This Report is submitted to the National Political Committee (NPC) of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) by the Green New Deal Campaign Commission (GNDCC) for consideration at the 2025 National Convention. The purpose of this report is: (1) to provide DSA members an overview of Green New Deal campaign objectives, strategy, and organizing activities; (2) to provide the Convention with a report of how the campaign carried out tasks outlined in the 2023 Resolution; and (3) to inform the convention of the successes and challenges of the campaign to assist in more effective future planning.

Overview

GNDCC’s Building for Power Campaign (B4P) organizes chapters to win local demands for green projects and expansion of public services that directly benefit the working class and empower the labor movement. GNDCC trains and mentors chapters to build their base and form winning coalitions with public sector unions, building trades, DSA electeds, environmental justice groups, and public service users like riders’ unions and tenant unions. GNDCC unifies and coordinates local campaigns by training organizers to:

• Research local issues that chapters can strategically intervene in
• Develop strategic campaigns based on objective metrics and criteria for winning and for building a stronger base and chapter
• Mobilize membership to turn out and continually assess campaign strengths and weaknesses
• Build coalitions with labor, elected officials, and other politically-aligned groups

This year, GNDCC’s 2025 Consensus Resolution proposes to continue B4P work because it has been successful in agitating for green policy and in strengthening chapter organizing and structure. The underlying strategy remains viable for the current political moment and is critical to building Left power against authoritarian threats. Due to the quickly changing political landscape, GNDCC plans to democratically develop GND strategy in this term by holding one or more strategy summits for DSA members, potentially in multiple regional meetings. The GND Summit we held in 2020 will serve as a model for future work of this sort.

A Brief History of GNDCC

GNDCC is the culmination of the original Ecosocialist Working Group (EWG), the first-ever climate action by DSA, launched by the National Convention in 2017. At that time, the growing severity of the climate crisis – and the emerging awareness of it – made climate action central to US politics by showing the inadequacies of liberal governance and environmental policy. From the start, DSA climate organizers have earned democratic legitimacy from membership by bringing proposals to our highest decision-making bodies, the Convention and the NPC.

Out of members’ growing conviction that direct campaigning at the national scale is essential to progress on climate, 2019 National Convention adopted, as a national priority, the Green New Deal Campaign, as defined in the Ecosocialist GND Principles. The Principles, endorsed by the NPC and over 60 DSA chapters in 2019, formally positioned the GND as a terrain of class-struggle.

From 2020 to 2021, GNDCC coordinated a DSA-wide organizing Summit which led to the national PRO Act campaign, then GND for Public Schools. The PRO Act campaign, adopted by the NPC and coordinated in chapters across the country, was DSA’s biggest campaign since Bernie 2020 and helped reinvigorate the national organization at a key moment. Based on this experience, DSA’s 2021 National Convention adopted the Ecosocialist Green New Deal priority which made the campaign “one of its highest national priorities.”

However, it became clear that the window for federal action was closing after the Inflation Reduction Act was passed midway through the Biden administration. But the 2023 passage of the ground-breaking New York Build Public Renewables Act, spearheaded by DSA organizers, signaled openings at the local scale. Referred to as the most significant piece of Green New Deal legislation to date, BPRA showed how public sector-oriented coalitions can win publicly-owned green infrastructure investment coupled with union jobs and strong labor provisions.

Building off this win, 2023 National Convention delegates adopted the Building for Power campaign. Under our Theory of Power and analysis of pathways for GND organizing, the campaign proposed to coordinate and help chapters win, at the city and state level, GND legislative/policy demands for public goods built with union labor and designed to further strengthen working class organization around climate. If passed, GNDCC’s 2025 Consensus Resolution will continue that work.

B4P Chapter Campaigns

Resolved that the GNDCC will continue to train and organize DSA chapters to run and win legislative campaigns for reforms that shift structural power to the working class by synergistically building public sector capacity and the labor movement—like expanded mass transit, democratized and decarbonized public energy, green social housing, and green public spaces and facilities.

As a body, we both reach out to chapter campaign leadership and take in chapter inquiries to evaluate for “B4P” status based on our criteria. The volume of inquiries and interest from across the country shows the drive to take climate action and get guidance on how to do so. In the last year alone, GNDCC Steering members have logged over 300 one-on-one and small group touches with chapter members to evaluate and workshop campaigns. In total, we have evaluated almost 100 campaigns and inquiries over the course of this campaign phase.

A plurality of campaign ideas do not make it far. Many chapters suffer from a lack of internal organization, capacity, or buy-in for campaign-type work. When we were debating in 2023 doing another national/federal level campaign like PRO Act versus letting chapters evaluate their own local conditions as under B4P, we recognized that these constraints would mean forgoing working with these chapters. That said, nearly all chapters who are pursuing a B4P campaign have reported that their chapters are stronger because of it.

As of July 2025, we have 11 active Building for Power campaigns across public transit, public power, social housing, and public spaces/schools:

Louisville – Get on the Bus Chicago – Fix the CTA Los Angeles – Power Mass Transit Houston – Our Vote, Our METRO Detroit – Bring Back the Tracks St. Louis – GND for Public Schools

NYC – Green New York (BPRA) Milwaukee – Power to the People Metro DC – We Power DC Metro DC – GND for Housing NYC – House the Future

Below are a few examples of DSA chapter work on B4P campaigns and recent wins.

Detroit Brings Back the Tracks

2025 began with strong momentum from Detroit DSA, where GNDCC member Mel H led a successful power-mapping training that launched the “Bring Back the Tracks” transit campaign. About 15 new and experienced members joined the power-mapping and research working groups that led to the launch of the campaign. The campaign has received positive local press on Detroit Public Radio and Click On Detroit, highlighting the growing influence of our ecosocialist vision in the motor city.

Louisville Gets on the Bus

Louisville DSA’s Get on the Bus campaign, fighting for expanded bus funding alongside the ATU, hit a big milestone, landing on the front page of the Courier Journal in January. In February, the campaign secured key union endorsements: the Jefferson County Teachers Association endorsed, the Louisville Central Labor Council voted unanimously to join the coalition and sign the demand letter, and the Kentucky State AFL-CIO also signed on, with its director publicly recognizing DSA as “the real deal” in building working-class power.

Milwaukee Brings Power to the People

Milwaukee’s Power to the People campaign scored a major win this year by helping to elect Alex Brower to Milwaukee’s Common Council. Alex was a core organizer who helped launch the public power campaign, and as a cadre candidate he ran on a platform that included replacing We Energies with a public utility. Milwaukee now has a socialist in office to help make this campaign a reality! Joining electoral work with legislative demands is a key feature of Building for Power campaigns.

NYC Builds Social Housing

House the Future in NYC began canvassing in March of this year, to advance social housing as a key site of climate resilience. They collected nearly 1000 signatures over a few weekends in support of a statewide social housing developer via a bill authored by socialist in office Emily Gallagher. Ithaca DSA, Long Island DSA, and Mid-Hudson Valley DSA have formally endorsed the campaign and joined NYC in organizing statewide.

NY DSA Chapters Build Public Renewables

BPRA provides a model for a successful chapter campaign within the B4P framework. It was the work of NYC DSA and other NY DSA chapters, including Mid-Hudson Valley DSA, which elected Sarahana Shrestha, a former steering member of the Ecosocialist Working Group, as a key moment in the campaign. It is currently in the implementation phase and GNDCC’s Matt H. recently interviewed Micheal P., one of the strategy chairs, about where the campaign stands now. Michael’s comments are brimming with insights relevant to many chapters and members so please give the interview a read.

