2025 National Convention Delegate Elections

Candidates

More info coming soon

  • Alexander D

    Candidate Statement

    Legitimately I just would like the chance to tell the national committee to get off their butts with regards to direct action against Trump on a national level. It’s much easier to do that if I’m a formal delegate, though I somewhat doubt I’ll be picked given my tendency to flights of passion.

    But hey, someone needs to say it and you know I won’t mince words.

  • Ella T

    Candidate Statement

    Hi, everyone! I’m Ella, she/her, and I’ve been in DSA since 2018, although I’m still somewhat new to Seattle DSA. It’s exciting to get to know this chapter, especially our impressive electoral work, where I’ve been helping out. Most recently, I was co-chair of East Bay DSA, and before that I was East Bay’s very first staffer. I’m also a library worker at Seattle Central College and a member of WFSE Local 304.

    I’m looking forward to convention this year because the world needs socialism now more than ever. I want to support proposals and candidates that will strengthen DSA’s democracy and allow members to lead politically, rather than limiting ourselves to the practices of liberal nonprofits. I also want DSA to take concrete steps towards establishing a party for the working class and bringing militant rank-and-file union members into the socialist movement. I’m a member of the Bread and Roses Caucus and can’t wait to learn from other socialists around the country.

    I’m also running for National Political Committee, DSA’s highest elected leadership between conventions. I hope you’ll approach me with questions or just to say hello!

  • Brandon B

    Candidate Statement

    I am a DSA member since 2017 (Harrisburg DSA, Long Island DSA, Seattle DSA), a former Long Island DSA Steering Committee member, a former Long Island DSA Labor WG co-chair, an IWW member since 2022, a former AFSCME shop steward (Council 13 Local 1224), and a former CWA mobilizer (Local 1104). I am a current AFSCME WFSE member (Council 28 Local 1301), and a member of the Libertarian Socialist Caucus.

  • Patrick O

    Candidate Statement

    My name is Patrick O’Neill and I am co-chair of the Communications Committee, a member of the Member Engagement Committee and Immigrant Justice Working Group. I am dedicated to the project of building a mass socialist movement with the working class, and in my capacity as co-chair of the communications committee I have worked enthusiastically to grow awareness of our work within our chapter, strengthen relationships with our community partners, and reach new people and educate them about what socialism is, and how our organization can be a vessel for a better future.

    I would like to be considered as a delegate for national convention because I believe that I can represent Seattle in an ambitious and positive light and clearly give feedback and ideas from our chapter to a national audience.

    I would love an opportunity to meet and build relationships with members from across the country, take what I learn from them and bring those discussions back to Seattle to help in expanding our collective knowledge.

    I appreciate your consideration.

  • Ryan T

    Candidate Statement

    Seattle DSA has demonstrated the power of socialist politics—from our successful ballot initiatives to electing working-class fighters like Shaun Scott. Now, with Trump and the far right surging nationally, we need a DSA that meets this threat with mass politics and a warm embrace of working-class communities. As your delegate, I’ll push for:

    • Campaigns rooted in Mass Politics – DSA should be the place for the working class to craft upbeat, powerful campaigns to improve our lives
    • Supporting Rank and File Organizing – DSA can be the hub for union members to strategize and win control of their unions back from cowardly leadership
    • Collaborating with organizations rooted in the communities of People of Color – DSA must intentionally connect with organizations that organize members of minority communities to build and expand a multi-racial working class movement

    Let’s channel our local energy into national power.

  • Ezekiel Jakob D

    Candidate Statement

    DSA needs a bold vision for the democratic self-organization of the working class. To advance that vision, I’m running for delegate as a member of the Puget Sound Libertarian Socialist Caucus. I share my caucus’s commitments to destroying the carceral state, waging militant labor and tenant struggles, organizing through mass mobilization, advancing principled anti-imperialism, ending borders and supporting migrant workers, focusing on base-building rather than electoralist tinkering, and, above all, building a new world of liberation in the shell of the old.

    Seattle DSA is home to some of the most vibrant organizing in DSA. As we continue on the road from victory to final victory, we need a DSA strong and well-organized enough to support our efforts. In a short time, I’ve become engaged with many sides of our local organizing—supporting strikes, canvassing for 1A, spearheading political education, taking new member calls, and now helping to start a Puget Sound local of the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee. That work can offer a model for the wider organization. If elected, Seattle will be my highest concern—protecting the autonomy of our Local and bringing insights from our projects to the convention floor.

    Further, as your local Facilitator and member of the Internal Democracy Committee, I’ve made member deliberative democracy my highest priority. I’ll do the same at convention, prioritizing the mass, deliberative democratic structure of DSA as its most precious organizational asset. This openness makes DSA the sole credible mass organization of the present US left. It could thus hardly be more vital to secure a revolutionary and liberatory vision for DSA. If elected, I will fight to realize that vision and, to the best of my ability, to advance the whole international working class until the final victory.

    Hope and solidarity,

    Ezekiel Jakob Druker

  • Alexander M

    Candidate Statement

    Hi there, comrades!

    I’m Alexander Mayben, member of the Puget Sound Libertarian Socialist Caucus, and I’m honored to have had the privilege to serve as Seattle DSA’s chapter secretary and member of the Local Council since 2024. I humbly ask for your vote as delegate nominee to the upcoming 2025 DSA National Convention.

