The Democratic Socialists of America International Committee (DSA IC) unequivocally condemns the “peace” plan brokered by President Donald Trump between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We call on the United States to immediately reverse course and ensure that any peace agreement is finalized with full consequences for Azerbaijan’s officials for perpetrating a genocide against the indigenous Armenians of Artsakh (also known as Nagorno-Karabakh). This means ensuring the right of return for Artsakh Armenians, recognition of their right to self-determination, and prosecution for crimes against humanity by Azerbaijan’s ethno-supremacist government under Ilham Aliyev. 

Nearly two years ago, Azerbaijan finalized a brutal assault on the de facto autonomous region of Artsakh, besieging, starving, and ultimately expelling the native Armenian population. As the world first saw in 2020, this assault was made possible by U.S. complicity in the actions of two of its allies, Turkey and Israel. Despite State Department Acting Assistant Secretary Yuri Kim assuring the world that “the United States will not countenance any action or effort—short-term or long-term—to ethnically cleanse or commit other atrocities against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh,” the United States did exactly that.

Despite Azerbaijan’s documented and numerous crimes against humanity, its occupation of sovereign Armenian territory, and its genocide of Artsakh’s Armenian population, administrations of both major parties have now acquiesced to this regime’s demands. This includes repeatedly waving Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act to send American tax dollars to arm the Azerbaijani military. The shameful situation can be explained by the geopolitics of the South Caucasus. 

Turkey, for its part, continues to engage in vehement denial of the 1915 Armenian Genocide and uses fascistic, hyper-nationalist rhetoric both at home and in its foreign policy. Towards Azerbaijan, this means advancing Pan-Turkism, which largely scapegoats Armenians as an inferior and sub-human people worthy of extermination in order to create a contiguous Turkic nation. Both Turkish President Reccep Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Aliyev have, for instance, publicly praised the actions of the perpetrators of the 1915 Armenian Genocide and their immediate underlings repeatedly advance the idea of “completing” the task. However, support for Azerbaijan from U.S. allies neither starts nor ends with Turkey.

Israel, since the fall of the Soviet Union, has cultivated a deep relationship with Azerbaijan. Reports suggest that Azerbaijan continues to be one of the top three energy suppliers of Israel. In exchange, Israel sells weapons to and tests developing systems in partnership with Azerbaijan’s military. In fact, around 70 percent of Azerbaijan’s weapons are reported to come from Israel. In 2020, Israeli drones were a key factor in Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenian forces protecting Artsakh. It is likely for this reason that Israel also proudly denies the Armenian Genocide even today. Furthermore, Israel views Azerbaijan as a key geostrategic asset to gain leverage, intelligence, and supremacy over Iran, with a number of Israeli bases being hosted close to the Iranian border.

The U.S.should not sacrifice Artsakh’s Armenians on an altar to these two genocidal allies. Assisting Azerbaijan in whitewashing genocide in exchange for oil to flow from Baku to Europe and Israel and to further Pan-Turkism is criminal. As socialists, we recognize that the dignity of any people should not be contingent on their value to global capital. Tragically, this peace plan does exactly the opposite: subjugating Armenia at the expense of profit, Pan-Turkism, and Zionism. The Armenians of Artsakh have been indigenous to the region for millennia, with some of the Armenian people’s earliest cultural heritage originating in the area. Their right to self-determination is inalienable and the right of return for the over 100,000 forcibly displaced people must be part of any U.S. brokered peace along with release of prisoners of war, political prisoners, and withdrawal from occupied lands.

This injustice is compounded by the provision for a 99-year, privatized lease on a transit corridor for Azerbaijan that would cut through the Armenian region of Syunik. Profiteering on a route that will likely be used by Turkey and Israel to supply weapons to Azerbaijan to use against Armenia or Iran. The creation of such a route also calls into question Armenian sovereignty, as the corridor would potentially cut off Armenia from its only friendly neighbor, Iran.  

This would undeniably be an extension of American neo-colonial power into Armenia that, as history suggests for 99-year leases, any future Armenian government will find incredibly difficult to get out of. Troublingly, U.S. diplomatic history is checkered with interventions into smaller, less powerful countries to uphold such strategic trade routes and enrich private enterprises. This includes the Panama Canal in Panama, United Fruit in Guatemala, the overthrow of Iran’s democratically elected government, and the military takeover of Chile. This history must not be allowed to repeat itself in Armenia. Instead, the United States must go back to the table and reverse the genocide of Artsakh Armenians. 

Democratic Socialists of America’s International Committee stands with oppressed people around the world fighting for liberation against imperialism, racism, and capitalism. From Palestine, to the Congo, to Sudan, to Armenia and Artsakh, and beyond, we recognize that these struggles are interconnected. In solidarity with comrades around the world, we strongly condemn this reprehensible proposal and call on the US government to change course.

---

Ամերիկայի Միացյալ Նահանգների Սոցիալիստ Դեմոկրատների Միջազգային Կոմիտեն (DSA IC) անկասկած դատապարտում է «խաղաղության» այն ծրագիրը, որ միջնորդեց նախագահ Դոնալդ Թրամփը Հայաստանի եւ Ատրպէյճանի միջեւ։ Մենք կոչումէնք անում Միացյալ Նահանգներին որ անմիջապես փոխել ընթացքը եւ ապահովել, որ խաղաղության որեւէ համաձայնագիր կնքուի միայն այն դէպքում, երբ Ատրպէյճանի պաշտօնյաները կ’ենթարկուին լիարժէք հետեւանքներու՝ Արցախի (նաեւ յայտնի իբրեւ Լեռնային Ղարաբաղ) բնիկ հայության դէմ իրականացրած ցեղասպանության համար։ Սա նշանակում է ապահովել արցախահայության վերադարձի իրաւունքը, նրանց ինքնորոշման իրաւունքի ճանաչումը, նաեւ Ատրպէյճանի էթնօ-գերազանցական վարչակարգի՝ Իլհամ Ալիեւի գլխաւորությամբ, մարդու դէմ ոճիրներու համար դատապարտումը։

Մօտ երկու տարի առաջ Ատրպէյճանը աւարտեց դաժան յարձակում Արցախի փաստացի ինքնավար շրջանի վրայ՝ պաշարելով, սովամահ անելով եւ ի վերջոյ արտաքսելով բնիկ հայ բնակչութիւնը։ Ինչպէս աշխարհը տեսաւ 2020 թուականին, այս հարձակումը հնարաւոր դարձաւ Միացյալ Նահանգներու մեղսակցությամբ՝ իր երկու դաշնակիցներու, Թուրքիոյ եւ Իսրայէլի գործողութիւններուն։ Չնայած Պետդեպարտամենտի Ժամանակաւոր Օգնական Արտգործնախարար Յուրի Քիմը վստահեցրեց աշխարհին, թէ «Միացյալ Նահանգները պիտի չհանդուրժեն որեւէ գործողութիւն կամ փորձ՝ կարճաժամկէտ թէ երկարաժամկէտ,՝ էթնիկ զտումներ կամ այլ ոճիրներ իրականացնելու համար արցախահայության դէմ», Միացյալ Նահանգները գործնականում ճիշդ այդ բանն արեցին։

