Now we ALL have a voice, and an important choice. Get in on the action. Activists welcomed. Volunteers wanted. Join EAPD members on Sunday, Sept. 14, at 10 am to noon, for the launch of EAPD for Yes on 50 at Los Feliz Cafe, 3207 Los Feliz Blvd., L.A. 90039. RSVP with an email to [email protected] We hope to see you this Sunday morning!
(Hans Johnson is a longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, environmental justice, and public education. His columns have appeared in USA Today and leading newspapers across more than 20 states. Based in Eagle Rock, he serves as president of East Area Progressive Democrats (EAPD), California’s largest grassroots Democratic club with over 1,100 members. Hans brings decades of organizing and policy experience to his work, advancing equity and accountability in local and national politics.)