    Since serving as a delegate in 2023, my recent experience on Seattle DSA’s Local Council has gifted me with new organizing lessons and perspectives. Since I joined LC, our chapter has grappled with political questions around our small-D democratic structure, our relationship with marginalized individuals both in and outside of our organization, our push for queer and immigrant liberation, and our responsibility to grow our movement amid a crescendo of American fascism. It is my wish to offer my experiences from one of the most leftist, successful, and vibrant DSA chapters in the country, in support of a vision of DSA that makes radical and unashamed demands for freedom from our capitalist political system.

    As a member of the Libertarian Socialist Caucus, I pledge to support all resolutions which LSC has put forward for Convention this year, and to embody my caucus’ deep commitment to deliberative democracy in the resolutions I support:

    • I support an end to organizational “campaign” fiefdoms, and I’m instead seeking to open national DSA’s political bodies to membership by supporting “For a Radical and Resurgent Ecosocialist Working Group” (which I co-authored) and “Resolution for the Organizational Merger of QSWG and TRBA”.
    • As we reckon with a post-October 7th world, I’m pledging to push DSA forward towards an explicitly anti-Zionist direction by supporting the LSC-authored resolution “DSA for One Palestinian State”, the first to qualify for agenda this year, and one which I also proudly co-authored.
    • I’m pushing for a harder line on accountability by DSA electeds to DSA’s organizing and political platform in my support for “Red Lines for DSA Endorsements”, so that we replicate the successes of Shaun Scott’s radical political leadership and steadfast commitment to DSA in other places around the country.
    • I believe we must take a strong stand against DSA-endorsed politicians who undermine our organization’s commitment to ending genocide and capitalism through their actions while in office. That is why I co-authored resolutions to censure L.A. Councilmember Nithya Raman and U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and will support those resolutions should they qualify for agenda.
    • I support the resolution “Staff, Contractors, and Budgeting” to avoid replicating the causes of DSA’s 2024 budget crisis.

    As our government marches deeper into fascism, it is our responsibility as socialists not to moderate our positions or to comply in advance, which will only make the fascists’ job easier. Join me in pushing for a radical DSA that can respond to the needs of the people in the present, not just in some distant revolutionary future. We build the revolution in our everyday actions, and when we all act together as one, we win.

    Please consider supporting me for this year’s Convention!

  • Dominic D

    Candidate Statement

    As we go forward into this dark future DSA needs to act as a bulwark against fascism as well as be torch bearer for a future of liberty, equality, and fraternity. If DSA is to do this, it needs to be advocating for strong democracy internally as well as externally. We cannot make the mistakes of capitalist parties and turn a blind eye to those outside of our preexisting strongholds.

    If elected as a delegate, I will advocate for the expansion of democratic decision making in the national DSA, the standardization of democratic practices across chapters, including standardizing how national delegates are elected. I will also focus on lowering the barriers for members to interact with national DSA and implementing proposals that broaden our ability to reach communities that we tend to neglect and rural areas where we don’t have a major presence.

    Already being involved with national antifascist organizing in the DSA I will advocate for a more militant and effective program in terms of our organizing and the expansion of national and inter-chapter non electoral work such as migrant defense, tenant organizing, mutual aid, protest defense, and various other forms of direct action on a national level.

    A vote for me is a vote for a militant, vibrant, and more democratic DSA.

  • Michael L

    Candidate Statement

    I’ve been in DSA since 2018 and contributed to several campaigns, including: the DSA 100K campaign, Shaun Scott’s campaigns, Tax Amazon, Initiatives-135/137, and more recently, Michael Westgaard’s campaign for Renton City Council. I’m a member of Reform & Revolution and served as a delegate to DSA’s 2021 convention. This year, my focus will be advocating for DSA to move towards forming a revolutionary socialist party. I believe we are in a critical moment, and DSA has an opportunity to play a huge role in organizing and radicalizing the working class away from the two-party duopoly.

    Democrats have record low approval ratings among their base because they are failing to meet the moment to meaningfully fight Trump. By establishing and promoting ourselves as a party and as the political home of the working class, I believe DSA can capture these disaffected workers and grow rapidly in these next four years, offering a viable alternative to the Democrats, and scaling our capacity to fight Trump. I’ll support resolutions that: 1.) build towards a party now, and 2.) foster independence from the Democrats, (while allowing for tactical use of the Democratic Party ballot line, but favoring cadre candidates trained from within DSA, similar to Seattle DSA’s proposed new endorsement process). To accommodate an influx of members, I will also support resolutions that strengthen our member education and training, such as Politicized and Member-Driven Growth & Development in DSA. Additionally, I believe DSA should be a champion for the Palestinian cause, and will support the “DSA for One Palestinian state” resolution.

    In my view, for DSA to become a party and win socialism, we must continue to foster member democracy and deliberation. We, as workers, must see ourselves as protagonists of history. I support the democracy commission’s consensus resolution that will foster a more effective democratic culture within DSA, and I will oppose resolutions that reduce member democracy to a poll – I believe democracy works best when it is participatory. Additionally, programmatic unity, agreeing on our shared goals and providing a vision of how to get there, will be crucial to our success, which is why I support the resolution Fighting Socialist Program for DSA, and similar resolutions. I also believe technological independence from Democrats is very important, and that implementing independent organizing tech will be crucial as we increasingly work independently from the Democrats, and I will support resolutions to that end.

