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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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 J. Noble

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 Audrey Bracken

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.

by Zev Rose Cook

Steve Thornton has been an activist in Hartford since moving there in the 1970’s after graduating from the University of […]

Enjoy your July National Political Committee (NPC) newsletter! Our NPC is an elected 18-person body (including two YDSA members who share a vote) which functions as the board of directors of DSA. This month, help stop deportation flights, check out Convention updates, and more!

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.

• From the National Political Committee — A Red Hot Socialist Summer!
• No Flights for Abductions! Take Action Today
• Convention Update — Solidarity Journal Deadline Tonight, Friday 7/18
• Nominations for World to Win Fellowship Close Tonight, Friday 7/18
• Join us Sunday 7/20 to Learn How to Run a Membership Drive in Your Chapter!
• Monday 7/21 — RSVP for Lessons from the Zohran Campaign and Next Steps for our Electoral Work

From the National Political Committee — A Red Hot Socialist Summer!

As we come up on DSA’s 2025 Convention, we see our members wrangling with big questions of democracy and grappling with analysis of our campaigns and strategies. But we know for sure that whatever our delegates decide, we’ll come out of Convention energized and ready to turn words into action.

And while our delegates focus on Convention this summer, so much organizing is going strong all over the country! DSA chapters from coast to coast are hitting the hot pavement this summer to fight for labor rights, electoral victories, the right to dignified housing, broad protections for immigrants and trans folks, an end to imperialist violence, and so much more. 

We just saw a massive win as NYC-DSA took on the rotten establishment and propelled democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani to victory in the Democratic mayoral primary in the wealthiest city in the world! We invite you to join us, our National Electoral Commission, NYC-DSA’s co-chairs, and other folks from the Zohran campaign to a debrief call on Monday night at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT. Let’s dig into the nitty-gritty of the campaign together: what can we learn about the vigorous comms strategy or the robust field game, and how can we replicate that work and turn those lessons toward electoral work and other campaigns elsewhere in the country? And how can we, as DSA members, support the other insurgent candidates who are running races in Tacoma, Detroit, Somerville, and more? Join us and find out! 

There is so much to learn about and analyze from this incredible campaign, and a lot comes down to the DSA Difference. Zohran’s development as a political organizer came through DSA, and his historic win continues to help us build our organization, as he showed at a recent volunteer appreciation day where he recruited NYC DSA’s 10,000th member! Zohran’s campaign focused on cost of living, and also had internationalism deeply baked in, demonstrating that our causes cannot be separated. To bring together the working class against relentless ruling class attempts to keep us divided, a laser focus on economic demands and cost of living can work closely with standing up strong against injustice around the world. His long-time and open defense of a Free Palestine, against vicious attacks from the establishment, energized so many voters that stuffed-shirt consultants have ignored and badly discounted, and even increased credibility that his campaign is prepared to deliver here at home. 

It’s our active, focused organizing on the outside that makes it possible for our electeds to stand strong on principles. The coalition fueling Zohran had long been demonstrating on the streets, in our workplaces, and base-building in our communities to show we share goals across all kinds of differences to transform our society. Our DSA chapters are out there fighting for universal economic demands, just as we are fighting for Palestinian rights, demanding an immediate end to Israel’s aggression against Iran, taking on BDS targets like Chevron and Maersk, fighting for the rights of immigrants to be safe in our workplaces and our communities, and recognizing that immigrants must be protected both within the US and from the conditions that make people economic refugees in the first place. 

And it’s happening across the org! Humboldt DSA and Salem DSA both took up our Boycott Avelo campaign, pushing back against this airline’s willingness to take ICE contracts and deport our neighbors. These chapters saw big wins this month, with the City of Eureka, California ending its Avelo contracts and Salem, Oregon seeing Avelo pull out of their airport completely under pressure to have the City of Salem end their contracts. You can find out more about these victories and how your chapter can be next on our Boycott Avelo call Tuesday 7/22 at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT!

DSA has also signed on nationally to the National Iranian American Council’s No War With Iran campaign and Progressive International’s Block Baerbock Campaign against the UN’s warmongering new President of the General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock. We encourage you to sign onto these petitions and keep an eye out for new ways to get involved.

