Friends,
Seattle DSA is proud to have backed Stephanie Gallardo to the hilt in her electoral campaign for Congress against pro-corporate, pro-war Democratic Party establishment politician Adam Smith. Stephanie ran for working people as a proud socialist, a union member, and a teacher. She refused to take money from big business and the super-rich, raising nearly $200,000 from working people alone.
This independence allowed her to advocate unapologetically for a Green New Deal, Medicare for All, rent control, and full reproductive rights including abortion and gender affirming healthcare – to name a few!
These policies would disproportionately benefit working people in the district she was running in, a majority of whom are people of color. Democratic Congressman Adam Smith, sitting on a campaign war chest of over $1 million raised primarily from defense contract companies, has stood as a bulwark against these policies and has instead spent his 26-year career paving the way for US imperialism to rampage across the globe. He lavished weapons makers with stratospheric budgets, the most recent cresting at $775 billion in 2022, while most of his constituents are stuck in alienating low-income jobs and debt. Stephanie ran to dismantle the war machine, which Smith is an appendage of.
Below you’ll find Stephanie’s reflections on her campaign where she recounts how the Democratic Party and conservative union leaders colluded to sabotage her anti-capitalist campaign. A key aspect of Stephanie’s campaign was identifying as a socialist and appealing to young people, working-class people, and people of color to join Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Stephanie’s campaign team and core base of supporters were Seattle DSA members – including Stephanie herself. DSA members doorknocked, raised money, phonbebanked, and promoted the campaign from the start.
DSA is the largest socialist organization in Seattle and the US and the second largest socialist organization in US history. We have well over 100 DSA-endorsed candidates elected to office across the country, with well-known members in Congress. We fight for a world that puts human need over corporate greed, and we are committed to building an independent working-class political party that represents the millions, not the millionaires and billionaires. We believe a socialist world is possible.
Join Seattle DSA today! And support our campaigns to help the Starbucks workers unionize and to collect the final signatures this week to get the House Our Neighbors initiative on the ballot.
Please read Stephanie’s powerful reflections here.
In Solidarity,
Olivia M. & Aram F., DSA for Gallardo Co-Chairs
Bryan W., Seattle DSA Local Council member