    Finally, if I’m elected, I’d like to invite any members to speak with me about your thoughts on what should happen at the convention, so I am equipped to represent the chapter to the best of my ability. After the convention, I will commit to writing a report to the chapter to share details regarding the arguments and trends that emerge from the event, and at the national level. I believe the next two years will be very big for DSA, and I would be humbled to be elected as one of Seattle DSA’s delegates to help make that vision a reality.

  • William M

    Candidate Statement

    I have been a member of DSA since 2018 and I have seen the tremendous ability that DSA has to change the lives of working people. Before I moved to Seattle for college I was involved in the DSA chapter in Portland where they elected 3 DSA members to the 12 person city council. Here in Seattle I saw DSA elect Shaun Scott almost immediately after I moved here and then saw them win Prop-1A immediately after. I have seen the ability for DSA to make a difference. When Trump was first elected we saw an influx of “resistance orgs”; Indivisible, Justice Dems, Our Revolution, out of all of them DSA is the only one still relevant. Because we are a mass membership movement and not a top down progressive non-profit, our membership and democracy is the most important element of our organization and I hope to keep it that way.

    At Convention I plan to fight for:

    • A revived and Militant labor movement born out of the Rank-and-File strategy: The only path to socialism lies through a revived and militant labor movement the likes of which America has never seen and the Rank-and-File strategy is the best way to bring that about.
    • Take the Fight to the Republicans and the Democrats: If we want to defeat Trump we need to defeat the ones enabling him and that includes Corporate Democrats that want to side with Fascism over Socialism. In order to do that we will probably need to significantly expand the capabilities of the NEC, SIOs, and Co-governance models.
    • Scaling up DSA’s Growth and Development and media ability so we are able to take advantage of the current upsurge we have. DSA is faced with an incredible opportunity and it’s important that we do everything we can to take advantage of it to grow our organization just into the thousands but into the millions.
  • Duncan H

    Candidate Statement

    Over the past three years, I’ve seen DSA grow into a party organization operating at a level that the Left hasn’t seen in decades. But there remains a lot for us to debate and act on. This convention has several proposals debating the nature of our organization: are we a party, or are we on the way to building one? Should we even aspire to be a party, or should we instead look to become more of a loose, broad coalition? What elements of the left and labor should we be looking to merge with?

    These questions require a firm answer in favor of partyism. DSA is already a national political organization with a sovereign membership and a budding independent electoral program. We just need to figure out what our political program is and how we can win a critical majority of the working class to organizing with us for it.

    As a member of Marxist Unity Group, I am proud that we are putting forward several proposals and organizing around many more that keep DSA on the partyist path. Our proposals sharpen this trajectory towards rallying our organization around the interconnected goals of democracy, socialism, and internationalism.

  • Jordan B

    Candidate Statement

    TL;DR: I lead Seattle DSA’s electoral work and Socialist in Office Committee, and I want to help DSA build a viable political party of the working class and a strong labor movement necessary to win socialism.

    Hey comrades! I’m Jordan (he/they), and I would be honored to represent you at the National DSA Convention!

    After joining Seattle DSA last year, I was elected to the Electoral Working Group Steering Committee and became co-chair of the Socialist in Office Committee, which co-governs with our State Representative Shaun Scott. (We recently occupied Governor Ferguson’s office with Rep. Scott fighting to tax the rich rather than cut essential public services). I also write communications for our Renton City Council candidate, Michael Westgaard. I’m a union educator with the Seattle Education Association. I worked as Policy Director for a U.S. presidential campaign, and you can read articles and interviews I’ve published in Jacobin and Current Affairs. I am a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, and formerly Students for Justice in Palestine, and I organized a solidarity tour in Palestine in 2023. I am a member of DSA’s National Electoral Commission and the Bread & Roses Caucus.

    Winning socialism, or even social democracy, requires (at least) two things: a powerful workers’ political party and a strong labor movement. The United States today has neither, but DSA can play a crucial role in building both. The two parties of the capitalist class – Democrats and Republicans – are suffering from record unpopularity, but American workers still see nowhere else to turn. Most have no idea we exist, or they correctly view us as irrelevant.

    We must seize this moment of crisis to build a mass party-like organization of the working class that contests power across the country as a viable alternative to the Democrats and Republicans. This does not mean we can launch a full third party with its own ballot line nationwide tomorrow, but we can use a variety of tactics to build party institutions, a party brand, and a slate of elected socialists who see themselves as extensions of DSA. Unlike the two major parties, we should not solely be focused on winning elections, but also on organizing the working class. We should help build a strong labor movement, particularly through getting rank-and-file jobs in strategic sectors to organize new unions or reform existing ones.

    Internally, we must defend and strengthen our member democracy and our multi-tendency big tent. We must make it easier for casual members to become involved in our political deliberation, so that we may be a true mass organization, not another liberal nonprofit. And we must build an organization that ordinary workers without college degrees would be comfortable joining, rather than one that only brings in people who are already progressive activists.

    Please reach out on Slack or anywhere if you have any questions or comments, or would just like to connect!

    In solidarity,

    Jordan Z. Bollag

  • Chris W

    Candidate Statement

    Hello comrades, my name is Chris W, and it would be an honor and privilege to represent you and Seattle DSA at our national convention again. I’m a member of the Local Council (since 2022), co-chair of the National Convention Planning Committee, and a member of Red Star caucus. I have been a DSA member since 2016, and have been a delegate to every biennial convention since. I’ve seen DSA evolve over the last nine years, and I am proud to have played a part in transforming DSA into a more principled and proudly socialist organization.