We hope you’re taking a little bit of time this summer to sit by some water, take a nice walk somewhere green, or kick back by the grill with some folks you love. We are fighting enormous, world-historic fights, and remembering what exactly we’re fighting for is so important. We’ll see you on the picket line, at the rally, or in a lawn chair by the lake sometime soon!

In Solidarity,

Megan Romer and Ashik Siddique
DSA National Co-Chairs

No Flights for Abductions! Take Action Today

DSA chapters have officially joined the national call to boycott Avelo Airlines, who announced a $150 million contract in April to fly deportation flights for ICE out of Arizona. We even had our first DSA win in Eureka this week, where Humboldt DSA members bravely spoke in front of city council to call for an end to subsidies for Avelo, and city council agreed to boycott the airline! 

This is only the beginning. For the next several months, we will push Avelo to drop its horrific contract with ICE, and we won’t stop until we win. Join us! 

• Take action now! Send 40 letters in one click to top Avelo leadership and their allies.
• And sign up here to get involved as a chapter.

Convention Update — Solidarity Journal Deadline Tonight, Friday 7/18

Say hi to comrades in the Convention Solidarity Journal! The deadline to purchase an ad and submit your artwork is tonight, Friday 7/18, at midnight Pacific Time. The Solidarity Journal will be distributed to all Convention attendees and shared online. You, your chapter, working group, or committee can place an ad in the Solidarity Journal to send a message of solidarity or of celebration to your chapter, work, or comrades.

Please note that Solidarity Journal messages advocating for or against any convention proposal, NPC candidate, slate, or DSA caucus will not be accepted. Journal space is available in three sizes, plus text-only solidarity messages. Ads should be sent as PNG, JPG, or TIFF files, color or black and white. You can find more details and buy your ad here.

Nominations for World to Win Fellowship Close Tonight, Friday 7/18

A World To Win fellowship nominations close tonight, Friday 7/18 at midnight! DSA Fund’s A World To Win fellowship is for organizers doing groundbreaking work to bring new communities into the movement for democratic socialism. Fellows will receive a $5,000 award, a set of virtual workshops with democratic socialist luminaries, and opportunities to share their work with comrades across the country. Don’t wait, nominate someone today!

Join us Sunday 7/20 to Learn How to Run a Membership Drive in Your Chapter!

As DSA is getting a bunch of publicity from the Zohran campaign in NYC, many chapters are getting a bump in membership. And in the lead up to the general election, chapters can use that publicity to re-engage their membership lists and recruit new members. Join the Growth and Development Committee Sunday 7/20 at 2pm ET/1pm CT/12pm MT/11am PT for a training to teach chapter leaders how to do that!

Monday 7/21 — RSVP for Lessons from the Zohran Campaign and Next Steps for our Electoral Work

Join the National Electoral Commission, our national co-chairs Megan Romer and Ashik Siddique, and NYC-DSA co-chairs Grace and Gustavo to discuss Zohran’s historic campaign from behind the scenes!

PLUS hear from DSA endorsed candidates across the country on our record-breaking fundraising campaign and how you can get involved. The call is on Monday 7/21 at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT. RSVP today!

The post Your National Political Committee Newsletter — A Red Hot Socialist Summer! appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Are you fed up with rising rents, low wages, climate inaction, and billionaires hoarding more while we struggle with less? You’re not alone — and you’re not powerless.

We would like to invite you in learning about Democratic Socialism to our Mass Intro event that we are holding on July 27th at the DAAC! Our chapter has existed since 2017 and among other things, we have focused on issues including Labor, Housing, Trans rights, the Environment, Medicare for All, and fighting for the working class in general. 

We will have tacos, speakers, and music that we can all sing along to. Come celebrate Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City Mayor’s Democratic Primary and help build our own Socialist movement in West Michigan.

This event is perfect for:
✅ Newcomers curious about what democratic socialism really means
✅ Anyone ready to get involved in building a better, more just world
✅ Existing members looking to reconnect or bring a friend

Together we can create a better world for all of us if we all work towards building our chapter and collaborating on future projects and events.

Solidarity!

The post Fight Fascism/Build Socialism: Intro to the GRDSA appeared first on Grand Rapids Democratic Socialists of America.

This moment is a culmination of years and years of organizing by the democratic socialist movement—by DSA, Democratic Socialists of […]