Grassroots
(Legislator) Summer Dreamin’ By Natalie Robertson While there are few true complete breaks for legislators, each summer, the California Legislature takes a month-long recess, during which time they focus their attentions mostly on in-district matters. This slower pace and greater local availability make the legislative summer recess a prime opportunity to make or deepen the kinds of grassroots relationships with legislators that can happen in a more relaxed, informal setting. Yet, of course, summer is a busy time for all of us, and often grassroots organizing takes an understandable backseat to our own summer plans.
While contact with legislators often centers around pressing CAOC legislative priorities, organizers used the Summer Cup as a chance to follow up about Justice Day meetings, as well as to discuss our soon- to-be-released Community Rights Resource Guide. (A grassroots project chaired by Catalina Rodas, the Community Rights Resource Guide arose out of a Justice Day meeting, and will provide advertisement- free brief overviews on various legal rights for legislative offices to reference and pass on to their constituents.) Building trust and demonstrating how CAOC members can act as community resources was the center of the Cup’s outreach strategy. Over the 62 days of the competition, CAOC Grassroots organizers made an incredible 40+ contacts with legislators and candidates, with an impressive showing from both teams. Ultimately, NorCal was victorious in this year’s Cup, emerging with 55 points to SoCal’s 49 points! The winning team will take the Cup until next year, when the Summer Grassroots Cup will return, and CAOC members across the state will have the chance to vie again to show how deep their grassroots run.
That is, of course, until you throw in a bit of a competition.
Summer 2026 marked the beginning of a new tradition for CAOC with our first Annual Grassroots Summer Cup. This is a friendly competition–Northern California v. Southern California, split up roughly by population to make an equal number of participation opportunities–for which region can best use the summer legislative recess to bolster relationships with legislators in service of stronger consumer protections for all Californians. Since it’s an election year, CAOC members also earned points for their team if they made meaningful contact with pro-consumer local candidates.
Natalie Robertson, CAOC Grassroots Manager, coordinates CAOC’s multi-faceted grassroots efforts, including membership outreach to legislators, coalition relationship building, and community activism.
nrobertson@caoc.org
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Consumer Attorneys of California
FORUM September/October 2026
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