    It’s no secret that DSA was founded in the 1980s as a labor Zionist organization. But since 2017, beginning with a formal endorsement of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement (BDS), the organization has turned towards Palestinian liberation, and away from sympathy for the occupiers. While this work is not complete, successive resolutions from the 2017 through the 2023 conventions continue to progress DSA’s position to that of a true anti-colonial, anti-Zionist, and anti-genocide organization that we can be proud of. This change was only possible thanks to chapters across the United States sending delegates like me to our highest-decision making body.

    It’s hard to overstate the importance of the convention in clarifying and improving DSA’s positions. As co-chair of the Convention Planning Committee, and co-chair of its Resolutions Subcommittee, I’m experiencing this firsthand. Convention is what makes DSA unique. No other national political organization practices democracy this way. Members are organized into local chapters, who send representatives to Chicago to deliberate and chart a course for the next two years with their comrades across the United States. It’s a microcosm of the popular power and democratic control of our society that we fight for, a world where we move away from government against the people and towards the administration of things.

    As a member of DSA and as a member of Red Star caucus, my highest priority is building a fighting DSA that is a truly nation-spanning organization capable of defeating right wing politics and developing members as organizers, as protagonists capable of recruiting more people into the struggle for a more just world. I hope my leadership of Seattle DSA over the past few years has spoken to that priority. I feel honored and privileged to have enjoyed the confidence of this chapter, and I ask once again for an opportunity to serve you.

  • Shiloh B

    Candidate Statement

    Hi folks! My name is Shiloh Beeler (she/her) and I’m running to be one of Seattle DSA’s delegates for our 2025 National Convention! I’ve been honored to serve this chapter as a previous co-chair of our Palestine Solidarity & Internationalism Working Group and a current member of our local council; I hope to be able to continue representing our chapter on the convention floor in August.

    The question that fills my mind is: How do we meet the moment? As an organization, DSA has come a long way in the last several years: together, we have the potential to be right there on the front lines of the fight for free healthcare, for a green transformation, for a sustainable future, for a worker-owned economy, for an end to bigotry—in short, for socialism. It is evident that the circumstances we are organizing under are becoming increasingly grim—but when we see the contradictions around us heighten, so too do we see the opportunity for radical transformation. So, how will we ensure that we grab hold of that opportunity?

    We need a DSA which can function at the national level, which has the capacity to identify and tackle the most tactically crucial issues in our political landscape, and which builds a genuinely democratic structure for our society by practicing democracy in our every action. We need a DSA which is thrown open to the members, so that every member can shape the direction of our organization through their participation. We need a DSA that does not isolate itself from the movements for liberation which exist in the here and now. When we search for the seeds of the future, we find it in those segments of society struggling against American imperialism, organizing for freedom in Palestine, fighting ICE’s brutal anti-migrant policies, and more. We must connect ourselves to these segments of the working class if we are to succeed in the long run.

    This summer, we decide the policies which will answer how we meet this moment. As a member of the Red Star Caucus and a firm believer in the potential of DSA, I want to be a voice at our national convention calling for all of these things which DSA needs in order to be the force that frees us from capitalism within our lifetimes.

    Solidarity!

    Shiloh

  • Sarah P

    Candidate Statement

    Hi comrades, my name is Sarah P. and I would be honored to represent the chapter as a delegate at this year’s Convention!

    As a member of the Red Star caucus, I believe DSA has incredible potential to organize the working class against capitalism and bring about a radical transformation of our society. Through practicing democracy within our organization and bringing together socialists from across the U.S. at Convention, we can continue the work of building towards a better future!

    If elected as delegate, I hope to advocate for the following priorities:

    • Strengthening DSA as a disciplined anti-Zionist and anti-imperialist organization that works in tandem with the broader ecosystem of internationalist and anti-capitalist organizations around the world. This means that we must hold our electeds to account when they fail to stand up for Palestine, reaffirm our commitment to coalitional campaigns like Stop Fueling Genocide, and endorse No Appetite for Apartheid and other coalitional efforts like Palestinian Youth Movement’s Mask off Maersk campaign.
    • Continuing to build DSA’s independent political power so we can overcome capital’s twin parties. We must defeat both Trump and the Republicans as well as the Democratic Party, which has only served to advance the interests of capital while sending more money and arms to Israel and refusing to put up a real fight against Trump. We can take steps to achieve this not only by holding our electeds to higher standards and creating a national endorsement process that prioritizes cadre candidates, but also by creating better systems of support and accountability for candidates once in office.
    • Developing members into leaders and organizers by prioritizing political education programs and other opportunities to empower members to shape DSA, win local and national victories, engage and recruit broader layers of the working class, and ultimately make meaningful strides in the fight for socialism.

    These priorities are directly related to my own experience in DSA. I joined SDSA in 2023 and became activated during the founding of the Palestine Solidarity and Internationalism Working Group (PSIWG). I found it empowering to be a member of an organization that I felt was committed to standing up against Israel’s genocide in meaningful ways. As an author of the initial Boycott War Profiteers proposal and a founding steering committee member of the campaign, it’s been immensely important to me to tie our local BDS campaign to our broader goals of 1) building a mass movement that has the political power to win democratic control over public investments, and 2) building SDSA’s reputation as a committed anti-imperialist organization.

    Additionally, as PSIWG’s representative on SDSA’s Endorsement Committee, I pushed for SDSA-endorsed candidates to represent the chapter by committing to anti-Zionist positions and using their platform to promote DSA as an organization capable of challenging political power.