Չնայած Ատրպէյճանի բազմաթիւ եւ փաստագրուած ոճիրներուն՝ մարդության դէմ, Հայաստանի ինքնիշխան տարածքներու գրաւումը եւ Արցախի հայության ցեղասպանութիւնը, երկու խոշոր կուսակցութիւններու վարչակազմերը զիջած են այս վարչակարգի պահանջներուն։ Սա ներառում է բազմիցս հրաժարվել Freedom Support Act Section 907-ի, որպէսզի ամերիկյան հարկատուներու գումարով զինեն Ատրպէյճանի բանակը։ Այս ամօթալի կացութիւնը բացատրելի է Հարաւային Կովկասի աշխարհաքաղաքականությամբ։

Թուրքիան, իր հերթին, կը շարունակէ մերժել 1915-ի Հայոց Ցեղասպանութիւնը եւ օկտագործում է ֆաշիստական, գերէթնիկ-ազգային հռետորաբանութիւն թե՛ ներքին, թե՛ արտաքին քաղաքականության մեջ։ Ատրպէյճանի հանդէպ, սա նշանակում է առաջ տանել Պանթուրքիզմը, որ հիմնականում հայութիւնը կը դարձնէ քաւության նոխազ՝ իբր անարժէք ու ենթամարդկային ժողովուրդ, որուն ոչնչացումն անհրաժեշտ է «միացյալ թուրանական ազգ» ստեղծելու համար։ Թուրքիայի նախագահ Ռէջեփ Էրդողանը եւ Ատրպէյճանի նախագահ Ալիեւը անգամ բազմիցս հրապարակավ գովեստներ յղած են 1915-ի ցեղասպանության իրագործողներուն, իսկ անոնց անմիջական հետեւորդները կրկին ու կրկին առաջ կտան գաղափարը «ավարտին հասցնելու»։ Սակայն Ատրպէյճանի հանդէպ ամերիկյան դաշնակիցներու աջակցութիւնը չի սահմանափակուիր միայն Թուրքիայով։

Իսրայէլը, Խորհրդային Միության անկումէն ի վեր, խորապէս զարգացուցած է խոր յարաբերութիւններ Ատրպէյճանի հետ։ Զեկոյցներու համաձայն, Ատրպէյճանը կմնա Իսրայէլի երեք խոշոր էներգամատակարարներէն մէկը։ Փոխարենը, Իսրայէլը զէնք վաճառում է եւ համատեղ համակարգեր կփորձարկէ Ատրպէյճանի բանակի հետ։ Իրականում, որ Ատրպէյճանի զէնքերու շուրջ 70 տոկոսը հասնում է Իսրայէլից։ 2020-ին, իսրայէլյան անօդաչուները վճռական դեր խաղացին Ատրպէյճանի յաղթանակին՝ Արցախի պաշտպանական ուժերուն դէմ։ Հաւանաբար այս պատճառով Իսրայէլը մինչեւ այսօր հպարտությամբ կժխտէ Հայոց Ցեղասպանութիւնը։ Աւելին, Իսրայէլը տեսնում է Ատրպէյճանը որպէս կարեւոր աշխարհագրական ռազմավարական ակտիվ՝  Իրանի դէմ լաւագոյն լծակներու, հետախուզական եւ ռազմական գերակայության համար՝ տեղադրելով բազում ռազմակայաններ Իրանի սահմանին մօտ։

Միացյալ Նահանգները պէտք չէ զոհաբերէ Արցախի հայութիւնը այս երկու ցեղասպան դաշնակիցներուն զոհասեղանին վրայ։ Աջակցիլ Ատրպէյճանին՝ ցեղասպանութիւնը սպիտակեցնելու համար՝ նավթը Բաքուէն դէպի Եւրոպա եւ Իսրայէլ հոսեցնելու եւ Պանթուրքիզմը առաջ տանելու նպատակով, հրէշաւոր ոճիր է։ Որպէս սոցիալիստներ, մենք ճանանչում ենք, որ որեւէ ժողովուրդի արժանապատուութիւնը չպէտք է կախուած լինի անոր արժէքէն համաշխարհային կապիտալի համար։ Ցաւօք, այս խաղաղության ծրագիրը ճիշդ հակառակնէ անոգմ՝ ենթարկելով Հայաստանն շահ շահոյթին, Պանթուրքիզմին եւ Սիոնիզմին։ Արցախի հայերը բնիկ են այս երկրամասին մէջ հազարամեակներով, ուր հայ ժողովուրդի ամենահին մշակութային ժառանգութիւններէն ոմանք ծագած են։ Անոնց ինքնորոշման իրաւունքը անօտարելի է, իսկ բռնագրաւուած 100,000 մարդոց վերադարձի իրաւունքը պէտք է լինի որեւէ ամերիկյան միջնորդությամբ խաղաղության հիմնաքարը՝ զինուորական գերիներու եւ քաղբանտարկյալներու ազատ արձակման ու օկուպացուած տարածքներու ազատման հետ միասին։

Այս անարդարութիւնը աւելի կխորանայ այն դրությամբ, որ 99 տարուան վարձակալությամբ, մասնաւորեցուած «կորիդոր» պէտք է տրամադրուի Ատրպէյճանին՝ անցնելու Հայաստանի Սիւնիքի մարզէն։ Սա կը դառնայ շահագործումի ուղի, որ մեծ հաւանականությամբ պիտի ծառայէ Թուրքիոյ եւ Իսրայէլին՝ զինելու Ատրպէյճանը Հայաստանի կամ Իրանի դէմ։ Աւելին, նման ուղիի ստեղծումը կասկածի տակ կը դնէ Հայաստանի ինքնիշխանութիւնը, քանի որ «կորիդոր»ը կարողանա կտրել Հայաստանը իր միակ բարեկամ հարեւանէն՝ Իրանից։