In short, New York State has relatively aggressive climate laws — mandating rapid transition to renewables, with benefits of the transition to disadvantaged communities — but DSA organizers understood the State “was not going to take the aggressive action that was needed to meet those goals.” To build a “mechanism to force the State to deliver on this promise,” they used a sort of secret weapon for the energy transition, the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the largest state-level public utility in the country. Seeing it as an opportunity to get the State — not private developers – to build renewables, NYC DSA and a coalition it led pressured the State itself to step up and build the renewable energy.

The strategy included plans to create a huge amount of green jobs, shut down fossil fuel plants, especially in lower-income places with mostly Black and Brown residents, and lowering utility bills. Through internal pressure in Albany in coordination with DSA electeds like Zohran Mamdani and Sarahana Shrestha, external pressure to force a response from target legislators, running insurgent candidates against target legislators, and relentless organizing, the coalition won a law that basically gives NYPA both the power and the mandate to build a ton of publicly owned renewable energy and create all these benefits in the process. The fight to see it fully implemented continues.  

Metro DC fights rate hikes

When DC’s electric utility proposed raising rates over 12%, We Power DC fought back by organizing residents to send almost 2,000 letters to the DC Council in the fall of 2024 urging them to stand up to rate hikes. Now, as bills (and summer temperatures) rise, DC’s public power organizers are hitting the streets to canvass for public power and wheatpaste around the District. Meanwhile, the campaign has developed a technical whitepaper to make the case for legislation to build a public alternative to Pepco. 

Building for Power 2023-2025

Coaching & training 

Resolved that the GNDCC will continue to support the development of chapter capacity by providing campaign-oriented training, coaching, resources, and educational materials and facilitating cross-chapter coordination as part of a larger unified strategy.

Campaign Huddles

Since the GND for Public Schools campaign, GNDCC has understood that regular campaign meetings for chapter leads can be the heart of the campaign and provide the most enjoyable and fruitful organizing meetings many members have been involved in. To this end, we host cross-chapter meetings (once monthly, now quarterly) called “Campaign Huddles.” Typically, 5-10 chapters, often with multiple members from those chapters, participate for the hour-long call and we do outreach to widen and grow interest. In the last two years, we have held about 15 hour-long chapter huddles, with more than 200 unique participants across 70 chapters.

Huddles provide members with opportunities to learn from each other and they give GNDCC ways to collect information from chapter campaigns that can help us understand gaps in knowledge and needs of chapters. Presentations by chapters about their campaigns, skills sharing with experienced members, and open discussion can address very uneven levels of campaign experience and skills among chapters. We talk about tactics and strategic challenges, about comms and organizing tools, about the political moment and preparing for future fights. 

Members who attend report loving them, especially for the chance they give members to share experiences, commiserate with each other, and celebrate together. Huddles and similar meetups can also help cohere DSA as a national organization of closely coordinated locals and in building solidarity and a shared sense of direction among members.

Trainings

Training chapter leaders to create and execute strategy, organize internally, use organizing tools, and plan and conduct field work is the core of the B4P campaign. In the last two years, GNDCC has held 5 major trainings lasting over 9 hours, in addition to mini-trainings tailored for specific chapters.

Strategic Campaign Trainings with GDC
In February 2024 we hosted a 3-part training series on strategic campaigns along with the Growth & Development committee. Just over 150 comrades attended live or accessed the recordings, representing over 60 chapters from across the country. One of those participants from Houston DSA went on to revitalize the chapter’s dormant ecosocialist working group and launched a Building for Power campaign on transit, “Our Vote Our METRO”. 

Regional Organizing Retreats
Since 2023, GNDCC also participated in 4 DSA regional organizing retreats when these were still taking place to promote Building for Power and the value of running strategic campaigns. 

Mini-Trainings
GNDCC also hosted on-demand trainings for specific chapters based on their needs. In 2024 we hosted sessions for Twin Cities, Grand Rapids, and LA to help them think through their local conditions and craft strategic demands. 

Coaching

Each actively campaigning B4P chapter has a GNDCC contact who meets with them regularly, advises campaign leads and provides them with resources, reporting back to GNDCC on developments and needs. In 2022-23, GNDCC put together a coaching team of experienced DSA organizers from chapters around the country to help mentor B4P chapter campaigns. Finding members experienced enough, good at communicating, and with capacity to spare (2 to 4 hours a month), is challenging in the best of times and even more difficult when DSA chapters are at low capacity ebbs as they have been during this time. In the past 2 years, this work has been shouldered more and more by GNDCC steering members, and we have essentially stopped expanding the program. 

A coaching success story comes out of Los Angeles, where NYC-DSA member Joe S has stepped to work with Los Angeles’ Power Mass Transit campaign when it ran into challenges pushing for a quick-build network of dedicated bus/bike lanes and for free fares on LA transit. Joe continuously challenged chapter leads to take on new strategies/tactics to get what they want without dropping core demands for better transit, get aligned with SIOs, keep attacking the Metro Board, and track chapter/campaign growth outside of direct “wins.” The campaign has since pivoted to targeting the LA Metro Board along with the local janitors union to create a permanent system of free public bathrooms at major transit stations.

Mass Calls and conference panels

Resolved that the GNDCC will continue to collaborate with other DSA national bodies on overlapping campaign and policy areas. 

Since 2023, we have hosted 7 mass calls with DSA’s National Labor Commission, International Committee, and Housing Justice Committee, as well as with union organizers, DSA organizers, and socialists in office from around the country. We also helped coordinate panels at the yearly Socialism Conference in 2023 and 2024. 

The Fight for a Socialist Green New Deal (June 2025). Union leaders, socialists in office, and DSA campaign organizers explained why they’re continuing to fight for a socialist Green New Deal in the current terrain through Building for Power Campaigns. 

Socialism Conference Panel: An Ecosocialism that Builds: What’s Next for the Green New Deal? (Aug. 2024). DSA GND organizers, researchers from Climate + Community Institute, and UAW Region 9A leader Brandon Mancilla formed a panel on rebuilding the labor movement via Green New Deal unionism. 

Building for Power in Mass Transit (June 2024). In this webinar, we heard from Building for Power campaigns around the country that are organizing for mass public transit with organized labor and socialists in office. 

Workers and the World Unite: Labor in a Green New Deal (January 2024). Hosted by GNDCC and the DSA National Labor Commission, organizers from across the country spoke about their work and how it fits into the theory and practice of a just transition and a socialist horizon.

Ceasefire Now For People and Planet (Dec. 2023). Panelists from DSA, Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, and Dissenters discussed the resurgence of a Left anti-war movement and organizing for Palestinian liberation in the context of the climate crisis, and explored how ecosocialist organizers can deepen internationalism and anti-militarism within domestic climate organizing.

Socialism Conference Panel: The Longer Road to a Green New Deal (Aug. 2023). DSA climate organizers, including GNDCC members, participated in a Green New Deal panel at the conference focusing on B4P strategies and the BPRA.

The Path to Green Social Housing (July 2023). Panelists from GNDCC and the Housing Justice Commission discussed different contemporary and historical approaches to the development of class- and eco-conscious social housing and how we can win it today.

BPRA: A Win in the Fight for a Green New Deal (April 2023). In this webinar, we heard from DSA climate organizers who made Build Public Renewables happen, and about how we can grow the movement for public power to win a Green New Deal from coast to coast!

Building for Power: Launch Call (March 2023). In the launch for the then new B4P Campaign, we heard from DSA member-organizers in Detroit, Philly, and Maine chapters, plus DSA electeds Hugo Soto-Martinez (LA) and Sarahana Shrestha (MHV).

