Partisan 'No Kings' rallies pivot to get-out-the-vote drive

WASHINGTON, D.C., High-level organizers behind the "No Kings" demonstrations are trying to pivot their event into a nationwide get-out-the-vote rally for Saturday. Yet their warning to avoid partisan messaging that breaks their own rules is being ignored. A Fox News Digital investigation shows the political activation on the ground is deeply partisan. It is driven by the center-left Indivisible nonprofit, which has taken millions in funding from Democratic megadonor George Soros. Organizers for "No Kings" did not respond to requests for comment.

This partisan edge matters because experts say the "No Kings" operation reveals a sharp electoral strategy. They aim to turn crowds gathered for anti-Trump protests into a durable voter bloc that shows up for elections and delivers a "Blue Tsunami" of votes in political battles. Federal election law, however, bars nonprofits from advocating for particular candidates. Many groups that fund the "No Kings" operation fall under this rule.

Fox News Digital has mapped a sprawling network behind today's action. It includes 300 progressive advocacy organizations, labor unions, Democratic operatives, and tax-exempt nonprofits with an estimated $2.5 billion in annual revenues. They are turning the "No Kings" protest movement into a nationwide voter-mobilization operation for Democrats, targeting roughly 3,000 events.

A look at digital ads for Saturday's "No Kings: Vote Early" demonstrations and their organizing rhetoric shows multiple instances of organizers promoting language the coalition's national rulebook forbids. This effort creates an illusion of nonpartisanship while breaking its own code. In Newark, Delaware, Democratic activists from the local Indivisible chapter told voters to "wear blue" for their 2 p.m. demonstration at S. College Avenue and W. Main Street. Their suggested signs included phrases like "Vote Blue Nov. 3," "Vote Early, Vote Blue," and "Time for a Blue Tsunami." One announcement even read, "💙 Wear blue to signify the blue tsunami we are hoping we will see in Nov!"

Some 3,000 miles away in Roseburg, Oregon, Indivisible Douglas County activists advertised their own rally with signs suggesting messages like "DOUGLAS COUNTY VOTES BLUE!," "REPUBLICANS HAD THEIR CHANCE!," and "VOTE EARLY. VOTE THEM OUT!" Their organizers told participants to be bold, direct, and not hold back. Those are exactly the kinds of partisan political messages the national "No Kings" coalition has explicitly banned.

On a webinar Thursday night promoting the protests, a member of Indivisible Colorado Springs told Indivisible co-founders Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin that their event was struggling to draw media attention without focusing on President Donald Trump. Levin replied, "By all means, make it about Trump. Y'all make it about Trump. Create some conflict. Use some strong language.

No Kings" documents forbid partisan talk yet local parties rally voters for Democrats.

The Supreme Court just struck down limits on how much money political parties can spend coordinating with candidates. That legal shift sits heavy over a movement built on strict neutrality rules.

Under the "Event Prohibitions," a "Host Toolkit" warns organizers to keep events nonpartisan. It bars any candidate campaign activity or help from political committees. The list explicitly bans holding gatherings at partisan organizations, campaign offices, or party headquarters. Events cannot be jointly branded with groups like Democratic clubs or specific local parties.

Yet in Roseville, California, the Placer County Democratic Party openly links itself to the "No Kings" drive. Their ads tie a canvassing operation directly to a Saturday rally at the Roseville Galleria. The website invites activists to a morning session at Harry Crabb Park before heading to the event. They promise materials to help participants support their endorsed candidates. On their site, local activists call this rally a day of nonpartisan voter participation.

The advertisement raises sharp questions about how a party supports candidates while following rules that ban such coordination. National organizers expressly forbid political parties from coordinating activities at these events. This contradiction creates tension right now.

In Springfield, Pennsylvania, another event listed on the Women's March platform advertises a "No Kings FOUR" demonstration at 1200 Baltimore Pike. The flyer calls for voter participation and declares, "Vote Blue. Vote. Make Your Voice Count." That message clashes directly with the coalition's ban on appeals to vote for one side.

Rules written by themselves leave little room for doubt about official standards. A five-page guide instructs participants to avoid partisan language entirely. It tells them not to say things like voting for Democrats up and down the ballot or claiming a Democratic Congress will resist Trump in 2026. The guide bars any speaker showing bias for or against an officeholder. Candidate campaign activities remain forbidden, including literature distribution, fundraising, and staff coordination. Political parties face the same ban on helping coordinate events.

Instructions go beyond simple warnings against endorsements. Organizers specifically prohibit references to MAGA politicians and calls to elect a Democratic Congress in 2026. Urging people to register as Democrats ahead of the midterms is explicitly forbidden under these guidelines. Another document, "Event Prohibitions + Things to Note," specifically bans "vote them out" messaging and fundraising efforts. Political party coordination stays off limits there too.

