Through the distorting fog of national election news, Democratic Socialists in Los Angeles County woke up Wednesday morning several steps closer to transforming their city, county, state, and nation into a more just and humane place for our families and friends, migrants and workers, tenants and the unhoused. Our electoral victories are an extension of the work we do year round, through on-the-ground organizing, fundraising, mutual aid, and advocacy. While the results of the election at the presidential level do not inspire hope for the majority of people in this country, our successes at the local level prove for our chapter and several others across the country that the working class is desperate for a new kind of politics.
We acknowledge first of all that the ballot box is only one tool that we use as Democratic Socialists to transform our society. We pause to boost our victories while also acknowledging that the neoliberal candidates who were nominated by the Democrats and Republicans for President can never serve the needs of the people or solve the incredible problems facing our families and friends--poor healthcare, climate change, gun violence, and imperial militarism, to name just a handful. Because the struggle is neverending, we choose not to back down. We will be back on the streets THIS SATURDAY, November 7th regardless of where the vote count stands in the Presidential election. We need to be on the streets, first of all, because we must demand that every vote be counted. Given Trump’s authoritarian pronouncements to “stop the vote,” nothing is guaranteed. We demand the vote be counted not to serve any particular candidate, but in support of the general principle that every vote counts in a democracy worthy of that name. Voter suppression is a fraud used by the powerful to silence the many, from Savannah, GA to Sacramento, CA, especially when those voters are Black, Brown, or poor. We won’t stand for it.
In particular, we will be celebrating historic wins for two of our endorsed candidates--Nithya Raman for L.A. City Council District 4 and Konstantine Anthony for Burbank City Council. We congratulate Nithya and Konstantine on their victories and Fatima Iqbal-Zubair, another endorsed candidate, who ran a terrific and inspiring campaign in State Assembly District 64. The success of our endorsed candidates proves that, in spite of the red-baiting hatred that was directed their way by opponents and the media, there is a tremendous demand for Democratic Socialism in Southern California. The time is up for politicians that pay more attention to corporate interests, wealthy real estate developers, and cops than they do to the workers and tenants who live in the communities they serve. The LA City Council and all local governments are on notice. The people are taking the power back.
An incredible number of our members worked on those campaigns and we applaud them all. We also thank the tremendous volunteers who put immense time and energy into the statewide campaigns around Propositions 15 and 21. At this time, 21 is defeated and 15 is trailing, but we promise to keep fighting for the policies embedded in these propositions, no matter what. The renters of California deserve better protections and our property tax code is in severe need of overhaul. We won’t back down.