Սա անկասկած պիտի դառնայ ամերիկյան նեօ-գաղութատիրության երկարաձգում Հայաստանի մէջ, որ, ինչպէս պատմութիւնը ցոյց ե տալիս 99 տարուան վարձակալութիւններու պարագային, որեւէ ապագայ հայկական կառավարության համար չափազանց դժուար պիտի լինի վերացնելու։ Խիստ մտահոգիչ է, որ Միացյալ Նահանգներու դիւանագիտական պատմութիւնը լի է փոքր եւ տկար երկիրներու նկատմամբ միջամտութիւններով՝ նման ռազմավարական առեւտրական ուղիներ ապահովելու եւ մասնաւոր ձեռնարկութիւններ հարստացնելու նպատակով։ Սա ներառած է Փանամայի ջրանցքը, «United Fruit»-ը Գուատեմալայում, Իրանի ժողովրդավարօրէն ընտրուած կառավարության տապալումը եւ Չիլիի զինուորական յեղաշրջումը։ Այս պատմութիւնը պէտք չէ կրկնուի Հայաստանի մէջ։ Փոխարէնը, Միացյալ Նահանգները պէտք է վերադառնան բանակցութիւններու սեղան եւ դադրեցնեն Արցախի հայության ցեղասպանութիւնը։

Ամերիկայի Միացյալ Նահանգների Սոցիալիստ Դեմոկրատների Միջազգային Կոմիտեն (DSA IC) կանգնում է աշխարհի բոլոր ճնշուած ժողովուրդներու կողքին՝ ազատագրության պայքարին մէջ՝ դէմ կայսերապաշտության, ռասիզմին, եւ կապիտալիզմին։ Պաղեստինէն մինչեւ Կոնգօ, Սուդան, Հայաստան եւ Արցախ եւ անդին՝ մենք ճանաչում ենք, որ այս պայքարները փոխկապակցուած են։ Համաշխարհային ընկերներու հետ համերաշխությամբ, մենք վճռականօրէն կը դատապարտենք այս անպատշաճ առաջարկը եւ կը կոչենք Ամերիկյան կառավարութիւնը փոխել իրենց ընթացքը։

The post DSA IC Condemns US-brokered “peace” eroding Armenia’s sovereignty and rewarding  Azerbaijan’s genocide in Artsakh appeared first on DSA International Committee.

Enjoy your August National Political Committee (NPC) newsletter! Our NPC is an elected 27-person body (including two YDSA members who share a vote) which functions as the board of directors of DSA. This month, you can welcome the new NPC, watch Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s electrifying speech, check out the Convention results, and get involved in DSA work!

And to make sure you get our newsletters in your inbox, sign up here! Each one features action alerts, upcoming events, political education, and more.

First off, we’d like to send a warm hello and gratitude to you for trusting us to be your national co-chairs for the next two years. This is a critical time for DSA, as we face down increasing fascism at home, militarism abroad, and the ticking clock of climate catastrophe. But we also continue to ride a wave of sustained membership growth, an increase in new DSA chapters and organizing committees, electoral wins, labor movement solidarity, and a general mood of excitement about the possibility of a democratic socialist future, one in which no one profits from the exploitation of another person. We are committed to working together alongside you all to level up DSA’s capacity, strength, and clarity of purpose as we build our fighting organization into the mass party that the moment demands.

We’d also like to congratulate our new fellow National Political Committee members, who were elected at our 2025 Convention earlier this month to a newly expanded NPC. They are:

• Christian A. (Long Island DSA)
• Eleanor B. (NYC-DSA)
• Hayley B.B. (Portland DSA)
• Jeremy C. (NYC-DSA)
• Cliff C. (Orlando DSA)
• Sidney C.W. (NYC-DSA)
• Kareem E. (NYC-DSA)
• Cerena E. (Houston DSA)
• Abdullah F. (DSA-LA)
• Frances G. (DSA-LA)
• Ahmed H. (NYC-DSA)
• David J. (NYC-DSA)
• John L. (New Orleans DSA)
• Francesca M. (Connecticut DSA)
• Luisa M. (Portland DSA)
• Sarah M. (Portland DSA)
• Clayton R. (DSA-LA)
• Katie S. (Ithaca DSA)
• Ella T. (Seattle DSA)
• Andrew T. (Denver DSA)
• Cara T. (Metro Detroit DSA)
• Amy W. (Seattle DSA)
• Hazel W. (DSA SF)

Congratulations to all and we look forward to working with you!

The NPC elections were certainly not the only exciting thing that happened at Convention. Over 1300 delegate members (and hundreds of alternates) also committed to expanding our socialist electoral program, building out our Palestinian solidarity and internationalist organizing work, deepening our participation in the labor movement and toward an arms embargo against Israel, fighting fascist attacks on immigrants and standing up against state repression from ICE, preparing for May Day 2028, building worker power against Amazon, uniting labor and the left to run a socialist for president in 2028, and so much more! 

We were honored by a fiery keynote speech by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who grounded us in our place in American history and exhorted us to “take this country back for our working families and defeat these pathetic, cowardly, hateful fascists. We’re going to win because we don’t have any other options, and yes, we are going to free Palestine. They don’t have any other choice. Our movement isn’t going anywhere, and we’re just getting started.” This was one of our most mediagenic conventions yet, with new media and streamers like Hasan Piker observing and engaging in real time, and mainstream outlets like The Guardian noting the energy of our winning streak and Rolling Stone going in-depth on how we are preparing to seize the political moment.

We also had dozens of volunteers helping staff and elected leadership with press, tech, security, and more, in a real show of collective organizing strength. And even members who did not attend were able to tune in for deliberation and to watch our first-ever Cross-Organizational Political Exchange with socialist parties from around the world and labor unions and social movement organizations from around the country — over 1400 unique viewers watched the Convention livestream online, averaging about 200 at any given time. You can read the preliminary results here, and we will be keeping you updated as the NPC considers the overflow items over the next few months.

There’s a real excitement that comes from charting a path forward, and now it’s time to knuckle down and get to work on putting these ideas into action. If you need a bit more inspiration, though, here are some things you can sign up for right now:

• Solidarity Dues Phonebank (Sunday 8/31 at 4pm ET/3pm CT/2pm MT/1pm PT): Member dues are DSA’s primary source of income and help create some of the amazing tools and resources that DSA offers. Help us call through folks and make the hard ask: can we count on you to switch to Solidarity Dues? It’s a friendly list of fellow DSA members, so these are fantastic folks to practice those organizing conversations with. 
• Fight Fascism, Build Socialism (Tuesday 9/2 at 7pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT): The chaos of this second Trump administration is an onslaught meant to overwhelm us and make us feel powerless. But we are not powerless when we’re organized, and we’re still fighting for someone we don’t know. Join us on this call featuring how DSA members across the country are fighting back! After Labor Day, it’s time to take the fascists back to school.
• YDSA’s Fall Drive Launch Call (Tuesday 9/2 at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT): At campuses all over the United States, YDSA chapters are continuing their fights for ambitious demands around sanctuary campuses, worker rights, divesting from the genocide in Palestine, and so much more! To kick off this semester, we’re gathering to hear from successful chapters around the country about what they’re working on, how they plan to grow this fall, and what you can do to see the same impact locally!
• September Leadership Intensive (Saturday 9/6 and Sunday 9/7 starting at 1pm ET/12pm CT/11am MT/10am PT): Ready to take the step into chapter or committee leadership? The Leadership Intensive is the most comprehensive training that DSA provides (it’s 2 days long!) for folks who are ready to take on leadership work, and will get you familiar with everything from tech tools to the theoretical basis of the democratic project.
• Emergency Tenant Organizing Committee 2025 Fall Training Series (Saturdays in September beginning Saturday 9/6 at 2pm ET/1pm CT/12pm MT/11am PT): The Housing Justice Commission’s summer Emergency Tenant Organizing Committee (ETOC) cohort is now accepting prospective tenant organizers. ETOC is an initiative to promote the formation of militant tenant unions through tenant-to-tenant training and instruction. In this series, you’ll learn the fundamentals of tenant organizing on a citywide or regional scale.
• National DSA 101 (Sunday 9/14 at 2pm ET/1pm CT/12pm MT/11am PT): Whether you’re just now becoming a member or you’re a longtime member interested in doing more DSA work, come to this program to get a birds-eye view of what we’re up to. 
• Socialist Cash Takes Out Capitalist Trash Phonebanks (various times/dates): Help support our nationally-endorsed slate by spreading the good word about (and asking comrades for donations for) our candidates in Detroit, Jersey City, Atlanta, Renton, Tacoma, and Ithaca, all of whom are fighting like hell to win and build power at the municipal level. 

And that just scratches the surface of upcoming opportunities! Keep an eye out for new opportunities — we’ll keep sending them your way. 

In the meantime, solidarity to you and we can’t wait to see you at an event soon!

In struggle,

Megan Romer and Ashik Siddique
DSA National Co-Chairs

The post Your National Political Committee newsletter — Ideas into Action appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Since March 2025, Buffalo DSA has endorsed LOLA’s Communities Not Cops campaign, with overwhelming support from our general membership. As this project begins to receive the citywide attention and debate it deserves, the Buffalo DSA Steering Committee reaffirms our support of efforts to educate and agitate against a police training facility and shooting range on Paderewski Drive. We also urge all members of Buffalo DSA to follow LOLA’s calls to action re: demanding Common Councilmembers vote “NO” on the rezoning of the Paderewski Drive location, as listed on their Instagram page.

The creation of a police training facility increases the Buffalo Police Department’s capacity for targeting working-class Buffalonians through violent interventions, especially those in minority ethnic groups and within our city’s poorest communities. This is especially heinous considering Paderewski Drive was once home to a community center; we are disappointed to see the city invest in more militarized policing, rather than restoring a public civic space. This is completely counter to the just city we deserve – not just for those in the immediate neighborhood, but for working class communities citywide. We have been disappointed by the limited scope of debate around this project to this point, which suggests that only the immediate neighborhood will be impacted by this facility. We encourage comrades and neighbors to consider the larger ramifications of a police training facility of this kind.

Said limited scope of debate stems from a source actively collaborating with the Buffalo Police Department to push this project through. The Central Terminal Neighborhood Association is claiming a mandate to speak for the entire area, despite reports that opposition to the project has now spread beyond LOLA’s initial campaign, and to Broadway-Fillmore community members who have just learned about the project relative to its progress. Neighbors deserve fair representation of the project to them, rather than vague promises of a “community benefits agreement” with BPD – the details of which include only surface-level commitments toward “youth programs” in part of the facility and keeping neighborhood trees intact. We also condemn undignified smear tactics, printed or otherwise recorded publicly, that concerned citizens across Buffalo are only seeking cameras or clicks.

As the Common Council, the Buffalo Police Department, and other crucial city officials collude to advance this project via their Sep. 2 vote, we once again doubt their belief in democratic processes, and question the Central Terminal Neighborhood Association’s mandate to speak for the city on the matter.

Our chapter’s vision for demilitarized policing takes from the rich history of American socialism, notably from the legacy of American socialist Eugene V. Debs. Debs stated in 1918, after his conviction for violating the Sedition Act:

“While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.”

While we cannot speak for a long-deceased comrade, Debs’ rhetoric throughout his life demanded the liberation of the working class from oppression and tyranny. To aid and abet the tyranny of modern policing is antithetical to the American socialist tradition.

On August 23rd, Bernie Sanders will be hosting a “town hall” event with Rebecca Cooke, candidate in the 2026 Democratic Party 3rd Congressional District election, near Viroqua. This follows his June 19th endorsement of her. We, the Executive Committee of the Coulee Region chapter (CDSA) of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), denounce this endorsement and campaign event and urge Senator Sanders to withdraw this endorsement.

Senator Sanders has been a principled socialist for his entire life, and has been a leader and inspiration for millions of progressives and socialists for decades. This made his endorsement of Rebecca Cooke extremely shocking. Rebecca Cooke is no socialist, or even a progressive. She refuses to endorse Medicare For All. In 2024, she was “grateful” to be endorsed by the genocide-apologist organization Democratic Majority For Israel.¹ In June of this year, she was a featured speaker at “WelcomeFest”, a convention of the anti-progressive wing of the Democratic Party, sharing the billing with genocide-apologists and neoliberals.² In the struggle between progressives and reactionaries within the opposition to the current fascist regime, she has declared on which side she places herself- it’s not with us, and it shouldn’t be with Bernie Sanders.

There are two other candidates in this primary, namely Laura Benjamin and Emily Berge, who would make far more sense for Senator Sanders to endorse. Both have endorsed Medicare For All. Both have better stances on Palestine. Laura Benjamin is a member of DSA, is committed to socialist principles, and is a fiery public speaker. Emily Berge is firmly in the La Follette Progressive tradition and has years of experience in local elected office.

For these reasons, in the spirit of socialist comradeship, the Coulee Region chapter of Democratic Socialists Of America urges Bernie Sanders to withdraw his endorsement of Rebecca Cooke.

COULEE DSA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE & CHIPPEWA VALLEY DSA OC, AUGUST 19^th, 2025

Coulee Democratic Socialists Of America can be found at https://coulee.dsawi.org/, on Facebook, on Instagram, and by emailing couleedsa@gmail.com. Chippewa Valley DSA can be reached at chippewavalleydsa@gmail.com

1“DMFI PAC announces new endorsements in Arizona, New York, & Wisconsin” https://dmfipac.org/news-updates/press-release/dmfi-pac-announces-new-endorsements-in-arizona-new-york-wisconsin/

2“I Just Got Back From the Centrist Rally. It Was Weird as Hell.” https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/welcomefest-dispatch-centrism-abundance/

The post Bernie Sanders Endorsement of Rebecca Cooke A Betrayal of Socialist Movement first appeared on Coulee DSA.