GNDCC Chapter Grants and Fundraising

GNDCC has also distributed almost $7,000 in grants to campaigning chapters For example, Philly DSA was able to build 100 Corsi-Rosenthal Boxes (DIY air filters) for classrooms across 12 schools with their grant funds, aiding the community and building strong relationships as part of their Green New Deal for Public Schools campaign. Louisville’s Get on the Bus campaign printed 100 stickers for bus stops and 1,000 push cards for canvassing/tabling, which kicked off their ongoing work. In the same time, our committee has raised $4,500 in donations to DSA.

Campaign Challenges and Opportunities

US Politics

When we drafted our theory of power in 2022, we were organizing in the context of a neoliberal Democratic administration over which the Left had limited power. Now we find ourselves at the start of Trump’s second – worse – term. ICE is raiding communities and chapters are organizing to defend immigrants and trans people from the Right’s assaults. Trump has launched a trade war, frozen research grants, threatened universities, and purged federal workers. Basic environmental protections like the Clean Air Act are under threat, and some funding under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has been rescinded. Meanwhile, Democrats play dead, post weak clap backs, and try to flank Trump to the right. 

In this setting, it is true that chapters may become stretched responding to immediate demands more pressing than new bus lanes. But our view is that, through B4P campaigns undertaken now, chapters can build the leadership and organizing skills and expand the outreach and recruitment that will be essential to responding to whatever Trump dishes out. 

The crises we face are urgent, yet the public goods we are working to expand take years to build out; there is no time to waste. An organized Left must keep pushing on the local level, where there are still opportunities to build working-class power and green public sector capacity. 

The recent victory of Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York points the way forward. While Zohran’s campaign was laser-focused on making an affordable NYC for all, the demands were crafted in a way that proposed Green Abundance for the Many through policies that “embed climate action in real improvements for working peoples’ everyday lives.” This approach, merging electoral organizing with climate action through broad coalitions oriented to labor, is deeply connected with the Building for Power framework that is popular among so many DSA chapters. GNDCC believes this model, adapted to various conditions across the country, can post major wins on climate and forms a core strategy for fighting right-wing austerity and authoritarianism. Notably Zohran was a core climate organizer in NYC during his tenure as Assemblyman and is credited with stopping a new gas plant in Astoria, securing more funding for public transportation, and helping to push BPRA over the finish line.

Chapter Conditions and Internal Organizing

The last 2 years of Biden’s term, marked by the Gaza invasion and genocide, were demoralizing for DSA members. Chapters did broadly experience demobilization and fought to build in a landscape with little federal political possibility open to the Left. 

While the Build Public Renewables Act as well as the Zohran campaign provide models for successful chapter campaigning in the B4P framework, it’s also clear that most chapters are not in a position to win demands of that size or scope. In addition to external political barriers, DSA chapters have uneven capacity and skill levels, uneven organizing cultures and uneven mobilization. But chapters can win B4P campaigns on the scale of their local conditions! B4P’s strategy is designed to develop chapters in all those areas, particularly intensive organizing capacity to win power and transformative demands. 

While some chapters are struggling to get going, other chapters are reporting: wins in electoral campaigns that include GND demands, like those of Zohran and Alex Brower; new B4P campaigns with chapter buy-in; formation of chapter power-mapping groups; recent social events to build engagement; good canvassing numbers – especially in electoral campaigns pushing GND demands; and growing engagement with labor union locals. The GNDCC’s goal is to help chapters build, sustain, and spread organizing momentum in the next two years. 

Long Timelines and Developing Crises

Because this campaign is an ambitious effort to coordinate many local campaigns by chapters under varying conditions, we recognize that developing winnable demands while building working class power will take time. Chapters need time to do strategic groundwork or build capacity. Like a massive locomotive leaving the station, it will take time to gain traction and speed, but once started, it is difficult to stop.

We are proposing to continue this campaign and the great work it’s started. The instability and incoherence of the Trump Administration and the Democratic response mean that the political landscape is in great flux and predictability is limited. GNDCC therefore plans to democratically develop Green New Deal strategy in this term by holding one or more strategy summits for DSA members, potentially in multiple regional meetings. The GND Summit we held in 2020 will serve as a model for future work of this sort. We intend to continue mapping this terrain with a broad range of DSA members and providing them with training, coaching, resources, and organized labor power, to achieve progress in the next two years. 

Last Word

Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past. — Karl Marx

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DSA is proud to endorse Willie Burnley Jr. for Somerville Mayor. Willie currently serves At-Large on the Somerville City Council. On council he has fought to expanding tenant rights, provide non-discrimination protections for trans and polyamorous folks, has made roads safer and sidewalks more accessible through the Safe Streets Ordinance, and advocated to abolish medical debt.

As mayor he’ll champion housing for all, a Green New Deal for Somerville Public Schools, expanding worker’s rights, and more!

Willie is part of a slate of candidates in the Socialist Cash Takes Out Capitalist Trash fundraising project!

by J. Noble

Whether you’re a parent wanting a safer protest experience for your children or someone who gets overwhelmed in a crowd, the outer circle of a protest can be a perfect spot for those who want to show their support

This weekend, I white-knuckled the steering wheel as I travelled down the winding road of I-5, past the Nisqually River and the lush evergreens, and into Olympia. Despite being a Washington native, I had visited here for the very first time only a couple of weeks ago for Zine Fest. After enjoying the bustling (and very queer) energy of this event, and visiting the pier and the Olympia Farmers Market, I felt confident that I could return again. I just wasn’t expecting to return so soon.

Alongside my coworker, who lives in Olympia, and their child, we attended June 14th’s No Kings protest in Olympia, “a nationwide day of defiance,” against the Trump administration’s acts of authoritarianism, says the official No Kings webpage. This was the third, and biggest, protest that I attended, and after learning about the importance of having a buddy from a protest safety webinar, I thought it best that if I was going to attend, I should go with someone I knew.

My coworker’s spouse drove us near the state capital, and, with our handwritten signs, we made our way towards the heart of the protest. My coworker held their child’s hand as we weaved our way through the growing crowd, staying on the periphery to scope out the scene.

Having a child present with us, my coworker and I had a mutual understanding that we wanted to keep our action at the protest as safe as possible. We ended up on the side of a major street where protestors held signs and waved at drivers. With an open spot, we joined in, and spent most of our time there. During this action, I thought about how accessible and beginner-friendly this portion of a protest is.

The side of the road is a perfect spot for those who want to be physically present at a protest but have circumstances that may prevent them from being in the thick of a sea of people. For families with young children, especially, it is a prime spot for safety while still making your voice heard. Children can have fun making their own signs and waving at drivers, most of whom will wave back or honk their horns in solidarity, all while parents can rest assured that there is a more accessible escape route should anything arise.

If resistance from police or counterprotestors takes place, those on the margins will usually be the first to know. On one hand, this can be risky, but being in this area puts more eyes on the perimeter of the protest, creating an atmosphere of those who can quickly spread the word to those on the inside.

This is also an optimal spot for those with disabilities. Wheelchair users, for example, may have an easier time moving around on the sidewalk if the main protest area is on a bumpy or grassy surface. Alongside those who get overwhelmed by crowds, the sidewalk can also provide an easier exit if you need to take a break.

And who knows? Maybe you’ll get to laugh at a Cybertruck or two passing by.

Another, often overlooked, part of any protest is the organizer tables. No Kings Olympia had multiple booths of different organizations spreading awareness of the work that they do, handing out pamphlets and stickers, and collecting donations. This can get people familiar with the resources available in their area, and potentially inspire them to get involved in something more than just a single protest.

