Local DSA Chapters and the June Primaries

Many East Bay DSA members were among the enthusiastic canvassers for Richmond mayoral candidate Claudia Jimenez. Sue Wilson, Richmond City Council/RPA photo.

The top of the ticket statewide races and big city primaries grab the headlines, but at the local level and in smaller municipalities DSA members have been working hard to elect working class champions as well. In some cases the reward was winning outright or landing in the top two for the November 3 election runoff. In others our DSA candidates didn’t get there, but working on their campaigns strengthened the infrastructure of the chapters for next time. Here is an example of each: the mayoral race of Claudia Jimenez in Richmond, and the longshot lieutenant governor campaign of Oliver Ma as it played out in Orange County. 

Claudia Jimenez for Richmond Mayor!

The stakes have never been higher in Richmond, California. Chevron recently agreed to a $550 million dollar settlement with the city and the race is on to see if that money will be controlled by progressive politics or conservative business politics. The Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) endorsed Claudia Jimenez as their candidate for mayor: she is a proud Colombian immigrant, community organizer, city councilwoman, and political mentor to many of us who live in Richmond. East Bay DSA, often perceived as an Oakland-heavy organization, endorsed her mayoral campaign this year and members devoted significant people power to assisting her throughout the primary. 

Up to twenty EBDSA members showed up to the widely promoted canvasses. A core group of DSA members also attended weekly canvasses and phonebanks in the months leading up to the primary. Claudia has spoken at membership meetings and participated in debate at our convention. Our chapter’s monthly “Socialism Beats Fascism” event dedicated its May meeting to promote Claudia’s campaign and helped plug new members into volunteering with her. This is EBDSA’s best support so far for an RPA candidate and we are exploring more ways to support Claudia heading into the fall, such as organizing fundraisers and putting together a policy research team. 

DSA members are attracted to the RPA’s principled and highly successful track record in city government. Richmond currently has the lowest homicide rate in city history, a million-dollar legal defense fund for immigrants targeted by ICE, a mental health crisis response team (ROCK) that assists in emergency calls alongside police, and the city has extracted itself from high-cost debt swap investments that kept us in financial peril for decades. However, not everybody is a fan of such progress. Claudia’s opponents include Chevron, which doesn’t like being held accountable; the local police association, which thinks all settlement money should be used on overpolicing; and groups associated with AIPAC, who didn’t like Richmond leading a wave of municipalities calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza. All have deep pockets which is why fundraising for the November election is going to be key for Claudia victory! You can donate now at www.claudiaformayor.com! 

Working on the Oliver Ma campaign revitalized OCDSA.

Oliver Ma Campaign a shot in the arm for OCDSA

It is June 2nd, the primary election night, in a crowded brewery in Santa Ana, California and conversation is flowing while televisions on the wall show the current state of each race. The room is filled with comrades from the Orange County Democratic Socialists of America (OCDSA) and the United Auto Workers union, Local 4811 (many of whom are in both organizations). Everyone here has spent the previous months canvassing their neighborhoods, phone banking, text banking, and even hand-writing postcards for Lieutenant Governor candidate Oliver Ma. When Ma, who actually grew up in Orange County, comes into the bar everyone starts chanting his name as he passionately starts a speech about how we collectively ran a grassroots campaign to be proud of.

Oliver Ma did not end up getting enough votes to move forward to the November election, receiving nearly 620,000 votes, or 7.3%. But the campaign was a shot in the arm for Orange County DSA. The campaign came at the opportune moment when the Electoral Committee of the chapter needed direction and revitalization. Since the conclusion of the Oliver Ma campaign the committee voted through new guidelines and expectations for the endorsement process, as well as helpful tips for those looking to apply for OCDSA endorsement.

During an open call with California DSA earlier this year, Oliver Ma described his intentions with the campaign. He described a campaign that would ideally uplift, train and funnel the people working on his campaign into DSA, whether or not he won the election. From the perspective of OCDSA this plan worked. We had current members who had their first canvassing experience for a democratic socialist candidate they actually wanted to endorse instead of a corporate Democrat. We have had new members come in from the campaign, energized and ready to move towards the next committee project. Just like any socialist project, we will learn, train, and do better next time.