David Duhalde’s essay, “The Long Reroute: A Historical Comparison of the Debsian Socialist Party of America and the New Democratic Socialists of America,” places debates within today’s DSA in historical context while advocating for democratic decision making as the best means for resolving them. For those not familiar with the author, it’s useful to know a little bit about his background. David’s father survived Chilean fascism and imbued in him a profound faith in democratic socialism and the working class. He joined DSA in 2003, so he is just about the oldest of the new DSA. He’s held many responsible posts—from the bottom to the top and back again—in DSA over the last quarter century and is just as committed and involved today. That is a model of leadership to which all DSA cadre ought to aspire. And, as he makes clear in a footnote—always read the footnotes—he is a member of the Socialist Majority Caucus (SMC). I consider him an outstanding thinker and a good friend. I learned long ago that making friends with politicos in competing or complementary factions or organizations is one of the best ways to keep your balance under conditions not of our own choosing.

David’s essay is divided into four parts, starting with a sketch of Socialist Party history and the long metamorphosis of one part of it into today’s DSA, followed by three punchy sections comparing debates around labor, elections, and internal party organization in the SP and DSA. David admirably compresses 100 years of history into a few pages and I think his overview is an excellent primer for new DSA members. Rather than cutting ourselves off from all that messy history, David invites us to learn from it in order to fight more effectively today. And, to put it bluntly, to toughen up. Faction fights, splits and bad tempers are just as much a part of our history as are comradeship, faith, and unity.

If I’m being a critical critic, I think the first section could have been extended to focus on the causes and conflicts that led to the SPs rise and fall. For instance, David notes that the SP “steadily declined nationally in the 1920’s” after reaching 120,000 before World War I. But he doesn’t really offer us a convincing “why.” It’s a tough question and he wanted to get to his main points, but I’d like to know what he thinks. For comrades who want to know more about the contest between the SP and the CP in the 1920s and 1930s, I’d recommend perusing David’s comprehensive bibliography. If you’re interested in filling out the picture of post-WWII democratic socialism, read Chris Maisano’s A Precious Legacy in Socialist Forum. And if you buy me a beer, I’ll tell you more than you want to know about the “takeover attempt” by Trotskyists in the 1930s.

But those are minor preliminaries. The real strength of David’s piece follows in three sections dedicated to labor, elections, and internal party organization. I’ll comment on each and then conclude with a few summary remarks. 

Labor

All socialists worth their salt have looked to the organized working class as the only force powerful enough to defeat the billionaire class. Exactly how to transform the proletariat from a class in itself to a class for itself (Marx’s old dictum) has been, and continues to be, easier said than done. David provides us with a useful crash course in U.S. labor history, from the Knights of Labor to the AFL to the IWW and the CIO and traces how competing strategies divided sections of the socialist movement. I think he’s right to highlight that today’s DSA, with the benefit of hindsight, has managed to coalesce around some of the most successful of these strategies, what we might call a flexible rank-and-file approach. As he notes, “While this strategy was not universally accepted when it was proposed in 2019—many veteran DSAers were uneasy with publicly siding in internal union disputes and elections—it has gained more widespread acceptance among different caucuses and factions of DSA over the last few years.” I don’t think it’s possible to overstate just how important this insight is and David is correct to draw attention to it. This ethos is not the property of one or another caucus, but represents the shared experience and intelligence of thousands of DSA members fighting to build durable labor unions. 

Elections

David points out that the Debsian-era SP’s electoral strategy had sought political independence from the beginning. Electoral independence did not constitute a left v. right tension. Remember, the Democratic Party of this era was the party of the Klan in the South and Tammany Hall in the North. Debs and Berger both wanted an independent Socialist ballot line. There’s a lot more to say about what happened in the 1930s during the New Deal, but David concentrates on how a section of the SP—led by Michael Harrington in the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee in the 1960s and 1970s—hit on the strategy of “realignment,” which aimed to transform the Democratic Party into a kind of social democratic party. The results were, generously, a mixed bag. 

Today’s DSA has adopted, according to David, a new strategy, “contesting Democratic primaries as the main arena for struggle,” typically conceived of as preparing for a “dirty break”—or a “dirty stay,” as David has suggested elsewhere—with the Democrats. Just how and when and under what circumstances such a break might occur, has led to “serious tensions” inside DSA today. As he puts it, “unity around the mere idea of being or becoming a party does not necessarily result in consensus around how the party and its elected officials should operate, especially together.” Although David’s SMC caucus has a definite view on this question, here David raises a political conundrum that all of DSA will have to confront, namely, “the polarization today between the Democratic and Republican parties, which did not exist when the Socialist Party operated,” adding how such polarization “makes voters more partisan and less open to new options.” He concludes that “Democratic voters may be happy to vote for socialists within primaries, but may not want to vote for the same candidate if they ran on another line.” The road to any kind of break leads through demonstrating, in practice, how to overcome this dilemma. 

Internal organization

This final section of David’s analysis contains—and it ought to—his most controversial assertions. Rather than shy away from the debate, or paper over disagreements, David makes a clear case for how he believes internal debates are most fruitfully resolved. I would characterize David’s view as a strong belief in the efficacy of conducting and resolving political debates within DSA’s structures, however imperfect they may be. There’s simply no other way to settle sharp disputes. At times, as has been common in the past, that turns out to be impossible and some comrades may decide to leave. For example, David summarizes the case of several debates around Palestine:

1. The factions and partners in the new DSA can change but the program such as Palestine solidarity will continue. 2. These disagreements are largely born out of internal, “homegrown” struggles over major strategic disagreements about how to approach politics. Both groupings who departed DSA were active in the organization as individual members, not as outsiders trying to influence DSA policy to foster splits. People leave when they feel they can no longer achieve their objectives through the existing democratic process.

Turning to factionalism, David argues there are two principle kinds: entryism and homegrown. In terms of entryism, I differ with his view—it’s overly generalized and defensive—but I’ll leave that discussion for another time. I will simply point out the danger that lumping together any future organizational merger with different political tendencies—whether they emerge from labor, civil rights, or other socialist movements—under the banner of “entryism” can be counterproductive. For instance, longtime—and now former—DSA member Maurice Isserman placed the “blame” for DSA’s forthright defense of Gaza on unnamed “entryists.”

More fruitful, in my view, is David’s description—drawing on his discussion with Bill Fletcher–of the new DSA as “an unplanned left-wing refoundation.” That is, “the idea that a stronger left is possible through both regroupment of existing radical structures into a new formation alongside the rethinking and retooling of current left-wing strategy into an alternative orientation.” Of course, there is a difference between an entryist smash and grab operation and honest regroupment, my only point is that comrades should be careful not to paint any organizational regroupment as necessarily entryism with a negative sign placed above the latter. David, I believe, provides the tools to do so by placing his matter-of-fact summaries of the many homegrown caucuses within DSA next to his observation that some of those caucuses have “external influences,” which is only natural and to be expected. In fact, those influences are a sign of DSA’s openness and vitality, not a weakness. As such, “factionalism” is just a normal consequence of any genuinely democratic organization, especially one that has grown as explosively as DSA. As David explains, 

DSA’s factionalism is homegrown. Simply put, the divisions and debates originate largely within DSA, not outside of it. For the hundreds of members who were long-time members of other organizations before joining DSA, tens of thousands more had their first experience in a political organization, much less a socialist one, in DSA. These two groups do interact with each other and many of the caucuses have external influences—both contemporary and historic. Every grouping has their own unique history.

