LOS ANGELES — California Common Cause is pleased to announce that Rey López-Calderón will become the organization’s new executive director as of January 1, 2019. López-Calderón has worked for more than 20 years in faith, labor, education, and political organizing. Most recently, as vice-president for development, he led an overhaul of Common Cause’s fundraising operations at the national office in Washington D.C.

López-Calderón takes the helm of our nonpartisan, grassroots state organization from Kathay Feng, who has led the state organization since 2005 and the national redistricting work since 2013. She will now work full-time as the national director of redistricting. Among her accomplishments, she led the fight to create California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission, strengthened matching funds for Los Angeles city races and modernized voter registration laws including online voter registration.

This transition comes as the state organization gears up for the 2019 legislative session, and the national organization prepares to litigate multiple gerrymandering cases that are on the doorstep of the Supreme Court, as well as help implement new transparent and community-centered redistricting processes in several states.

“We are excited to announce these new roles for key leaders in the democracy rights movement. Rey will continue our long track record of fighting for reforms that give the people of California a voice, while Kathay will lead the fight to end gerrymandering nationwide from right here in Los Angeles,” said Mindy Romero, the new chair of California Common Cause advisory board and founder and director of the California Civic Engagement Project (CCEP) at the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy, in Sacramento.

López-Calderón is a native Californian and currently resides in San Diego. His career as an activist started with student organizing and his work as a volunteer youth organizer for the United Farm Workers of America in Orange County. He helped found several organizations including the Academy for Urban School Leadership, Latino Union, Alliance of the Southeast, and Common Cause Illinois. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago and his law degree from DePaul College of Law.

“In many ways, California is the promised land for democracy reforms, yet there is still much to be done to push back against wealthy special interests, increase voter participation, and to hold politicians and other power brokers accountable,” López-Calderón said.

California Common Cause is the largest state organization of Common Cause, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy.

Among our legislative priorities in 2019, we plan to:

• Put an end to gerrymandering: California Common Cause led the fight to create our state’s Citizens Redistricting Commission — the “gold standard” for redistricting reform across the nation. This year, our reform inspired action and victories in five states and two California cities: Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Colorado, Utah, Long Beach and Santa Barbara. In 2019, we will be at the forefront of fixing the local redistricting process in California because democracy matters at every level of government.
• Fight big money: California Common Cause has expanded the number of cities that have adopted campaign finance systems that amplify the political voice of ordinary Americans. This has made it possible for more women, people of color, and those of modest means to run and get elected to public office. In 2019, we will fight for small dollar elections and campaign contribution limits to make government more accountable to ordinary citizens and less beholden to wealthy special interest donors.

To keep up on our latest news, please follow us on Twitter:

• Rey López-Calderón is @reylc
• KathayFeng is @kathayccc
• California Common Cause is @CommonCauseCA