    Together, we can build an organization capable of standing up to capitalism and imperialism during an increasingly dark time. I hope that you will allow me the privilege of representing our chapter in Chicago.

    Solidarity!

    Sarah P.

  • Carl T

    Candidate Statement

    My name is Carl T, and I’m running to represent Seattle as a delegate to this summer’s National Convention because I believe deeply in the power of DSA, locally and nationally, to be a vehicle for organizing the working class against capitalism and to build a better future.

    Our chapter has made real strides in directly confronting the ruling class, from Raise the Wage Renton and the election of Shaun Scott to our work in solidarity with Palestine. We should be proud of our organizing, and our delegates should carry the lessons of both our victories and our setbacks as we help shape the direction of DSA.

    Rooted in my work in the fight for Palestinian liberation, I believe DSA faces three central challenges:

    • We must build a more interconnected and disciplined organization, one that can coordinate bold strategy, share lessons, and pool resources for efforts like multi-chapter and multi-state boycott, divestment, and sanction (BDS) campaigns.
    • We must strengthen political independence by developing robust infrastructure to recruit and run cadre candidates and to support them once in office. Our elected officials should come from DSA, be accountable to DSA, and operate on the basis of our shared political commitments—not personal brand or ambition.
    • We must deepen relationships with broader left formations committed to anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism. We should prioritize building real coalitions, rooted in shared work and strategy, not just shared logos. That means dedicating resources to solidaristic, long-term collaboration with allied organizations.

    These views are grounded in my organizing experience. I served as co-chair of our chapter’s Palestine Solidarity and Internationalism Working Group during its first year. Since our founding in early 2024, we’ve organized a sit-in targeting AIPAC-backed Rep. Adam Smith, supported the Uncommitted campaign, and launched Boycott War Profiteers, a local BDS initiative I and others proposed as a WG priority and now serve on the steering committee for. BWP has built a network of dozens of new and longtime organizers, mobilized thousands of community supporters, and is driving a consumer boycott and business divestment campaign targeting brands profiting from Israel’s genocide. We’ve also deepened ties and coordinated joint actions with grassroots anti-war groups across the region.

    As an organizer, I’ve also led a successful wage fight at my workplace, worked as field staff for a DSA candidate, and helped found DC DSA internationalism working group.

    As a member of the Red Star Caucus, I am committed to anti-imperialism and believe in the need to learn from socialist struggle around the world. I support national leadership that fights for principled internationalism and political independence, and I believe Seattle DSA has a critical role to play in shaping the future of our organization.

    I would be honored to represent our chapter in Chicago.

    In solidarity,

    Carl T

  • Steven O

    Candidate Statement

    Comrades! My name is Steven O. and I am running for Chapter Delegate to represent Seattle DSA at the 2025 National Convention. If elected, I will faithfully represent the core commitments that we have made together as chapter members: to unshakeable solidarity with the international working class, to building a Party that can unite every struggle against capital, and to empowering members to lead our fight for a socialist future.

    I am proud to have embodied these values during my time in Seattle DSA. As a member of our Boycott War Profiteers Campaign Steering Committee, I helped expand our chapter’s divestment organizing to protect the rights of workers to express their solidarity with Palestine and to push businesses to stop stocking Israeli goods. As a co-chair of our Member Engagement Committee, I facilitated our first two New Member Cohorts since 2022 to teach hundreds of new members the fundamentals of socialism and welcome them into our chapter. And, as a member of the national Housing Justice Commission, I am leading the relaunch of DSA’s Emergency Tenant Organizing Committee to give DSA members the skills they need to start new tenant unions across the country.

    In the two years since the 2023 Convention, DSA has gone through some of the biggest ups and downs since I became a member in 2021. We started 2024 with the organization in danger of bankruptcy due to the unsustainable spending decisions of prior national leadership and with chapters facing the unthinkable prospect of seeing our share of dues cut. As we approach the half-way point of 2025, we have been emboldened by a rush of new members to tackle the fundamental task of our time: creating a socialist mass movement that can defeat Trumpism and overthrow capitalism.

    As a member of the Red Star Caucus, I hope to vote for resolutions and national leadership that will build on the achievements DSA has made in the last two years to help create that mass movement. In the next two years, I want DSA to go from trimming unsustainable spending to putting our new budget surplus back in the hands of chapters to support our local organizing. I want us to go from reforming moribund and undemocratic national committees to radically expanding the capacity of those committees with experienced chapter leaders. I want DSA to go from healing the rifts with Palestinian organizations created by our endorsement of unprincipled Democrats to electing our own cadre candidates that will stand against Zionism and imperialism in all its forms.

    I appreciate your consideration of my candidacy – I am proud to call Seattle DSA my political home and am excited to help make National a better partner to our organizing. Feel free to hit me up on Slack @Steven O if you have questions!

    Solidarity,`

    Steven O.

  • Nicole U

    Candidate Statement

    Howdy comrades. My name is Nicole, and I’ve been involved with SDSA since I moved to Seattle almost two years ago. At various points I have been involved with our chapter’s housing justice working group and associated campaigns (yay I-137), mutual aid projects, boots-on-the-ground electoral work, and most recently the Boycott War Profiteers campaign. I think our chapter does excellent work locally. If selected to serve as delegate for Seattle to our party’s national convention, I would be most interested in concerns best met at the scale of a national organization. Given the present state of the world at large and the US specifically, I think our most pressing issues are party building and material solidarity with Palestine. Of the resolutions that at the time of writing have enough signatures to be discussed, I’d be unequivocally championing R36 (unified strategy due Palestine solidarity), and at first reading I am quite supportive of R32 (towards a multilingual DSA). There are many others on the table around which I think there is much discussion to be had and I look forward to the conversation leading up to convention whether or not I’m selected to go.