While being on the margins of a protest includes some notable features, that does not mean that caution and discernment should be thrown out the window. No matter where you are in a protest, remember to get to know the area you are in and to be aware of exit routes. Stay aware of your surroundings at all times by keeping your head on a swivel, and, if possible, bring a friend (or two! Or three!). Get clear on what each of you are able or willing to do at the protest, and create a plan of action if your team gets separated, such as having a meetup spot to regroup.

Towards the end of our time at the protest, the three of us decided to take a quick walk-through. We passed by people of all ages, some wearing big cat costumes, some wearing black bloc, or just in their regular street clothes. Many people flooded the state capitol steps and yelled out chants, but many were also perusing booths, mingling with other protestors, or sitting in the grass.

We are more powerful in numbers, and we all protest differently. If we understand that and make an active effort to create a space that is more accessible to everyone, then we would be unstoppable.

by Audrey Bracken

On Tuesday, June 24, the nation watched in awe as Zohran Mamdani soared to victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary election on the wings of radical, unheard of ideas like… making big business pay fair taxes and granting workers a living wage. 

Jokes aside–with people all over the country struggling to find housing, pay their rent, and avoid landlord exploitation, it’s no wonder that Mamdani’s bold platform for housing resonated with New Yorkers.

That same night, on the opposite coast in our very own Grit City, renters and working class Tacomans also won a major victory in the fight for housing. Tacoma may not have a fashion week or more than one place in town to get a decent bagel, but we agree with New York on something more important: the fact that everyone deserves a stable and safe place to live. 

Thanks to the incredible organizing work of Tacoma for All and a coalition of more than a dozen labor and community partners, Tacoma City Council couldn’t ignore the voices of our community. Our collective power led to the council adopting bold amendments to the One Tacoma: Comprehensive Plan, which guides the city’s policies and direction for the next 25 years. These two amendments further commit the city to tenant protections passed by voters in 2023, as well as open the door for an innovative housing model to meet the needs of our current and future neighbors. 

This victory wouldn’t have been possible without the support of everyday community members showing up and taking part in the democratic process. At a city council meeting earlier this month, several dozen Tacomans of all ages and walks of life – from high school students to union leaders, lifelong residents to recent newcomers – showed up with the same goal in mind: to protect and build upon community-led efforts to make stable, safe, and permanently affordable housing a reality for everyone in our beloved city. 

Harlan, a local high school student, spoke in support of an amendment to include expanding tenant protections and enshrining the provisions of the Landlord Fairness Code as official policy in the comprehensive plan. He stood before the city council as the youngest person in the room and passionately advocated on behalf of community members like himself and his mother, who were able to avoid losing their apartment thanks to the Landlord Fairness Code. 

“For the last six years of my life, my mom and I have lived in a cozy apartment in Tacoma near my school and her work, near public transportation and parks, with a vibrant community that has supported me, and that I’ve become a part of. It’s my home and it holds immense value to me. But to some people, this isn’t a home, it’s just an apartment–an apartment with “value”, but not the same value it holds for me,” said Harlan. 

A year ago, while his mother was already working 2-3 jobs just to be able to pay their rent, an unexpected increase threatened to displace the family, which would have forced them to uproot their lives right before Harlan’s senior year of high school. 

“Thanks to the renters’ protections passed just prior to this, we were able to fight to keep our home and stay a part of our community. These renters’ protections keep communities together and give hardworking families the stability they deserve,” he said. 

While the Landlord Fairness Code has had a life-changing impact for many families like Harlan and his mother, other Tacoma tenants continue to struggle as landlords ignore, and even retaliate against, the law. Several tenants and organizers spoke at the meeting about the continued appalling conditions and mistreatment residents face at apartment complexes in Tacoma. 

April, a tenant at Bryn Mar Village, has been working with her neighbors to fight against the injustices its owners continue to get away with. She shared her personal experiences with basic maintenance requests going unanswered and safety violations being ignored. She went without heat in her apartment for two years. Despite this, the owners of Bryn Mar keep trying to raise rents. As a disabled cancer survivor, April feels responsible to speak up on behalf of other people with disabilities who are suffering from the effects of landlord greed. 

Since the passage of the Landlord Fairness Code, volunteers with Tacoma for All have been supporting tenants at apartment buildings across the city to know their rights and take collective action against violations. The Landlord Fairness Code is an important tool empowering working class Tacomans to protect their homes and their families, which is also, unsurprisingly, why landlords are trying to destroy it. 

Corporate landlords are already suing the city in an attempt to overturn the Landlord Fairness Code and go back to business as usual, bleeding working families dry without consequence. They are also not above using their money and influence to pressure city council to roll back tenant protections. But the power of the people is stronger. Our success at getting a commitment to tenant protections included in the One Tacoma Plan demonstrates that when working class Tacomans show up and fight together, our demands cannot be ignored. 

We also know that simply protecting our current housing isn’t enough. Our city’s population continues to grow, with no signs of slowing down. Thousands of our neighbors live unsheltered on the streets. On top of all this, Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to federal affordable housing programs threaten to create what state officials have warned would be a “tsunami of homelessness” in Washington. 

Community members let city council know we have a different vision for the future of housing in Tacoma–one that doesn’t rely on granting tax subsidies to private market developers in exchange for insufficient solutions, or waiting on the support of a federal government currently more concerned with kidnapping workers than housing its people. 

Tenants, organizers, and affordable housing experts spoke in support of a plan for social housing in Tacoma, a model for mixed-income public housing that has seen success in other American cities and internationally. The amendment to the One Tacoma Plan commits the city to exploring a potential social housing developer for Tacoma that meets the needs of low-income residents and serves historically-marginalized communities. 

“The city’s own data shows that private market is only producing affordable housing at one-fifth of the necessary rate,” said Jacqui, an affordable housing designer and tenant, “We cannot rely on the private market to provide what our community desperately needs: safe housing that allows them to live within their means.”

Earlier this year, Seattleites voted overwhelmingly in favor of a plan to fund social housing. Tacoma faces many of the same housing issues as our northern neighbors, so why not pursue a similar solution? For far too long, city leaders have relied on the same approaches, faced the same setbacks, and landed back in the same place they started with little to show for it. Now, with an innovative approach showing tested success and popular support, it’s time to try something different. 

Rowan, a renter who volunteers with Tacoma for All, shared why he supports social housing in Tacoma.

“By housing a broad range of incomes, social housing generates revenue that’s invested into new, affordable homes – homes that are desperately needed, as right now, Tacoma is set to lose over 150 shelter beds by the end of July. Personally, I’d be much happier if part of my rent went towards that, rather than being siphoned out of the community and into corporate profits.”

The benefits of social housing align with the values of everyday Tacomans: looking out for each other, supporting our neighborhoods, and creating a positive future for the city we love. 

Both housing amendments to the comprehensive plan were passed unanimously by city council on June 24. Successfully amending a municipal plan may not sound as exciting as electing a socialist mayor of the biggest city in the country, but it’s a victory worth celebrating. Housing policies can have a life or death impact for our community members, as well as the potential to create better ways of living for us all. That’s why organizers worked so tirelessly to achieve this win. Tacoma for All advocated the necessity of these amendments to the Tacoma Planning Commission, which brought them before city council. Organized tenants and labor built a coalition, gained support from local leaders, and made their voices heard at council meetings. Over 350 community members fought for themselves, their families, and their neighbors by sending letters of support. 

Because of this, our elected leaders had to pay attention to the demands of working class people in Tacoma, and the future of housing in our city looks brighter than before.