David is, I think, right to downplay generational conflict within DSA, although he does note that older and more experienced members can have difficulty adapting to new melodies and—to extend Irving Howe’s metaphor—new and younger members might not recognize the lyrics. My only quibble here is that David’s one example of intergenerational dynamics is the resignation of some long-term, high-profile members over DSA’s forthright defense of Gaza. That is certainly worth pointing out. But I would also point out that—to my understanding—the “old guard” welcomed the transformation of the organization in 2017. That decision to turn over the keys to the newbies represents an act of political perspicacity on the part of DSA’s veterans and, in my experience, is not as common as one might hope. Of course, David’s own middling generation, those who joined between 9/11 and Bernie 2016, represented a mediating layer of cadre who paved the way for mass growth by creating institutions such as Jacobin and revitalizing YDSA. It’s a lesson that the new generation of DSA cadre should take to heart as we prepare for larger influxes of new socialists and new phases in the ongoing “unplanned left-wing refoundation.”

Lastly, The Long Reroute fits squarely into an undervalued category of what I might call cadre writing. It is a form of exposition that draws on academic and specialist knowledge, but extracts political value expressly designed to speak to socialist organizers and leaders. The general public may get something out of it, although they may well be overwhelmed by all the history and acronyms. And academics may well dismiss it as lacking in original archival research, even as the best of them engage with it. It’s just what the doctor ordered for DSA’s developing cadre, that is, our most active and dedicated members who aspire to help lead DSA on both a national and local level. David’s work provides a framework and language for raising our cadre’s sophistication and capabilities and expands the possibility for caucus and non-caucus cadre to communicate and collaborate, even while debates rage on. It is a must read.  

We’ll be hosting our next Greenville event on Saturday, August 23rd, from 2-4 pm at the Flat River Community Library.

We’ll be discussing Trump’s new ICE Detention Center in Baldwin, Michigan. The conversation will center around the racist anti-immigrant efforts rising around us, why we’re against them, and what we can do about it!

RSVP to the event here, and share the details with a friend! We’re looking forward to a robust discussion with you.

The post Concentration Camp in Your Community: Discussing the Baldwin ICE Detention Center with the GRDSA appeared first on Grand Rapids Democratic Socialists of America.

Chaz Howard, Chaplain at University of Pennsylvania, joins the podcast to talk about purpose and vocation, Black Liberation Theology as a needed remedy for American religion, and the necessity of spirituality in our activist work. We also discuss his new book, Uncovering Your Path, which you can purchase here: https://www.charleslattimorehoward.com

DSA member Zohran Mamdani’s victory in NYC’s mayoral Democratic Party primary is a case study in effective coalition-building. How did Zohran accomplish the impossible, going from 2% support in early polling to a decisive victory just 6 months later? Mamdani’s Obama-esque ability to resonate with voters across demographic and political lines played a part, as did the campaign’s strong field and communications operations. But another decisive factor came early in the campaign, at an endorsement forum hosted in February by DC 37, New York City’s largest union of public sector workers. Mamdani was received by the audience with rapturous applause throughout. Zohran’s campaign manager, Elle Bisgaard-Church, cited this forum as the moment she began to believe Zohran could win. “The energy in that room when he was on the stage was absolutely remarkable,” she said in an interview with the New York Times. “I remember sitting in the front row and feeling completely overwhelmed by it. That was a major sign to me of the breadth of this campaign’s resonance.”

DC 37 endorsed and joined the coalition for Zohran, but their support was far from guaranteed. In 2021, the union endorsed New York City’s current mayor Eric Adams, a scandal-ridden establishment politician who looks to face off with Mamdani in November’s general election. DC 37’s historic decision to endorse a ranked slate for mayor, including Zohran Mamdani, was the product of sustained rank-and-file organizing cohered through “DC 37 for Zohran,” a group of Zohran supporters who work for the city. As DSA considers interventions in the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential election, the story of “DC 37 for Zohran” contains lessons DSA can take away to successfully build a movement, organization, and consciousness in support of our program at the largest stages of US politics. Delegates to DSA’s 2025 convention who are inspired by this story should vote in support of the two “A DSA Presidential Platform” amendments to ensure our organization helps create rank-and-file formations, like DC 37 for Zohran, that can organize activists and the politically disengaged, moving the labor-liberal Democratic Party establishment towards support for DSA’s slate of candidates and building the durable mass organizations necessary for the long-term political struggle for revolutionary democratic socialism. 

How We Win

Just like the Zohran campaign, DC 37 for Zohran is a coalition in its own right. The group was formed from a cadre of long-time activists in the public sector union movement. I was a member of this initial group. In addition to being city workers, some of us are DSA members, some are members of other socialist organizations, and some are unaffiliated. We share programmatic goals: transforming DC 37 from an ossified, disengaged business union into a democratic, member-driven and politically progressive union. But what really united us was the trust we built through years of organizing together. Activist city workers who formed DC 37 for Zohran struggled together on the shop floor and in our locals. And we had experience organizing city-wide political interventions together, around COVID-19 working conditions, 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests, and most recently around Palestinian liberation and the divestment of our pension from Israel. For this campaign, DC 37 for Zohran’s specific goals were to organize public sector workers in support of the Zohran Mamdani campaign, and push DC 37 to endorse Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy and invest media and field resources to support the campaign.

To build public sector union member support, DC 37 for Zohran hosted a public town hall with the campaign. Attendees had the opportunity to hear from Zohran Mamdani and other city workers. They also had the opportunity to ask about issues important to city workers, like underfunding, understaffing, privatization, and threats to retiree healthcare, and push the Zohran campaign to consider these issues seriously. We also organized regular “city worker” canvassing shifts and held regular organizing meetings where supporters could join and “level up” their participation by getting involved in the group’s strategy development, event planning, and execution. These efforts helped cohere a strong, active, and organized city worker support base for Zohran, which extended far beyond the initial reach of the core organizing group. We were creative and organized in building a list of supporters, reaching out to city worker activists organizing in our workplaces and for Palestinian solidarity, coworkers who may have been previously politically inactive, and identifying leads using publicly available data on Zohran campaign contributors. This effective list-work expanded our reach and allowed us to mobilize a large number of supporters and identify new organizing leaders to support the Zohran campaign and our long-term union reform efforts. Our ability to collaborate with the campaign while retaining the political independence to build our own organization and advocate for our own political goals was key to building trust with coworkers and nimbly scaling up our organizing.

