An inside look at our inside strategy.

Hi John,

I’m writing to tell you about the major work we’re doing to transform politics and the Party. The DNC is holding its first full meeting of the year this weekend, and Our Revolution is ready: mobilizing the growing block of progressive members to ban dark money from primaries and win other vital reforms.

Dark money groups are gearing up to fight back, and we need your help. Join Our Revolution's Transform the Party team by clicking here to commit $5 a month to fund this critical work!

While Republicans now control the U.S. House, we’re not slowing our efforts to transform U.S. politics. This includes building progressive majorities in state-level parties and changing internal rules to ban dark money in primaries.

The most dramatic gains over the past year can be seen in the growth of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC). After the 2022 midterms, thanks to organizing by Our Revolution and our allies, the caucus now claims an all-time high of 103 members — nearly half of all House Democrats.

Our Revolution has made significant progress, but with corporate Democrats having access to unlimited big money, we need to keep pushing. Can I count on you to donate just $5 a month to become an official member of our Transform the Party team?

Internal CPC rules reform has helped discipline and unify the caucus as a bloc to counterbalance the power of corporate Democrats. Along with such policy wins as including $1,400 stimulus checks and expanded unemployment benefits in 2021's American Rescue Plan, the CPC has helped shape the Democrats' national priorities under the leadership of Rep. Pramila Jayapal.

Party reform is also growing at the state level. Thanks in part to Our Revolution's organizing, 20 states now have progressive reformers serving in top elected leadership positions, and often as party chairs. As a result, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) now boasts its largest progressive faction in decades.

Progressives won big in Party elections last weekend with my union sister Yolanda Bejarano winning a contested race to become the new Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party — and our candidates swept 10/10 executive board seats!

State party elections will be held this month in California, Washington, and Iowa, — and progressives are expected to do well. State parties can adopt their own platforms and rules for nominating candidates. Collectively, they can have a major impact on the orientation of the national party and its rules, including party positions on key issues as well as the presidential nominating process.

This year, DNC reformers (including myself) have again submitted a resolution banning dark money in Democratic primaries. (We unsuccessfully submitted a similar resolution in 2022.) The DNC and Democratic state parties around the country also have extensive rules relating to the nominating process, which provide many opportunities to block dark and dirty money.

Independent expenditures targeting progressive candidates in Democratic primaries skyrocketed in 2022, part of a broader campaign to trounce challengers in the party. For example, millions of dollars were spent to defeat Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) in a paid media blizzard which helped lead to his loss to corporate Democrat Haley Stevens.

Similarly, progressive challengers like Nina Turner in Ohio and Jessica Cisneros in Texas fell short after facing massive expenditures for paid media designed to terrify the public and increase turnout from unaffiliated (and even Republican) voters.

One of the leading culprits behind this dark money effort was Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of crypto firm FTX, who is now facing a long prison sentence for illegally using billions of dollars of customer deposits. His expenses included nearly $40 million in contributions to national Democratic organizations and independent expenditures to elevate corporate candidates in their primaries.

Getting this corrupt corporate cash out of primaries is critical if we want to elect grassroots challengers running for office. Join our Transform the Party Team with a donation of $5 a month to help us take on big money!

What happens inside the Democratic Party and inside party caucuses of elected Democrats is frequently ignored by progressives, who are generally more comfortable protesting and working solely outside the party. Of course, protest is essential, and new party-building is fine.

But for those of us who believe we must fight in every possible way to advance progressive issues and win real power, we ignore party reform at our peril, even as we demand broader electoral reforms, such as fusion and ranked-choice voting, proportional representation, and more.

It's the rules and not just the rulers that determine much of our political success. Our Revolution is leading this fight for fair rules, and you can join us as an official member of our Party Transformation Team by pitching in $5 a month!

When we organize, we win.

Larry Cohen
Board Chair
Our Revolution