But the fight is far from over. Tenants across Tacoma continue to face threats to their health, safety, and human right to a place to live. The landlord lobby is not going to give up easily, and will continue to fight against the public good by all means necessary. And while the possibility of a social housing solution is one step closer to reality, thousands of our neighbors are currently facing evictions or already living on the street. 

We flexed our collective muscle to make these recent wins possible, and we will do it again and again. Because that is what it will take to achieve housing for all in Tacoma, our home.

by Zev Rose Cook

Zohran Mamdani’s election victory in the NYC mayoral race has attracted national excitement. It’s clear that conservative forces, both inside and outside the Democratic Party, are worried about what it means to have a Muslim, pro-Palestine democratic socialist achieve such a level of success. With establishment and big business support rallying behind disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo—who lost handily to Zohran in the primary—and current Mayor Eric Adams, who has collaborated with the Trump administration on ICE deportations, many will recall how these same forces moved swiftly to prevent Bernie Sanders from winning the presidential nomination in 2016.

Although it remains to be seen whether Zohran will emerge victorious in the general election, what is certain is that his campaign has sparked a firestorm of discussion about what his victory means for the Democratic Party and the left. Some have chalked it up to a privileged upbringing and excellent communication skills. I recently watched one commentator explain that the policies Zohran is running on—including investment in accessible transit and childcare—are the same things Democrats often support, and that if only we could learn to use social media like Zohran, Democrats could start winning again. For the record number of young people who turned out to support his campaign—and those across the nation who have been excited observers—this analysis clearly misses the mark.

Many have argued that Zohran won only in spite of his pro-Palestine and socialist politics, but if you look at the social movement and base of over 50,000 people who were inspired to turn out and volunteer, it’s clearly quite the opposite. One thing that separates Zohran from any other progressive candidate in the race is the support of the NYC Democratic Socialists of America—a mass organization of over 10,000 members and scores of experienced campaign organizers standing ready to support his election. In addition to ready-made campaign infrastructure, effective messaging was also key.

For years, Democratic Party leadership and the Israel lobby have hammered the public with the idea that any criticism of Israel is antisemitism and politically unacceptable. In the face of this, Zohran won as a pro-Palestine Muslim in one of the most Jewish cities on the planet. On top of that, he also won as an open socialist among an electorate that has been inundated with red scare propaganda for generations. Following Kamala Harris’s loss last year, many party insiders argued that the party needs to move further to the right to attract more voters. If Zohran’s campaign has taught us anything, it’s that voters don’t want leaders who are more right-wing or more supportive of Israel—they want leaders who speak meaningfully to the everyday struggles faced by working-class Americans across this country.

On the opposite side of the country, I’ve experienced many of the same dynamics—albeit at a smaller scale—as a democratic socialist running for the Tacoma City Council. With the support of the Tacoma DSA, our campaign has turned out a base of over 70 volunteers, recently helping us cross the threshold of having knocked on every one of the over 10,000 doors of registered voters in Tacoma’s 5th District. One thing I’ve learned is that although interpretations of what it means to be a socialist can vary greatly among voters, what it does clearly communicate is a departure from everyday politics.

In blue cities like NYC and Tacoma, it can be difficult for voters to easily distinguish between progressive and establishment candidates. This is especially true as progressives often do a poor job of differentiating themselves, while establishment picks have learned to muddy the waters by adopting progressive language—while leaving policy on the cutting room floor.

In the last few years alone, the cost of living has risen enormously. From the NYC election results to my conversations with voters across Tacoma, one thing is clear: Americans are ready for a different path. Running as a democratic socialist demonstrates a clear willingness to buck the status quo and fight for a program that puts the interests of working people first. If you ask me—and over half a million NYC voters—that’s the kind of clarity we need to defeat Trump and the corporate oligarchy.

At Maine DSA’s Summer Semi-Annual Meeting (held each July), a 2/3 majority of chapter members present voted to pass the following statement regarding the DSA National Convention Mask Policy, and to mandate its release via Pine and Roses.

Maine DSA calls upon all elected and/or appointed delegates to vote for a motion by Richard S of Greater Baltimore DSA to require masking at convention.

Upon their election, some Maine DSA delegates were taken aback by the abdication of previously held standards of masking at our National Convention. As a chapter, we have formally required masking since January 2023 and reaffirmed it in May of 2023 and November of 2023. While we allow for socials and other “riskier” activities, we understand the importance of making chapter business accessible for all as a democratic organization. This is even more crucial at the national level, where political decisions are made which impact all of DSA’s tens of thousands of members.

Masking should be required at our National Convention, as it is at this year’s Socialism Conference. Airborne viral particles don’t care whether or not we are 6ft apart from each other. Vaccine requirements are certainly helpful for personal protection, but we are quickly losing access under the RFK Jr, Jay Bhattacharya, and Marty Makary public health administration, and current US vaccines have limited efficacy against transmission and development of long COVID. Masks are safe and ridiculously effective.

Furthermore, the requirement of a single Rapid Antigen Test for each delegate ignores the instructions supplied with these tests which are only authorized for asymptomatic use when tested at least three times over five days with at least 48 hours between tests. In fact, even when symptomatic, the pre-Trump FDA recommended repeat testing following a negative result. Advising people to misuse medical tests is neither comradely nor wise and provides false confidence that our convention policies adequately protect our comrades.

The National Political Committee Steering Committee’s decision along caucus lines to make masking optional, despite years of advocacy from DSA’s Disability Working Group, directly endangers DSA members and caused one of our chapter’s elected delegates to drop out upon hearing of the new policy. It has given pause to multiple other delegates who were similarly shocked by this news.

By not standing by practical public health measures now, we are failing our future selves. Why are we taking unnecessary risks in our organizing that are likely to lead to the disablement of many of us, especially trans and bisexual people and people of color? DSA needs to meet the moment; America’s fascist government is ramping up their restrictions on vaccine access. Mask bans continue to pop up across the country, giving police ever more rein to harass disabled people as they try to more safely go about their days.

We are hopeful that other chapters will make similar statements; if you are a DSA Member, you can motion to make a statement like this in your chapter. We hope our comrades across this country will hold disability justice and accessibility as a top priority. At a minimum, we ask that all DSA delegates be prepared to support a floor vote to restore the masking policy at our 2025 National Convention for the safety of all of our comrades.

Mask up! We need you,
Maine Democratic Socialists of America

Reading

Podcast and Transcript: Covid Year Five (12/23/24) – Death Panel

Zine: MASK UP, WE NEED YOU: Palestinian Solidarity, Covid-19, and the Struggle for Liberation – Sheyam Ghieth and Rimona Eskayo

Blog: COVID-19 Weather Reports – People’s CDC

Website: We Have the Tools

Maine Delegation Statement: Maine DSA’s Delegation to the 2025 DSA National Convention Opposes the Rollback of Public Health in the US and Within our National Organization

The post Maine DSA rejects the rollback of public health measures within the federal government and National DSA appeared first on Pine & Roses.

More New Mainers live in Cumberland County than any other county in the state. It’s not even close. So to play on an old saying: As Cumberland County goes for immigrant rights, so goes Maine. In Portland, some 34 percent of students are multilingual learners, speaking some 60 languages. Cumberland County will either look the other way as Trump terrorizes our immigrant neighbors, or it will build on the legacy of the Personal Liberty Laws during the days of the Fugitive Slave Act, when the state legislature made it illegal for local police and prosecutors to cooperate in any manner with federal slave catchers. That’s how the Underground Railroad worked in Maine. 