One of the first ways we tested the strength of our group was through a campaign calling on the union’s leaders to include Mamdani in the union’s endorsement slate and not to rank Mamdani’s primary competitor, Andrew Cuomo, another scandal-ridden establishment figure in New York. We turned out a sizable contingent to the mayoral forum hosted by DC 37 to demonstrate members’ support for the campaign, and followed that up with countless emails, phone calls, and texts to union leaders asking them to endorse Zohran. This campaign was a success, and DC 37 leadership voted to include Zohran second on their mayoral endorsement slate. While DC 37’s field and media efforts in the primary were focused on the union’s number-one-ranking candidate, Adrienne Adams, Zohran supporters joined DC 37’s field operation and pushed from within to focus the union’s efforts on Zohran, the more exciting and viable candidate (Adams won under 5% of the first-round primary votes). Duncan Freeman wrote in the Chief Leader, “the union showed up for Mamdani in other ways,” adding, “The union’s president, Shaun Francois, who heads Board of Education Employees Local 372, spoke in support of Mamdani at a campaign rally inside of a Brooklyn concert venue in May, and Maf Misbah Uddin, the union’s treasurer, spoke enthusiastically in support of Mamdani… [h]e was also a presence at rallies for the candidate with South Asian labor leaders.” Even the presence of DC 37’s logo on campaign literature helped legitimize Zohran outside the activist left. 

Let’s be crystal clear: DC 37’s support for the Zohran campaign was a victory of rank-and-file organizing. It shows that we can dislodge the power of the Democratic Party’s powerbrokers and start the process of shifting the labor unions and political non-profits towards a more progressive agenda. It shows that, when merged through an exciting popular campaign, base-building and electoral campaigning, areas of work often counterposed on the left, can complement one another and help us accomplish our shorter and longer-term objectives. As we shall see, the long-term success of this work hinges on DSA and the broader left organizing with the political independence necessary to promote its platform and organize its base. This is why the amendment calls for DSA to organize autonomous rank-and-file initiatives, put forward its own presidential platform, establish some standards for a DSA-endorsed candidate’s alignment with our organization and our presidential platform, and ensure DSA’s ability to criticize a campaign’s shortcomings and organize for change within the campaign apparatus.

Looking Forward

Of course, winning the mayoral race is one thing: governing and delivering on campaign promises is another. DC 37 for Zohran finds itself in the peculiar predicament of having successfully campaigned for the election of our next boss. Conversations within the group have already started about how to organize in this brave new world, where a democratic socialist is the mayor of our city. We have begun drafting a platform for the future of city work under Zohran’s administration and plan to host a town hall on this topic. We certainly hope to fight with Zohran on shared priorities, like investing more in staffing and public services for New Yorkers, fighting against outsourcing, and protecting retiree healthcare. However, we will also have to negotiate with the Zohran administration for our next contract, and all the political alignment in the world does not change the fact that every New York City mayor has to choose how to staff their administration and where to invest limited resources. The mayor can try to appoint political allies to key administrative positions, but faces pressure to rely on experts whose leadership abilities come with the status quo political beliefs one obtains after a career going through the city’s revolving door of executives in the private and non profit sectors (one key example: current NYPD police commissioner and billionaire heiress Jessica Tisch, who Zohran is considering retaining for his administration). The mayor can try to raise taxes, but will need political support from the council to do so. Further, while the city’s largest revenue source, property taxes, is controlled locally, much of the city’s additional revenue comes from state and federal sources, putting them out of the mayor’s or the council’s control. 

Here, Zohran’s city worker supporters have no illusions. We do not support Zohran because we believe he will wave a magic wand and solve all our problems, or because he represents a full program for the socialist movement. We support him because we believe he is the candidate most conducive to our organizing goals: building an organized, independent, militant workers’ movement that fights for city workers, the working class New Yorkers we serve, and workers all over the world.  After Mamdani wins the general election in November, we will continue the fight for wages that keep up with inflation, for an end to the wasteful practice of farming out public sector work to private contractors, for fully funded city agencies that are responsive to community needs, and for divesting our pension to end the city’s complicity in Israel’s genocidal project of ethnic cleansing in Palestine.  

On some of these issues, Zohran is a clear ally. For example, he has already expressed an interest in fully funding city agencies and auditing the city’s private contractors. On some issues, like more maximalist DC 37 contract demands or abolitionist demands around the NYPD, the Mamdani administration may side with city leadership in calling for moderation. Ultimately, we will work with the mayor’s office when we can, but against them when we must. This is a key insight: independent rank-and-file organizing can power leftist politicians to victory, but it is the only vehicle to ensure that, after taking power and facing heavy institutional pressures to compromise, politicians continue to support the program of DSA and the worker’s movement, from fast and free buses to divesting city workers’ pension from Israel all the way to a democratic socialist society. The purpose of such independent political entities like DC37 for Zohran is not just to help candidates win campaigns but to keep them politically sharp and honest, as we continue to build consciousness and support for our own political program and organization. 

Looking to 2028, it is worth asking: what coalition could potential presidential nominees – AOC, Shawn Fain, Sara Nelson, or Rashida Tlaib – build around themselves? What coalition does DSA want to build in the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential elections, and how can we help cohere that coalition? As we answer these questions, DC 37 for Zohran is a model we can take inspiration from. It shows us that through the rank-and-file organization DSA helps cohere, we can organize activists and the politically disengaged to move the labor-liberal coalition towards our goals. Most importantly, it shows us that we can use these campaigns to raise consciousness, grow our lists, and build durable mass organizations for the political battles that occur after every election, win or lose. Delegates to DSA’s 2025 convention who resonate with this vision should vote in support of the “A DSA Presidential Platform” amendments and ensure our organization helps create these powerful rank-and-file formations.

Image: Zohran Mamdani speaking at a New York City DSA fundraiser in 2023. Photo by Alexandra Chan.

GNDCC Committee Updates

DSA Convention season in full swing. In our Campaign Huddles, we strategized for the next two years and outlined why Organizing for a Green New Deal under Trump 2.0 is crucial for DSA in Democratic Left. Read our resolution that would mandate us to focused on Buiding for Power for two more years.

Missed our mass call with socialist electeds, ecosocialist leaders, and campaign organizers? Watch a recording on why the Fight for a Socialist Green New Deal continues, featuring Thea Riofrancos, Ashik Siddique, Sarahana Shrestha, Kelsea Bond, Alex Brower, Michael B, and Sam Z.