  • Amy W

    Candidate Statement

    I’ve been a member of Seattle DSA for about three and a half years. In that time I served as chapter co-chair for about eighteen months and served on this term of the NPC for nearly two years, and I was a delegate to the 2023 Convention.

    On the NPC I’ve fought for transparency and member democracy, putting members in control of the work of DSA. I want to continue that work as delegate, as well as fighting for a more unified DSA with a clear image of where we’re going.

    As a member of Marxist Unity Group I believe the fight for socialism is the fight for democracy and vice versa, and that we need a party that stands for that fight. I believe DSA can be that party, because DSA stands alone as an organization with strong democracy. To that end as delegate I’ll fight for DSA to adopt a program that sets us on the path to a truly democratic society, replacing the anti-democratic state we live in now, and for our strategy to guide all of our work.

  • Will S

    Candidate Statement

    My name is Will S., and I would be honored to once again represent Seattle DSA at this year’s National Convention. I am extremely proud of the growth and development DSA has undergone in the 8 years since I joined, and I want to showcase our local victories to the national organization:

    We have made incredible strides in our electoral organizing, from winning a raise for Renton workers to electing Shaun Scott as the first socialist in the WA state legislature in over a century, and we are poised to build on those wins and turn our chapter into a well-oiled electoral machine. We have fought to end the genocide in Palestine by waging an effective local BDS campaign. We have stood with local unions, from Starbucks workers to Seattle teachers to Delta flight attendants, and helped give workers the skills they need to organize their own workplaces. Now, we are building a strategy to support immigrants as they face a campaign of terror from the U.S. government.

    At convention, I hope to bring these successes to our comrades across the country, to learn from their own, and to help build DSA into a socialist party that will overthrow capitalism in our lifetimes.

    As a member of the Red Star caucus, one of my first priorities at convention will be ensuring that DSA remains a proudly internationalist and anti-Zionist organization, and that we continue to fight alongside our Palestinian allies. To me, this is the most urgent moral issue facing the global socialist movement today, and I strongly believe that we can only build toward revolution here at home when we stand with our comrades — and all oppressed people — across the globe.

    I also believe that DSA must deeply engage with its members through political education and practical skill-building, so that we can continue to develop the capacity we will need for the long haul. That means committing real resources to national programs that help turn members into strong organizers and strong leaders, and provide chapters with the support they need to thrive in their own local conditions.

    I have been a member of DSA since 2017, and in that time I have held numerous leadership roles—helping to establish a winning electoral program in DSA San Francisco, serving two terms as a Harassment and Grievance Officer, co-chairing Seattle’s Labor Working Group, and leading Seattle’s national convention delegation as chair in 2023. With 8 years of experience in this organization, I believe that I can be an effective voice for Seattle at this year’s convention, and I would be honored to have your support.

  • Chanpreet S

    I’m running for convention delegate to further our organization’s commitment to becoming an independent, mass socialist party that offers a real alternative to the Republicans and Democrats for the working class. There’s a myriad of ways in which our national organization and local chapters must transform themselves to make this a reality, but we can start to chip away at getting there by doing the following:

    • Build trust in national DSA as a source of political guidance. Many chapters are understandably disconnected from the national organization and this is a serious problem for DSA. If we are to build a mass party and put up a real fight against the capitalist class, we’ll need to deliberate and execute coordinated strategy at not just a local but national scale. This could take the form of developing a political program, but it’ll also necessitate political guidance and coordination across many many committees in the organization. But this can’t happen by wishing it into existence. Accordingly, we need to…
    • Open more national bodies to members and engage them in national DSA’s work and democracy. Many national DSA bodies are hollowed out and siloed from members. Last year, as a member of our National Electoral Commission’s Steering Committee I voted to expand our body to a rank and file model that was more open to members than ever before. Through workshops, national fundraising campaigns, and deliberative democracy at general body meetings I’ve seen how a more open national DSA builds our national infrastructure, forms the basis for stronger local and national coordination, and enables DSA to deliberate and execute political strategy at a national scale.
    • Unifying DSA around a shared political program. As we hopefully build the connective tissue between local chapters and national DSA, we’ll need something to guide that coordination–and that’s where a program comes in. Our current program Workers Deserve More is a welcome development for DSA, but it needs further development for chapters to substantively guide their work. We should continue to develop our program, and paired with the points above we could meaningfully coordinate campaigns with local chapters according to its principles.

    As for organizing experience, I’ve co-chaired our Electoral Working Group for over 2 years and have led on the Raise the Wage Renton, Uncommitted WA, Shaun Scott, and Westgaard campaigns. I also bring a unique perspective as a national convention delegate, having served on DSA’s National Electoral Commission’s Steering Committee for over a year. Through my time in National DSA, I’ve mentored chapters, worked across national committees, and launched a national fundraising campaign for nationally endorsed candidates. I believe my organizing experience provides a much needed perspective on how to put political principles into practice in national DSA, and I hope you’ll rank me 1!

  • Joey S

    I’m Joey S (he/him) and I’m running on the 2025 Evergreen Slate. I am also a member of the Groundwork Caucus.