What’s happening now? ICE and Border Patrol are racially profiling, especially, Latino and African workers and disappearing them into concentration camps in Maine and across the country. Only a few of the stories have made the press because so many immigrant families are afraid to speak out. But the stories that have gone public are enough to demonstrate that ICE and Border Patrol are operating outside the Constitution. Nevermind Los Angeles, it’s happening right here in Cumberland County and throughout Maine. 

What is ICE? If it ever had anything to do with something called legality, it’s clear now that Trump’s ICE is the training grounds for an openly–if cowardly, mask-wearing, wannabe–fascist militia. The Big Beautiful Bill will make ICE larger than the FBI, DEA, US Marshals, and Bureau of Prisons combined.

Why Cumberland County? The Cumberland County Jail is the largest ICE detention facility in Maine. At a meeting with representatives of the No ICE for ME campaign, Sheriff Kevin Joyce reported ICE detentions surging by more than 100% since Trump’s election. He claims he’s powerless to do anything other than follow orders from the Feds. But the contract signed between ICE and the Cumberland County Jail states on the first line that either party can cancel it with thirty days notice. 

This is where the Board of Cumberland County Commissioners (CCC) comes into play. These five elected officials have the power to vote by a simple majority to cancel the contract. Public protests at the last three CCC meetings have grown from 45 in May to 80 in June to more than 125 on July 21. So many people responded to No ICE for ME’s call to give public comment that the board tried to cut it short, refusing to hear from everyone in the meeting room who wanted to speak. That did not go well for the board. 

Board members are in a tough spot. They didn’t run for office in order to draw a line in the sand against a fascist ethnic cleansing campaign. It’s not what they signed up for. But this disaster isn’t what any of us signed up for. Despite tempers flaring at the last board meeting, I believe there is a majority that wants to vote to do the right thing and end the contract. To do so, they will have to follow their better angels by putting aside proceduralism and the public speaking to them in ways they are not accustomed to.

If they do so, a large majority of Cumberland County residents will have their backs. As State Representative Grayson Lookner pointed out at a meeting with members of the board and the sheriff, a large majority of Cumberland County elected officials in the legislature voted for LD 1971, which prohibits local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE. Putting that into practice in Cumberland County means canceling the contract at the jail. 

If the board drags its feet–they have suggested holding a hearing in late September with a potential vote in October… or later–they will face mounting public protest. But more to the point, every day they delay only extends the county’s collaboration with ICE and the attack on our friends, family members, students, neighbors and fellow workers. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail explained why, under extreme circumstances, well-meaning advice to “wait” just a little longer for justice is no virtue at all. 

No one believes cutting the contract will send ICE running. They have $45 billion for concentration camps. We have to prepare to stop them from building one in northern New England in the coming months. And the best way to do that is to take a stand today in Cumberland County. Not later, not somewhere else, not someone else. Now, here, us. The Board of Cumberland County Commissioners can either be part of that movement, or they can stand in the way. 

For more information about No ICE for ME and how you help, sign up here.

The post As Cumberland County goes, so go immigrant rights in Maine appeared first on Pine & Roses.

Every year, the Maine chapter of Democratic Socialists of America holds two conventions; a Winter Semi-Annual held in January, and a Summer Semi-Annual held in July. Both events are where larger proposals are discussed, not typically brought up during regular general meetings. These include potential bylaw amendments, endorsements, and committee charters. They also include workshops and panels, so they last a while, usually four to five hours. Oh, and don’t forget the snacks, raffle, and socializing!

This year, Maine DSA’s Summer Semi-Annual is a hybrid event, taking place both in-person in Portland and on Zoom, Saturday, July 26th, with plenty on the agenda to get through. For those who might be curious about how Maine DSA operates and deliberates, or for those who are interested in our workshops, it’s a great chance for members to help steer the chapter into the next six months, and for non-members to meet like-minded folks, listen, chat, and learn a little bit about what Maine DSA is up to.

After the usual introductions and community agreements, attendees will hear reports from current committees and working groups. What they’ve been up to since January, including achievements and challenges, as well as their plans for the remainder of 2025. This is a great way to find out if there’s work being done that you might be interested in getting involved with. Groups like the Portland Committee, Midcoast Committee, Bodily Autonomy, Mutual Aid, Labor Rising and more!

After reports and re-charters, the chapter will launch into business. This is the juicy stuff. With DSA’s National Convention around the corner, there are a number of national resolutions for chapter members to decide if they want the chapter to endorse or not. If endorsed, delegates to the convention from Maine would be expected to vote in favor of those items. After that, it gets into proposals that focus on the actual Maine chapter, with one looking to amend the chapter’s anti-zionist policy, a vote on whether a new office space is needed, and more. 

During the business portion above, only chapter members will be allowed to vote. However, non-members are welcomed as observers. And the two events held directly after business are open to everyone. What are those events, you ask?

After business and a brief break for snacks and chatter, the chapter will hold one panel and one art build. Starting at 4:00, there will be a Socialists in Office Panel featuring Maine DSA members who have experience either running as a candidate or managing an electoral campaign. They’ll be making themselves available to talk through what they’ve learned, how to get started if you’re interested in running, and answer questions.

If that panel doesn’t sound up your alley, the chapter will also be holding an art build at the same time, where they will be focusing on creating new merchandise like shirts, bags, prints, using screen and lino cut printing! While the panel will be a hybrid event, the art build is in-person only.

After all the business is finished, folks who wish will be congregating at a local brewery to hold a social hour and unwind. A lot goes into planning and facilitating these long semi-annual chapter conventions, so the chance to kick back and socialize afterward is well earned by members and allies alike. If you would like to learn more about Maine DSA’s Summer Semi-Annual coming up on July 26th, please click here! 

The post Maine DSA to Hold Summer Semi-Annual appeared first on Pine & Roses.

As the current socialist movement, we need to ask questions about what our goals for electoralism should be. The “default” goal, putting one person in office, is not as important as being shamelessly socialist. The power the electoral system has is extremely limited. It’s time for us to stop compromising our messaging in order to put people in office.

In 2016, Bernie Sanders ran for president as a Democrat. Almost every candidate for at large DSA members running for this year’s slate  listed more electoral involvement, either on the local or national level, as a goal the DSA should strive for in the future. The potential for socialists in government is real as the rotting Democratic party finally begins its decomposition. Take Bernie Sanders. He didn’t even win the primaries. But there are people reading this article right now who owe their interest in socialism to Bernie Sanders’s run.

Many in the Democratic Party insisted that Sanders was “too extreme” to run for president, and they used numerous dirty tricks to derail his movement. Those efforts to smear him have largely failed.Sanders was not elected president, but electoral success is not the only important consideration. Sanders’s run pushed the issues that voters cared about leftwards and even forced the Democratic Party itself in a more socialist direction. If he had chosen a more moderate line, the Democratic establishment would have been friendlier, but he would not have the ideological effect that he did. Ever since 2016, we have seen how one person can move the Overton Window of acceptable discourse. As Donald Trump’s rise shows, people are attracted to ideas that don’t fit into the mainstream. We at the DSA have an ability to offer people what other parties and candidates are simply not able to.

Like Trump and Sanders, Zohran Mamdani—the candidate who recently won the Democratic primary in New York as a self-proclaimed democratic socialist—is unignorable in current discourse. Candidates for state and federal office have a unique chance to spread their message and advance anti-capitalist ideas seen as dangerous.American democracy is in critical danger, but independent, left-wing candidates are still able to run and win despite the numerous impediments placed in their way. Electoral campaigns, with all their associated canvassing, publicity, and news coverage, must be acknowledged as perhaps our most effective mass media method of spreading ideology.