Building for Power campaign updates

New Campaigns

We welcomed a new B4P campaign into our universe: Houston DSA launched Our Vote, Our METRO, pressuring Mayor Whitmore to deliver transit improvements voters already approved. The revitalized ecosocialist working group is mobilizing for 2026 METRO budget hearings, driving turnout and shaping the narrative.

Keeping the Pressure On

In New York, Sarahana Shrestha’s Public Renewables Transparency Act passed unanimously in the State Assembly, ensuring democratic oversight of NYPA’s renewables expansion. The push continues for 15 GW of public renewables by 2030—creating 25,000 union jobs, cutting bills, and retiring peaker plants.

If you missed it, check out our latest Campaign Q&A: Building Public Renewables in New York. The Build Public Renewables Act provides a model for a successful chapter campaign within the Building for Power framework, and the fight continues to see it fully implemented. This interview is brimming with insights for chapters running their own strategic campaigns.

The summer months are great for canvassing: We Power DC hosted their first canvasses for their public power pledge, while the canvassing pros in Milwaukee continue their weekly efforts to gather signatures to replace WE Energies.

Louisville DSA’s Get on the Bus campaign to fund TARC continues gaining momentum, with nearly 1,200 signatures on their demand letter and support from 31 organizations—including 9 unions/labor councils. This summer they delivered over 300 postcards to city council and launched a street team wheatpasting bold “Let TARC Grow” posters across the city, taking inspiration from Metro DC’s B4P campaigns model.

---

If you’re at the 2025 DSA convention, stop by our table and say hi! We will be there championing the  power of organizing at the intersection of climate, labor, and public goods. As more chapters take on strategic, place-based campaigns, we’re building toward a future where ecosocialism is not just a vision—but a material force in the everyday lives of working-class people. See you in Chicago!

The post 2025 April-June Recap appeared first on Building for Power.

Note: posts by individual GMDSA members do not necessarily reflect the views of the broader membership or of its leadership and should not be regarded as official statements by the chapter.

GMDSA Electoral Committee Chair Adam Franz delivered the following speech at our chapter’s summer barbecue on July 22.

It’s great to see so many people here today, and I thank you all for coming to support our chapter’s delegation to Chicago for the national convention.

I am going into my fifth year as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, and many of the people here have been in the organization longer than I have. In my time in this org, and in all of our lifetimes, “socialism” and the left have been mostly an experience of defeat. The rollback of the New Deal in favor of neoliberalism, the defeat of the labor movement, the rise of the new right, Bernie’s two defeats, and a second Trump administration. Often, socialists have looked to small wins, like mutual aid, or the lack of a defeat, as a victory.

Zohran’s win changes all of that. Since 2020, socialists have been told, and in many cases accepted, a narrative that our beliefs are unpopular, that a majority of the American people are not with us. When the New York assemblymember, a cadre DSA member, announced his campaign last fall, he was a joke. Polling at just 1%, his platform read to the mainstream media like an ultra-left Twitter bio. Free buses? Rent freeze? Publicly owned grocery stores? No, these were not the talking points they had decided the election would be about. A moral panic about crime, a debate between different forms of centrism—that was what the mayoral election would be about. Zohran’s message would not breach the borders of the already existing base of democratic socialism in New York.

New York City DSA did not, however, just play to its base. After Trump’s victory, Zohran took to the street, talking to voters in neighborhoods that swung hard against Harris in November. He found that voters were motivated by a sense that the country was not working for ordinary people, and that even the lives they had been living four years before were no longer affordable to them. Now, price caps on rent and free, universal public services don’t sound so radical. They sound like the kind of materialist demands that the socialist left has that connect with working class voters.

Zohran’s message took off, propelling him into second place against disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo. And the more voters saw of Zohran, the more they liked him. The socialist assemblymember seemed like the first politician in a long time that genuinely cared about the struggles of the working class, and had solutions for them. Zohran did not just win the primary by 12 percent; he won neighborhoods nobody expected, and even in the neighborhoods where he lost, he far exceeded expectations, like in the more conservative Staten Island, where he landed only 9% below Cuomo. 

If Zohran wins in November, DSA will be in a position to be governing America’s biggest city. Like Bernie 40 years ago in Burlington, we have the opportunity to demonstrate that socialist government is good government. That public ownership is more efficient than private dictatorship. We can realize the slogan that Lenin beautifully gifted us a century ago: “Bolshevism equals soviet power plus electrification.” Socialists recognize that we must radically transform the state to empower ordinary people and deliver a better form of administration of government services that puts to bed the notion that socialism means ineffective government.

The easy thing to do, and you already see this in Democrats’ chosen media outlets like CNN and the New York Crimes, is to say, “This is a New York phenomenon, it can’t be repeated in cities and towns across America. Small-town America doesn’t have the media presence,  the right demographics, whatever, to allow such a victory in Anywhere, USA.” 

The truth is, New York is not an easy place to win elections for the left. It’s a city with a media ecosystem run by billionaires like Rupert Murdoch, where politics is driven by machines hostile to the left, and where the ultra-wealthy have seemingly unlimited resources to defeat insurgents like us. NYC-DSA won not because of these conditions, but in spite of them. It totally transformed the terrain on which the election was fought, because it had built up its own working-class institutions that could compete with the capitalist class on its terms, not those set by the 1%. The chapter has methodically built up its presence around the city. Zohran could capitalize on 50 thousand volunteers, knocking on doors in every borough and neighborhood to spread the message, leading to record-breaking turnout. 

The task for us is to bring the momentum to Vermont. Our chapter clearly is not as big as NYC-DSA, which has over 10,000 members. Yet we have the potential to be just as organized and mobilized. 

Working Vermonters are sick of the Democratic Party. Democrats have no answers for working people to address their concerns of an unaffordable state and out-of-control housing crisis. We do. The question is, will Vermont continue to slide back into the Republican camp, or will Vermont follow the “Zohmentum” and elect socialists in 2026?

Clearly, we have our work cut out for us. The Electoral Committee has set a goal to run four candidates for the legislature next year, in winnable seats where we can build a strong presence under the golden dome, and in hopes of building our presence statewide for future campaigns. We do this because we believe that our politics are popular and we can win. It is also because we believe that running for office is not an opportunity to rabble-rouse and talk down to the masses, but to govern as socialists. 

To do this, we need candidates. If you have ever thought to yourself, “I wish someone would do something about these problems,” that person is you! If you are interested in running for office, for the state house or selectboard or city council, come find me or another organizer today. There is a place for everybody to play.

If we are going to win, we need a chapter with a fighting capacity. We need to rely on an army of volunteers, like Zohran did. If you haven’t yet, join DSA today! While the capitalist class relies on their money, there are more of us than there are of them. Build the movement, build a fighting DSA, because I believe that we will win in 2026. 

And if you want to build on this major win, sign up to get involved with the Electoral Committee.  The next meeting is July 20 at 6.