2024: MoveOn’s Year in Petitions

By MoveOn. Friday, December 20 2024

Democracy | Organizing

For many, it’s been a year of hope and heartbreak. We know how deeply every MoveOn member values democracy, freedom, and justice. Millions of MoveOn members took action, supported creative efforts with partners in this movement, and organized in our own communities. Just know that millions of people still share our vision for a better future. A future rooted in community care, where our families can not just scrape by but thrive, where we care for our planet and create a sustainable and joyful path forward for generations to come. 

Whether it was adding your name to a petition or starting your own, we hope you are inspired by the power of our collective action and everything we were able to accomplish in 2024. And it’s clear: We need you—and each other—now as much as ever as we prepare for what lies ahead.

In 2024, MoveOn members and progressive partners launched more than 10,000 petitions this year on the MoveOn petition platform, and we had more than 5.2 million petition signatures across petition campaigns. That’s incredible! Check out a few of our petition highlights from this year and what your signatures accomplished below. Then, if you’re feeling fired up, start your own petition today.

2024 HIGHLIGHTS

MoveOn’s focus in 2024 was mobilizing member energy around the election. On the petition platform specifically, we amplified creative campaigns to drive enthusiasm, engagement, and support for Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz—as well as expose the threat that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans pose to our freedoms and rights.

We launched a “pledge to vote” that surpassed 75K signatures shortly after Kamala Harris’s announcement. We worked to engage influential celebrities who could reach broad audiences, including our petition urging Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and other touring celebrities to endorse and a member-started petition that even got coverage in The New York Times! 

We also focused on the issues voters care deeply about—such as abortion, advocating for it to take center stage during the presidential debates. More than 45K members signed a petition urging for ABC moderators to ask about abortion during what ended up being the only presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. We worked with influencer Busy Philipps, as well as Amanda Zurawski and Kaitlyn Joshua, to share their reproductive health stories and amplified the petition over email and on social media. The debate moderators, while they didn’t ask our exact questions about abortion, did confront Trump about his track record on abortion, corrected disinformation in real time, and asked both candidates about why Americans should trust them when it comes to abortion. Read more about this powerful campaign here.

And during the vice presidential debates, we worked with our partners at Rural Organizing to amplify their petition calling for JD Vance to release his tax returns. Nearly 70K MoveOn members signed the petition calling on Vance to show the sources of his wealth, getting the attention of major publications like Newsweek. We launched a mobile billboard the day of the vice presidential debates to circle around CBS News, calling out Vance’s hypocrisy and demanding he release his tax returns. And we created downloadable signs for members to print and display. Rural Organizing’s campaign pushing for accountability and transparency from Senator Vance continues. Read more about it here.

Post-election, we took a pause to acknowledge and honor Kamala Harris and the Black women and other women of color who worked tirelessly to launch and execute this historic campaign with less than 100 days before Election Day. More than 140,000 members signed the public petition and shared hundreds of comments. One MoveOn member, Firerunner, wrote, “I signed this petition because, as a young woman, I truly wanted Vice President Harris to be our president, and make our country a much better place … That didn’t happen, but I know she’ll still make history each time she does.”

We also began to lay the critical groundwork we’re going to need in preparation for a second Donald Trump presidency. In the weeks following the election, MoveOn members took collective action, signing petitions urging Congress to resist Project 2025 every step of the way and calling on President Biden to do everything he can to protect democracy before Trump takes office. We also launched a petition urging the Senate to block Trump’s loyalist Cabinet appointments, signed by more than 103,000 MoveOn members and counting. And our partners at Demand Justice urged President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to confirm as many Biden nominated judges as possible. And they did! The Senate is on track to confirm 22 of President Biden’s appointments in the lame duck and 235 overall—potentially exceeding Trump’s four-year total of 234—and making history and increasing the diversity of the judicial branch.

But while the election was a priority, there were other critical efforts (and wins!) MoveOn members mobilized around throughout the year. Here are some additional highlights and ongoing campaigns that we will continue to fight for in 2025:

• Together, we continued to advocate for court reform. After Trump’s cases headed to the Supreme Court, we called for Clarence Thomas, whose wife actively participated in trying to overturn the 2020 election results in support of Trump, to recuse himself from all Trump and January 6-related cases. When Trump-appointed judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the classified documents case and has shown nothing but favoritism, used her power to shield him and announced that she is delaying the trial indefinitely, we launched a petition demanding that Chief Judge Altonaga exercise her authority to remove Judge Cannon from the United States vs Donald Trump case. 

• MoveOn members continued to mobilize for a ceasefire and to demand that the government stop using our tax dollars to send weapons to the Israeli government to bomb Palestinians. And when funding was cut for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)—the largest humanitarian operation in Gaza, with over 30,000 staff—more than 65,000 MoveOn members signed the petition to demand that Congress reinstate the funding. When Senator Bernie Sanders called for an investigation of the Israeli military’s indiscriminate bombing in Gaza, 89,000 MoveOn members joined him, and when he introduced a Joint Resolution of Disapproval that (for the first time in history) forced a vote in Congress to block the $20 billion weapons sale to the Israeli military, 40,000 MoveOn members signed in support and made more than 2,700 calls to their members of Congress.