This also means that any electoral campaign isn’t just a local campaign. Once it gains enough publicity, it is national. Not everyone who engages with the candidate or the campaign can vote in the election, but they are certainly hearing and forming their own opinion on anyone who calls themselves a socialist candidate—and by extension opinions on the DSA, socialists, and socialism.

The mayor of New York City is a powerful office, but its power is not unlimited. As socialists, we know that we cannot rely on establishment Democratic candidates to back socialist reforms, and Mamdani is likely to be hemmed in by hostile Democratic forces all around. The New York City Council, which has ultimate authority on budgetary concerns and land use permissions, could seriously cut back on his power. How much he is able to accomplish depends on who wins the New York State Governor race, which could be won by Cuomo’s former running mate, Kathy Hochul. The New York State Legislature has a large Democratic majority, but there are no guarantees that Cuomo’s remaining supporters and the mainstream Democratic Party will work with him on any significant reforms.

Socialists will by default be the minority in any government in the U.S. This means that any meaningful reforms will have to be enacted in cooperation with capitalist political parties. In this case, Mamdani’s most ambitious policies will depend on a slate of Democrats who may not be willing to back even the most basic of reforms and have huge conflicts of interest across the board. 

Mamdani’s campaign also raises the question of how likely his rent freeze plan is to be implemented. The landlord lobby can throw millions at an independent Cuomo run for mayor, and it plans to spend heavily in the New York City council primaries. If disgraced New York City Mayor Eric Adams is smart, he might be able to throw a wrench in Mamdani’s plans by stacking the Rent Guidelines Board with term-length candidates before Mamdani is able to take over. Despite all the choices by Mamdani’s campaign to water down his ideological communication from the beliefs of the wider DSA, his victory or defeat will still end up being most effective as an advertisement for socialist ideology.This is the way the political system right now operates.

IT’S TIME FOR RADICAL MESSAGING

As we contend with the possibility that Mamdani could be the next mayor of New York City, we must ask ourselves a critical question:  Is it truly possible, in a system dominated by capital and elite interests, to accomplish socialist goals just by passing bills? No. Capital won’t allow it. The entire system is created and run by capital and those who benefit from it. 

The fact that the current administration is tearing down the very rules of our democracy itself proves it. Democracy is less and less able to hold power as the contradictions of capital deepen.  These systems of power exist at the will of the ruling class, and they cannot be relied on to carry our cause to victory. In the wake of a new, dangerous Supreme Court ruling sharply limiting the ability of the judiciary to enforce federal laws, can we be sure that the federal government won’t end Mamdani’s candidacy by illegally deporting him?

Socialist parties seeking to abolish capitalism are not the same as other political organizations. Our movement represents the working class, and that means that our power does not come  from the act of holding office or exercising executive or legislative authority within a capitalist state. Instead, our power comes from the people themselves, in the sense that socialism must (if it is to succeed) command a power that goes beyond peoples’ willingness to vote for us. Our base does not exist to win elections.Electoralism is only one arm of the socialist movement, which works in social justice, labor movements, and in anti-establishment movements. 

Running an election-first campaign might mean watering down the message to make it more mainstream, working to appeal to donors who don’t share our beliefs, or changing the tactics of an entire chapter to appeal to different demographics of people. These might sometimes help win elections, but as a practice hurts the wider DSA. We should not forget where our real power comes from and what our ultimate goals are. In Mamdani’s case, his campaign sacrifices radical socialist rhetoric in order to merely be elected.

Mamdani isn’t officially endorsed by the national DSA, but he’s still the face of socialist politics at the moment. Mamdani enthusiastically chooses to associate himself with the Democratic Party—a party which openly serves the interests of capital above all else and currently  supports the genocide in Gaza and control at the border. Practically speaking, the Democratic Party is a hostile force and any wise socialist would treat them as such.

Mamdani was also criticized for not taking a stand against the police. He explicitly assures people he’s not going to defund them in a way that plays to his critics. When asked if he would use the NYPD to clear the streets for ICE, he equivocated about “ensuring we keep order across the city.” To him, the NYPD is no longer an enemy.

Mamdani’s line is a clear concession to the needs of the campaign rather than the message of the movement. Nobody, not even those who defend these statements, disagrees. It’s only a question of strategy. This strategy is harmful. Fighting against the Democrat-backed Gaza genocide and defunding the police are popular keystones of the modern radical movement. Elected candidates should fully represent the DSA. If they don’t, why are we running them in the first place?

Our cause needs propaganda,  in the sense of ferociously spreading ideas and beliefs. What we give  up rhetorically for one election for fleeting power might lose us more people in the long run.Candidates have great potential if we take the opportunity to use them as members of the DSA socialist project instead of as individual campaigns which exist to serve only their own ends. The DSA runs candidates—candidates shouldn’t  run the DSA.

A ‘left-wing Trump’, capable of having a similar meteoric effect on national political discourse, won’t expect to win the presidential election. They won’t shrink from saying things that are wildly unacceptable in the Overton window. In doing so, they will be able to have ten times more of an effect than a candidate hedging their bets and focusing on being elected within the lines that are set out for us by the Democratic establishment. 

Getting people elected is just a means to an end, not our ultimate goal. The battle we are fighting on the international stage is, and has been for a long time, one of ideology as much as law.Our goals as socialists cannot be focused on merely the next four years and the legislation in our county. Instead they must be for the century and for the entire working class.

The post There Are More Important Things Than Getting Elected appeared first on Midwest Socialist.

One hundred and fourteen years ago a democratic socialist was poised to become Mayor of Los Angeles. Not yet the sprawling megalopolis of today, the city nonetheless ranked second largest in California, and was growing fast. A socialist in the top municipal office? The idea sent the L.A. ruling class into a freakout of redbaiting, lies, half-truths and an occasional accurate depiction of Job Harriman’s progressive positions.

The Socialist Party candidate—a labor attorney, and former vice-presidential running mate of Eugene Debs—had come out on top of an open primary, just short of the majority he needed to win outright. Now he faced off against the incumbent, a champion of the interests that had earned Los Angeles the moniker of “scabbiest town on earth” within the city’s unions. Adding spice to the mix, this would be the first major election in the Golden State in which women could vote, Proposition 4 having just squeaked by in a state referendum the same day Harriman won the mayoral primary.

The business elites threw everything they could muster into their effort to stave off the Apocalypse. The Los Angeles Times—a virulently anti-union publication owned by Harrison Gray Otis, leader of the Merchants and Manufacturers’ Association, a close friend and business associate of corrupt Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz—warned every day with a creative variety of arguments that if Harriman were elected, the sky, along with the economy, would crash onto Angelenos’ heads. He editorialized that this election represented “the forces of law and order against Socialism; peace and prosperity against misery and chaos; the Stars and Stripes against the red flag.” What program so enraged and frightened the capitalist class of southern California? Harriman promised to:

• Reverse an anti-picketing ordinance that had filled Los Angeles jails with peaceful union members for the crime of walking on sidewalks with signs, singing labor songs, while on strike;

• Investigate the real estate deals that had brought giant payoffs to Otis and his friends when the Owens Valley aqueduct terminated on land they had purchased via insider information (the real life backdrop to events depicted in the film Chinatown);

• Municipalize city services to save the taxpayers money and improve efficiency;

• Invest in building community centers, public pools and baths, and increase support for public schools;

• Oh, and modestly raise taxes on the rich and large businesses to pay for these reforms.

Pretty radical stuff.

