Stand Up America

Stand Up America is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization based in New York City focused on “resisting the Trump administration’s corruption and strengthening democracy across the country.”[1] It began in the weeks after the 2016 U.S. presidential election a Facebook community started by Sean Eldridge, but has evolved into one of the country's largest grassroots organizations with a community of over 2.5 million progressives.[2]

Stand Up America
Formation2016 (2016)
FoundersSean Eldridge
Type501c4
FocusResisting Donald Trump's agenda
Location
  • New York, NY
WebsiteStandUpAmerica.com

The group was one of the leading organizations advocating for Donald Trump to be impeached and removed from office, and has supported democracy-strengthening initiatives.[3] Currently, the group is focused on pushing for Congress to provide a total of $4 billion in federal funding to states to protect voting rights and expand mail-in voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

History and organization

Stand Up America was founded after the 2016 election by progressive activist Sean Eldridge to provide progressives a platform to take action to oppose Donald Trump's agenda. Within weeks of launching, the community quickly grew to over one million members, and has since grown to include over 2,500,000 progressives[5] from every congressional district in the country.

According to Stand Up America, the group's digital-focused strategy has driven over 1.2 million constituent calls to federal and state lawmakers, mobilized more than 75,000 protesters, and contacted 2,800,000 Americans through its peer-to-peer texting program.[6]

Advocacy

Stand Up America was part of the People's Defense Coalition, which tried to block the confirmation of Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch[7] and Brett Kavanaugh. The group joined others in protesting the Republican tax law passed in 2017 and attempts by Republicans in Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

During the 2018 congressional midterm elections, the group helped nearly 15,000 Americans register to vote and texted over 600,000 voters to help get them to the ballot box.[2]

The group has also sought to enact progressive federal and state-level pro-democracy policies, like the For the People Act of 2019, and automatic voter registration and campaign finance reform in New York state.[8]

Impeaching Trump

In May 2017, the group launched a national campaign demanding an independent investigation into Trump's ties to Russia and foreign interference in the 2016 presidential election. Following the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the group worked to educate the public about the investigation's result.

In May 2019, after the conclusion of the investigation the release of its redacted report, Stand Up launched a nationwide campaign[9] seeking to pressure Congress to immediately begin a formal impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump. The campaign, which relied heavily on digital organizing tactics, drove 360,000 constituent calls to Congress and included organizing in-district actions during what the group called ‘Impeachment August.’[10]

The group also helped mobilize hundreds of thousands of Americans at the “Nobody Is Above The Law” rallies[11] the eve before Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives. As Trump's impeachment trial unfolded in the Senate, Stand Up continued to work with a bipartisan coalition to pressure Republican senators to convict Trump,[12] and joined Public Citizen, Common Cause, and others in planning over 300 "Reject The Cover-Up" rallies to protest Trump's acquittal.[13]

Election security funding

In response to Russia's attack on the 2016 presidential election, Stand Up America launched a campaign in August 2019 pressuring Congress to approve election security funding to help states to update outdated voting machines.[14] The group reports that their members made more than 120,000 calls to the Senate demanding the funding, leading to a bipartisan group of lawmakers allocating $425 million in funding in the 2020 appropriations bill.[15]

In March 2020, the group shifted focus to support efforts in Congress to provide states with election assistance funding amid the COVID-19 pandemic to protect Americans' right to vote.[16] The group helped secure $400 million in federal funds for mail-in voting and expanded early voting in states.[17] Currently, the group is advocating for an additional $3.6 billion in funding to be appropriated,[4] supporting the HEROES Act passed in the House of Representatives in May 2020 and leading 50 voting rights groups in calling on congressional leadership to provide the funds.[18]

Trump's tax returns

The group helped organize the national Tax March on April 15, 2017, which called for the release of Trump's tax returns. Since 2017, Stand Up America has been one of the leading groups pushing federal lawmakers to obtain and release Trump's tax returns.[19] In 2019, Stand Up also led a coalition of activists and advocates in New York seeking to pass legislation that would provide Congress the ability to request Trump's state income taxes.[20]

References
  1. "Stand Up America". Stand Up America. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  2. "Stand Up America: About Us". Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  3. "About". Stand Up America. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  4. "Progressive group launches campaign to encourage Congress to pass election assistance". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  5. EDT, Ramsey Touchberry On 5/28/19 at 10:27 AM (2019-05-28). "Liberal activist group seeks to pressure House Democrats into impeaching Trump". Newsweek. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  6. "About". Stand Up America. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  7. Kim, Seung Min. "Liberal groups increase pressure over Gorsuch nomination". POLITICO. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  8. Nichols, John (2019-03-26). "New York State Can Lead the Country on Publicly Financed Elections". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  9. "New activist campaign puts impeachment pressure on House Democrats". NBC News. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  10. "Progressive Groups Plan To Make House Democrats' Summer Vacation All About Impeachment". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  11. Karanth, Sanjana (2019-12-17). "Protesters Nationwide Demand Trump's Ouster Ahead Of House Impeachment Vote". HuffPost. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  12. Brodey, Sam (2019-12-24). "Democratic Groups Plot to Make Impeachment Trial Painful for GOP". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  13. Bote, Joshua. "Anti-Trump protesters rally across the nation after impeachment acquittal". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  14. Connolly, Griffin; Connolly, Griffin (2019-09-04). "Progressive group spending $100,000 to pressure McConnell, vulnerable GOP senators on election security". Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  15. Collier, Kevin. "Congress to approve $425 million for election security upgrades". CNN. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  16. UTC, Alex Seitz-Wald79d ago / 8:13 PM. "As pandemic throws elections into chaos, advocates call for national vote-by-mail". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  17. Miller, Maggie (2020-03-25). "Senate includes $400M for mail-in voting in coronavirus spending deal". TheHill. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  18. Miller, Maggie (2020-04-13). "Dozens of progressive organizations call on Congress to fund vote-by-mail efforts". TheHill. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  19. Connolly, Griffin; Connolly, Griffin (2019-01-24). "Progressive groups push Democrats to full-court press for Trump's taxes". Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  20. Jagoda, Naomi (2019-05-07). "Liberal group urges passage of New York bill allowing Congress access to Trump's state tax returns". TheHill. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
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