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Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice California Celebrates U.S. Senator Alex Padilla’s Victory in California
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Contact: [email protected]
Defeat of anti-choice, anti-freedom Republican Meuser is a win for Californians and reproductive freedom
Sacramento, California — Today, California voters reelected NARAL-endorsed Sen. Alex Padilla to the U.S. Senate. Padilla’s victory over anti-choice, anti-freedom Republican Mark Meuser marks a huge win for reproductive freedom.
In response to Padilla’s victory, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement:
“We congratulate Alex Padilla on his resounding victory. Senator Padilla has shown up and fought for our rights and freedoms time and again, and we’re proud to work alongside him again as he champions reproductive freedom.”
NARAL Pro-Choice California Director Shannon Olivieri Hovis said:
“NARAL Pro-Choice California and our more than 371,000 members across the state applaud Sen. Alex Padilla for his victory over anti-choice Republican Mark Meuser. Sen. Padilla is a proven champion for reproductive freedom, immigration rights, and voting rights, and he will continue to fight against extreme attacks on abortion access and our most fundamental freedoms.”
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—ending the constitutional right to abortion and opening the door for extremist state lawmakers to put total bans on abortion in place. This decision is already having a devastating impact throughout the country as 15 states are enforcing extreme or total bans on abortion. The people hurt most by these bans and restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Latina/x, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous people; those working to make ends meet; the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; people with disabilities, and other historically oppressed communities.
NARAL endorsed Padilla as part of its largest-ever midterm electoral program to elect candidates up and down the ballot during this critical moment in the fight for reproductive freedom. The program focuses on deep field investments in phone banking, door knocking, youth organizing, and canvassing, along with a robust communications campaign to support endorsed candidates and ballot initiatives in California, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. Read more about NARAL’s endorsed candidates here.
NARAL’s work in California includes:
- Knocking on over 3,000 doors, making over 32,000 calls, hosting 65 candidate canvass and organizing events, and sending over 208,000 texts in support of our reproductive freedom champions and the Proposition 1 ballot initiative;
- Endorsing 32 leaders for reproductive freedom running in open and challenger races and 54 champions for reelection;
- Serving on the Campaign Committee for Yes on Prop 1 and working alongside partners to ensure Californians vote to enshrine the right to abortion and birth control into the state constitution; and
- Deploying NARAL Pro-Choice America president Mini Timmaraju to fight side-by-side with champions and get out the vote in key races.
Key components of our midterm campaign include:
- Harnessing the full power of our 4 million members to mobilize their communities through traditional organizing tactics. In total, so far we knocked on over 330,000 doors, made over 641,000 calls, sent over 682,000 texts, and filled over 4,600 volunteer shifts.
- Continuing to broaden the impact of our cutting-edge research into voter sentiment on abortion, including our pioneering freedom-centered messaging, by training candidates, volunteers, and activists to speak to their communities in ways we know align with their values and move them to act on their beliefs.
- Rolling out a pilot program in Michigan with 14 organizers working on seven four-year college campuses and over 20 community college campuses to enroll voters and activate over 721 volunteers.
- Endorsing candidates in over 200 races nationwide for federal and state offices.
- NARAL, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and EMILY’s List announced a partnership in May to collectively spend a historic $150 million on the 2022 midterms to elect reproductive freedom champions up and down the ballot across the country.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.
Press Release California