    I joined Seattle DSA in 2020. After a brief stint in Colorado, where I served as Boulder DSA’s chapter treasurer, I returned to Seattle and jumped back into the Raise the Wage Renton campaign’s special election. I was then elected the Electoral WG Co-Chair.

    In Seattle DSA, over the last two years, I think we successfully applied a “Build to Win, Win to Build” strategy. When we run socialist campaigns, we are forced to build the long term skills and infrastructures to organize for victory, independent of the Democratic Party’s capitalist donors and establishment politicians. And through our victories, we ensure workers in Seattle take us seriously and see us as an org that can truly change our world for the better,. Our supporters become members, our members become volunteers, our volunteers become organizers. This is how we will build a political party with millions of members.

    As a delegate, I want to carry these lessons forward to the National Convention, along with my fellow Evergreen Slate members.

    Here, I’ll outline how we experimented with this theory of change at a local level:

    • In 2024, when I was co-chair, we led the Uncommitted campaign. Our chapter events to call tens of thousands of voters and knocked on thousands of doors, where we asked voters to support Palestine, stand against genocide, and send a message to Biden. While other Seattle nonprofits were slow to get started due to a lack of courage, or lack of field organizing experience, we could jump into action. Thanks to the skills and infrastructure we built running Raise the Wage, we were able to organize this surge of volunteer energy and we elected three Uncommitted delegates to the DNC, and recruited many volunteers to DSA.
    • Later, we built off the previous campaigns to run most of Shaun Scott’s campaign, which elected Seattle DSA’s first Socialist in Office. When running this campaign, we developed new/reactivated members and built more infrastructure and processes. Now we have a proud DSA member quoting Eugene Debs on the State Legislature floor!
    • In parallel, our Housing Justice WG was organizing in coalition with other member-led activist orgs to win a tax on wealthy corporations to fund social housing. We collected tens of thousands of signatures and won the special election, and continued to recruit new members who saw how critical Seattle DSA was to the field operation.

    Today, I’ve passed the Electoral Co-Chair torch but remain on our expanded leadership body, Electoral Steering. Thanks to our expanded capacity, we can keep a field operation going strong for Mike for Renton, while also sparing organizers for our Socialist in Office and our Planning committees.

    Join me and my Evergreen comrades in supporting a Build to Win, Win to Build strategy for the National Convention. Stay tuned for more information about our slate at https://linktr.ee/evergreen2025

    Solidarity!

  • Peyton S

    Hello, my name is Peyton Stever, running with the Evergreen Slate. I have been a DSA member since 2017, but have gotten most involved over the last year, starting with the Shaun Scott campaign. I am one of the co-chairs for the Palestine Solidarity and Internationalism Working Group (PSIWG) and also a co-chair for the Socialists in Office Committee (SIOC). In addition to that I am on the steering committee for the Boycott War Profiteers (BWP) campaign and an active participant in South King County group, a volunteer for our electoral projects like Mike for Renton, and a member of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) where I have mostly focused on chapter outreach.

    The thing that inspired me to run for a delegate position was hearing about the statewide organizing done at the last convention. I have been working behind the scenes to help organize the state since it was a barrier to making our SIOC more effective this past legislative session, some of which showed at the chapter convention.

    The problem I have been running into is that we would like to put more pressure on moderates to support the agenda of our Seattle DSA elected, Shaun Scott, but often they are outside of Seattle. We have chapters in many of those places, so by reaching out to them, we were able to help Shaun as much as possible, but I haven’t been able to contact every chapter. This convention provides an opportunity to do that and make the next legislative session more productive and our regional organizing more robust.

    I am uncaucused, but have joined the Evergreen Slate, where we agreed to run on a few common points of interest:

    • Building our movement into a mass party with successful campaigns
    • Increasing national direct democracy with 1 Member, 1 Vote
    • Expanding and radicalizing the Labor Movement
    • Supporting Green New Deal Campaigns nationwide
    • Defeating the fascists that are threatening immigrants and Palestine Activists

    Our successes with Shaun Scott, Prop 1A, Raise the Wage Renton, and BWP have helped build our chapter. I want to see that reflected nationwide through supporting the campaigns that are working, like our national Green New Deal campaign, our national Palestine campaigns (Stop Fueling Genocide from IC and, unofficially, No Appetite for Apartheid), and keeping the pressure on the fascists who are threatening Palestine Activists with ICE.

    My involvement with our national Palestine campaigns, our cooperation with NYC DSA to help get our SIOC running, and my time in the NEC have convinced me that we have so much to learn from each other across chapters, so I ask those of you who would like to build a stronger movement, led by a more organized and cooperative state organization, please consider giving me your rank-1 vote and ranking the rest of the Evergreen slate. For those who have other commitments, I would appreciate you ranking me as high as possible, I know we can work together to make a strong DSA across ideological tendencies.

  • Dane N

    Hey Comrades – I’m Dane Nakagawa and I have been organizing within Seattle DSA since 2019, designing and distributing stickers and buttons, and showing up for the chapter whenever I can. My three goals as a Seattle convention delegate would be:

    • Support resolutions that position DSA to boldly and effectively obstruct project 2025, while simultaneously educating and agitating for policies that would uplift the entire working class, like Medicare For All.
    • Network and exchange knowledge with fellow Socialists who are fighting similar battles just in different cities across the nation.
    • Organize a button gift for non-Seattle delegates which would be attached to a quarter-sheet that directs to SDSA’s Linktree in order to spotlight the powerful work that our chapter is executing.