Ultimately none of these political ideas or the opposition’s counters to them defeated Harriman. What did was an early historical appearance of the “October Surprise”. A year before the election, a bomb ripped through the Los Angeles Times building, killing twenty workers. When brothers James and John McNamara (a national leader of the Ironworkers union) were arrested and put on trial, Harriman, the top labor attorney in southern California, defended them, believing in their innocence. When he decided to run for mayor, he turned the defense over to crusading lawyer for the damned Clarence Darrow. Darrow had previously proven that labor leaders in Colorado accused of a bombing had been framed, and like Harriman, thought the McNamara brothers trial was a rerun.

But the McNamaras were guilty, as Darrow ultimately found out. After secret negotiations with Otis and other Los Angeles business leaders, Darrow—a fervent opponent of the death penalty— unexpectedly changed his clients’ plea to “guilty” just days before the election. The timing was key to the agreement. In exchange the prosecution agreed to ask for prison instead of death sentences.

Although left out of the loop, Harriman suffered the consequences. Heavily favored to win a week before the election, but firmly tied in the public’s mind to the McNamara’s defense, he and the entire Socialist slate went down to defeat.

Today democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani is in good position to win the New York City Mayor’s race. With a ferocious ground game, smart media, charisma to spare and a set of goals clustered under the umbrella of “affordability” popular with the working class and youth, his coalition will be a formidable force between now and November. He’ll likely confront a Republican rival, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and the disgraced former governor Cuomo, whom he just defeated in the Democratic primary. If both run the latter two will split the anti-Mamdani vote sufficiently to get him elected. In the interests of ruling class solidarity, Cuomo has suggested the lesser not-Mamdanis drop out in favor of the one best positioned to beat him by September.

The climb will be slippery. The mud is already being flung by the usual suspects. One shouldn’t be surprised by Trump’s characterization of Mamdani as “a one hundred percent Communist lunatic.” That won’t be the deciding factor, as the unpopular former New Yorker POTUS will probably add more votes to Mamdani’s column than he removes.

The two biggest problems will come from the right wing of the Democratic Party—intransigent Zionists and the city’s Wall Street and real estate sectors. Alongside mountains of cash from billionaire bank accounts, the leading edge of the anti-Mamdani campaigns will comprise redbaiting and spurious charges of antisemitism.

What does card-carrying DSA member Mamdani actually stand for?

1. A freeze in rents for stabilized apartments

2. Free city busing

3. Raising the city’s minimum wage to something close to liveable: $30/hour by 2030

4. A community safety department separate from police to deal with mental health related issues

5. City-run grocery stores to bring down food prices

6. Free childcare for children six weeks to five years old

7. Oh, and modestly increasing taxes on corporations and the wealthiest New Yorkers to pay for the above.

Like Harriman’s wish list, not exactly the Bolshevik revolution here, but you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference from what the other side is already saying and what they will flood the airwaves with for the next few months. It’s the last item, of course—raising taxes on the rich and corporations—that, as in L.A. in 1911, especially infuriates the city’s plutocrats.

Currently most New York City residents pay around 3% of their income in city taxes. The wealthiest income earners pay closer to 4%, with an absurdly flat cap for people making $500K and above. New York City at last count is home to 350,000 millionaires. The richest 1 percent of New Yorkers tripled its share of the city’s total income from 12 percent in 1980 to 36 percent in 2022.

These statistics represent a flashing red sign about the city’s lack of affordability—along with an “X marks the spot” for the buried treasure that can pay for decent public services for the 95 per cent of the city’s inhabitants who aren’t millionaires. The slight tax increase Mamdani is calling for—2% on individuals making a million dollars a year—will not crimp the lifestyle of the rich in the least.

When socialists run for public office, or when measures to reduce economic inequality are placed before the voters (e.g., taxing the rich, a raise in the minimum wage, help for renters), you can count on the most reactionary sectors of the ruling class to spend freely to convince everyone to see the world through the same warped lens they do. You can also bank on the same tired tropes at the core of their argument. Behold: these tax increases are going to hurt everyone; small business can’t afford it; the wealthiest New Yorkers (mislabeled “job creators”) will flee the city and go to a more welcoming business environment; and all the jobs will leave with them.

In the real world, these things never happen. Take the California example, 101 years after Harriman’s defeat. In 2012, over the dire predictions that the “job creators” and their jobs would flee California, voters passed a progressive tax bumping top income earners up a couple percentage points. The tax, Proposition 30, has brought in seven to nine billion dollars a year, and prevented public services from going over a fiscal cliff in the aftermath of the Great Recession. In the years following its passage, the state minted ten thousand new millionaires, and 1.4 million new jobs.

In New York, where much of the wealth is clustered in finance and real estate, the former creates relatively few working class jobs and the latter can’t move. The lies may be countered with clear messaging explaining the real problems, how to address them, and who should pay to fix them. Which is what Mamdani has been doing.

But there is another weapon in the anti-Mamdani arsenal: the charge of anti-semitism—which for AIPAC and its candidates of course means the duplicitous conflation of ‘anti-Zionist’ with ‘antisemitic’. A deluge of these talking points and ads in support of Cuomo failed to take Mamdani down in the primary, but that doesn’t mean that the stream of invective will stop during the next stage of the campaign. For a recent example we could turn our gaze across the Atlantic to England, where another democratic socialist, Jeremy Corbyn, who achieved a surprise momentary capture of leadership in the Labor Party, was brought low principally by a combination of the highly organized repetition of the lie (mostly by the right wing of his own party) and a fumbled response to it.

Two big things are different in this regard in New York 2025 compared with the England of a few years back: the war in Gaza and its impact on Jewish opinion about Israel, which means the deception in the equation of Jewish and Zionist is much clearer to many more people; and the charismatic Mamdani is not the curt Corbyn, despite similarities in their democratic socialist politics.

What would a Mamdani victory mean at this moment in our history? A democratic socialist mayor in the largest city in the United States would be a tremendous boost to anti-fascist morale as the mass movement to oppose Trump and MAGA is slowly gaining steam. It would arguably provide a programmatic roadmap to victory in the 2026 elections (presuming they are going to be held, and held fairly).

Yes, we are aware that New York City is not the rest of the country. But the largest urban centers are farther to the left than any other stash of votes, and they are where the resistance to Trump and MAGA has been and will likely continue to be strongest—an important indicator of possible electoral victory, if the coalitions emerging from organization of the mass demonstrations are able to develop the necessary synergy between street and ballot box forms of activism. A sclerotic neoliberal politics as usual will not mobilize this base.

Here in California municipal democratic socialist politics have gained ground over the last few election cycles. In all, there are more than three dozen DSA-affiliated officeholders in the state—the most since the heyday of the Socialist Party more than one hundred years ago—including four mayors, fifteen city councilmembers, a state assemblymember, a county supervisor, and occupants of various down ballot offices, all of whom push for progressive policies shunned or feared by most of their fellow officeholders.

If Mamdani loses, the leadership of the Democratic Party will redouble its push to field empty neoliberal suits in 2026. Harriman’s defeat in LA in 1911 set back the cause of working class politics for decades. A high-profile loss like that today would make it that much harder to remold the Democratic Party as a majoritarian progressive force. Alternatively a win will provide wind in the sails to the anti-MAGA movement, on the strength of which Democrats can reclaim power. That’s why it’s necessary to forcefully demonstrate the viability of Mamdani’s politics now.

California DSA members may be three thousand miles away from this historic battle but we can nonetheless help. Mamdani needs every penny he can raise to fight the onslaught of right wing lies propelled by billionaire funding. Send him your hard-earned dollars here.