• With COVID surging in multiple states across the country, MoveOn members continued to push for COVID assistance. From petitions urging leaders to bring back free COVID vaccines and testing to demands for free PCR and at-home tests, MoveOn members were clear in their demands for accessible and comprehensive COVID protections. And those efforts were in part successful when, in September, President Biden announced residents could once again request free at-home COVID tests from the government. 

• As our neighbors recovered from the devastation of Hurricanes Milton and Helene, and when Disaster Relief Funding, whose budget is set by Congress, didn’t have the money it needed, MoveOn members came together to demand that Congress come back into session before the end of their break and pass disaster relief funding to support relief efforts. MoveOn members even fundraised more than $250,000 for food and water aid for Hurricane Helene survivors. And as early voting was underway, we put up billboards in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina—critical battleground states—spotlighting Trump’s decision to cut $155 million from disaster relief funds during his presidency.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHTS

MoveOn members and progressive partners launched thousands of petitions to spark local, state, and federal changes. We were inspired by the incredible movements that people like you sparked. Here are a few of the highlights:

• After a terrible flood in San Diego, Aaron S. started a petition urging the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to extend hotel vouchers for San Diego community members who were affected and displaced. And they won! In March, the board of supervisors unanimously voted in support of extending hotel vouchers and funding three meals a day for an additional $9.6 million on top of the original $10 million that was allocated.

• Last year, members of UFCW Local 152 started a petition demanding an equitable contract for the hard-working families at Johanna Foods. They gathered more than 300 signatures and this year, in June 2024, finally won a just and fair contract. 

• Over the summer, a newly launched organization, Qommittee for Drag, launched a petition on the MoveOn platform calling for federal law enforcement to monitor and take seriously all threats against drag and Pride events. The petition gained more than 25,000 signatures and was featured in outlets like Newsweek and HuffPost. 

• In August, environmentalist and MoveOn member Zan Dubin started a petition demanding that the Los Angeles Dodgers drop their sponsorship deal with fossil fuel giant Phillips 66. After more than 20,000 MoveOn members signed the petition and it was covered many times by the Los Angeles Times, Zan delivered the petition with the Sierra Club at Dodger Stadium, and fellow activists, MoveOn members, and representatives from the Los Angeles Times, Spectrum, and Fox 11 attended the event. 

• Union power continued strong, with Sun Country flight attendants launching their own petition in their efforts to secure an industry-standard contract. Sun Country flight attendants have been in contract negotiations since 2019. After five years, they started a petition calling for their union to authorize a strike vote for the flight attendant group. And in August, a vote was brought forth and 99% of eligible voting members authorized a strike—giving union leaders the ability to swiftly call for one if contract talks continue to break down.

• In October, our friends at Common Cause launched a petition urging Congress to prohibit guns at polling locations nationwide. The petition reached more than 45,000 signatures and was delivered to Representative Mike Johnson’s office. Common Cause has already worked to pass laws restricting guns at polling places in New Mexico and Massachusetts, and they will continue their work to make polling places safe for all. 

• In November, a Purdue Fort Wayne student started a petition to push back against their university’s implementing a new fee to stay on campus over winter break. The petition received nearly 2,000 signatures. One student signed the petition, stating, “The cost for staying during the winter break should’ve been included in the Housing Cost like it was last year. Now I have to stress about scraping together funds so I don’t lose my job.” Quickly, the university reversed the decision, announcing it would not be charging students a nightly fee. 

• MoveOn member and former educator Pam Alexandroff started a petition calling on the Senate to vote on the Social Security Fairness Act before the end of the year. The petition quickly climbed to more than 60,000 signatures, with other members sharing how flaws in the execution of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) withholdings negatively affected them and their families. We also had more than 12,000 messages sent by MoveOn members to their senators, urging them to advance and vote yes on the bill.

We’re not going to sugarcoat it: The next four years will be challenging. Donald Trump and the far-right extremists backing him are banking on our complacency, silence, and hopelessness. They are exploiting people’s worst fears, sowing division at every chance they get. They want us to give up. We will not sit quietly as they threaten our democracy, cheat the American people, and profit off our pain. We are ready to fight back. And we hope you are too. 

MoveOn—powered by members like you—has existed for decades. We’ve seen presidents come and go. And through it all, we’ve focused on building the people power we need to not only win campaigns but make more possible so that we can truly transform our society. 

But that transformation doesn’t happen overnight. And it doesn’t happen without backlash or setbacks. Transformation happens through continued, sustained action. Through disciplined hope. And, most importantly, it happens collectively, with each one of us committed to doing what we can to build a better future for all of us.  

We will not only get through the next four years, but we will continue to build, resist, and win the only way we can—together.

If you’re feeling inspired and ready to take action, click here to start your petition on MoveOn’s free petition platform now. And know that we’re ready to fight alongside you for the future we all deserve.

As always, thanks for all you do.