As part of its year-end festivities, the Alameda County Democratic Party honored local grassroots group All Rise Alameda [1] (ARA) with a certificate of recognition for outstanding service to the community.
[2]City of Alameda Democratic Club [3] Vice President of Membership Magali Rosario and former President Cathy Conley made the presentation during the ARA holiday community gathering on December 8. The award was accepted by ARA members Pat Lamborn, Catherine Egelhoff, Christine Olsen, and Benay Dara-Abrams.
All Rise Alameda is an all-volunteer grassroots group that was formed after the Women’s March in January of 2017, according to their website. They helped Democrats win control of the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections, supporting Representative Josh Harder in California District 10 (Tracy area) and other Democrats in battleground states. In 2019, the group funded the work of a young California organizer who traveled to Virginia for their statewide elections, which ultimately helped Democrats win control of the legislature.
In 2020, ARA declared their goals as, “Hold the House! Secure the Senate! Dump Trump!” They generated more than 30,000 letters to voters before the November 2020 election, participated in phone and text banks, contributed funds, and worked on various campaigns for state and local offices in races from Florida and Georgia to Iowa and Arizona, their website states.
During the 2022 midterm elections, ARA worked on the winning Senate campaigns of Mark Kelly in Arizona and Catherine CortezMasto in Nevada, as well as the successful effort to keep Representative Harder in Congress through a continuing partnership with the Democratic Club of Greater Tracy.
During the 2024 election cycle and on through the present, ARA members continue to work to get out the vote and help elect Democrats and progressives in California and throughout the country.
Among the events ARA members helped to organize in 2025 were the “Hands Off” protest [4] at Alameda City Hall on April 5, which drew more than 1,000 people, and the ”No Kings” protest [5]” on June 14, which drew an estimated 3,000.
ARA members who live in and around Alameda meet once a month. To learn more, visit the All Rise Alameda [1] website.