Still, groups like Indivisible in Kingstowne, Virginia, promote their own events while navigating this complex web of restrictions. The situation highlights a clear gap between written rules and on-the-ground actions by local chapters. Activists claim neutrality but often run campaigns that favor specific outcomes.

Seventeen rallies gathered along South Van Dorn Street and Kingstowne Village Parkway under the banner that "We vote for leaders to represent our interests, and if they don't, we need to vote them out." The coalition explicitly bars events hosted or co-sponsored by overtly partisan groups, including Democratic clubs. Their official "Election Law FAQs" and resource pages warn that merely labeling an event as nonpartisan does not automatically satisfy the required standard. One document bluntly states, "Saying this doesn't automatically make it so."

These contradictions emerge as "No Kings" recruits a sprawling network of advocacy groups, labor unions, and political activists. In March, Fox News Digital identified roughly 500 organizations linked to the movement, representing an estimated $3 billion in combined annual revenues. The partner list for today's protests is smaller but still includes major labor bodies like the American Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the National Education Association, and the Service Employees International Union. It also lists groups that align with the Democratic Party, such as Indivisible, MoveOn, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, End Citizens United, NextGen America, Our Revolution, Voto Latino, and the Democratic Socialists of America.

Most of these organizations or their affiliated political committees have long histories of substantial spending to back Democratic candidates and causes. Their involvement places organizations with extensive electoral experience inside a coalition now publicly promising to avoid partisan campaign activity. This breadth raises serious questions about how organizers distinguish between participating in a nonpartisan event and advancing the electoral objectives of affiliated political organizations.

The political infrastructure became visible during the March 28 flagship "No Kings" rally in St. Paul, Minnesota. Fox News Digital documented an estimated $250,000 production operation involving nine vendors, approximately 30 semitrucks, a massive stage, eight video screens and other concert-scale equipment. Roger Fisk, a former Obama and Biden administration political strategist, described himself as a senior advisor to the flagship event and credited its sophisticated media operation with generating hundreds of millions of digital impressions. The event featured Democratic political figures and celebrities, including rock star Bruce Springsteen and actress Jane Fonda, illustrating the extensive organizational and political relationships behind the movement.

Former Gov. Tim Walz, Rep. Ilhan Omar and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, all Democrats, were among the event's political speakers alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders from Vermont. The involvement of Democratic officials in earlier anti-Trump demonstrations illustrates the movement's close relationship with Democratic political figures. Now the coalition is moving from street demonstrations to voter mobilization. In its October "Host Toolkit," "No Kings" describes Saturday's events as an opportunity to turn protest participation into electoral engagement.

"Pivoting our strategy from marching to voting is our movement using the tool available to us when it matters most," the coalition tells organizers. The "Host Toolkit" insists, "Vote Early events are nonpartisan and are designed to increase participation from all eligible voters." It adds that the event should not reference, endorse, or oppose any candidate or political party. Furthermore, the event should not coordinate with any campaign or permit campaign materials.

The event should comply with all applicable federal, state and local election laws." That is the rule book. The campaign pushes for voter education, early voting assistance, volunteer recruitment, and election-protection training, while more organizing sessions are booked for after Oct. 17. The coalition insists this effort belongs to every eligible voter, no matter which party they prefer.

But there is a legal dividing line here. The difference between partisan advocacy and nonpartisan voter education matters a lot, especially for tax-exempt organizations. Federal law says 501(c)(3) charities cannot support or oppose political candidates. Other groups, including 501(c)(4) advocacy outfits and political action committees, face different restrictions. Indivisible, the coalition's leading organizer, runs through several affiliated entities with different legal structures. They have a 501(c)(4), a 501(c)(3), and a political action committee all under one umbrella.

The coalition has scheduled an Oct. 21 training session on what happens after the demonstrations. Then comes an Oct. 22 session focused on sustained mobilization and protecting election results. Just two days before the nationwide "No Kings" demonstrations, Indivisible co-founders Levin and Greenberg talked about the November midterms in openly partisan terms. They celebrated Democratic candidates, criticized Republicans, and laid out their hopes for Democratic control of Congress.

"Our candidates are quite good all around the country," Levin said. "Their candidates are quite trash all over the country." He was referring to Democrats first, then Republicans. During the program, Levin identified himself as a Texas Democrat. He summed up the organization's immediate priorities by saying, "Right now, we're just full on let's win the election, but after that, we're going to shift."

Levin added that you got to let people connect the dots on this nonpartisan messaging. In a webinar last week, he was clear about the political and electoral goals: win a Democratic trifecta in the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. "It ain't over in November," he stated flatly. "It ain't over in 2027. It ain't over in 2028." He said they are building towards a national Democratic trifecta in 2029 that ushers in an age of accountability and reform.