    I’d be happy to discuss what you would like to see achieved at the convention and any specific proposals. Thank you for reading this. Keep up the Fight. SOLIDARITY.

  • Stephan K

    DSA represents the greatest hope in decades for socialists – not just in the US – to challenge US capitalism and imperialism. However, to fulfill this promise, we’ve got to acknowledge that we are currently on a rocky path.

    Resistance against Trump 2.0 is building – but too slowly. We need to unite labor and the socialist movement and mobilize a defense of workers’ rights, immigrant justice, LGBTQ rights, and for the urgent action needed to limit climate change. This struggle must be connected to a broader vision for change.

    Unlike the leadership in the Democratic Party, we aren’t just defending the old neoliberal order against Trump’s nationalist authoritarianism. We have a world to win – a world based on economic, gender, and racial justice, a socialist world.

    Yet, too often DSA and its representatives are trailing the Democratic Party. We need to build toward a mass working-class party that can offer a socialist alternative to far-right Republicans and is independent of the pro-capitalist Democratic Party.

    I believe people join DSA because they are fed up with the entire system. DSA should connect with this sentiment and strengthen it further by having a bold and sharp profile: We stand for a democratic, socialist rupture with racial capitalism, imperialism, and militarism, and we are part of the struggles against all forms of oppression.

    About me: I have been a Seattle DSA activist for the last 7 years. I was recently involved in the struggle to save our schools. As a union rep for the Seattle Education Association, I’m working toward using our collective power to defend immigrants and fight for the common good like smaller class sizes and fully funded schools. I work in special education in a Title 1 school – under attack by Trump, underfunded by Democrats in Washington State, and threatened last year with closure by our school district.

    I’ve been involved in the labor and socialist movement internationally – from being a shop steward in the public sector in Germany to organizing Marxists on an international level. I’m also a dad of two wonderful children.

  • Carlos JG

    I’m running for Convention delegate as part of the Evergreen Slate! Our slate prioritizes working to change DSA into a mass political party with specific focuses on building a party through successful organizing campaigns, making DSA more democratic, seizing the anti-Trump moment, and organizing around a left labor movement.

    I joined DSA in August of 2024 when a comrade asked me to come out to one of the mega canvasses for Shaun Scott’s campaign for State Representative. As I participated more in the campaign, I began to pick up key organizing experience including leading canvasses, phonebanking and textbanking members, and contributing in campaign meetings. I also participated in electoral strategy reading groups that gave me perspective on what distinguishes DSA organizing from other volunteering: through DSA members have a real say and a stake in the long-term strategic building of a leftist party, creating a relatively unique and valuable space for members to struggle for socialism.

    That perspective was reinforced when I was elected to the Steering Committee of the Electoral Working Group in December and took part in the organization of the Michael Westgaard for Renton City Council campaign from the ground floor. The fact that DSA is driving Mike’s insurgent democratic socialist campaign has enabled us to really flesh out our electoral program, with accomplishments such as creating a new structured ladder of engagement for members to learn organizing skills, expanding our knowledge of fundraising strategies such as social media ads, and giving new members a meaningful area to get more involved in.

    I’m proud to be running on the Evergreen Slate with members who have participated more with DSA during the Mike for Renton campaign, Peter W, Jess M, and Alina L, and with members longtime organizers in electoral and Palestinian solidarity work, Joey S and Peyton S. How we have each developed our skills and involvement in DSA shows the importance of one of our slate’s points of unity: Build to Win, Win to Build. This point highlights the importance of building a mass party that is oriented around obtaining meaningful victories for the working class, victories that in turn lead to more and bigger successful organizing. Our chapter’s recent experience with huge wins for the Raise the Wage Renton, the Uncommitted Delegates, and the Shaun Scott campaigns that have in turn led to more effective organizing validates this focus. My own experiences of joining during the Shaun campaign and now leading the Mike campaign have shown me this is a viable, and by no means exclusive, strategy for creating our mass party. If elected I will take this important perspective to Convention.

    Check out our Evergreen Slate for more info about our platform! Vote Evergreen!”

  • Kevin M

    My name is Kevin M. I’ve been a member of Seattle DSA since 2017. I hope that you’ll send me as one of your delegates to my first National Convention this year.

    I see DSA as critically important because of its size, openness, and flexibility. My priorities for DSA are the development of mature democratic practices, real integration with the working class, and opposition to all forms of chauvinism. I see anti-imperialism as a particularly important area of focus for sharpening ourselves, finding our real allies, and building a movement against war in a time of rising fascism.

    My current involvement in DSA is centered around Palestine solidarity through the Boycott War Profiteers campaign. Historically I’ve also been involved in organizing against ICE. I see myself as most closely aligned with Red Star and the Libertarian Socialist Caucus. I’m a member of the recently formed United Videogame Workers union. I’ve been active in my industry’s coop movement and have significant experience writing and revising bylaws and participating in workplace democracies of various forms.

    Having lived in the Seattle area almost all my life, and having been a member of our chapter for 8 years, I believe I can represent our local membership well. That said, I also plan to use the national convention as a way to connect with and better understand the broader organization, and to develop myself as a member, so that I can be of better service to our chapter in the future. I hope that you will trust me with this responsibility. Thank you.

  • Livey B

    The re-election of Donald Trump—and the Democrats’ ongoing failure to offer a coherent, moral alternative—has made it clearer than ever: the parties funded by the capitalist class won’t save us. I’m Livey, and I’m running to be your delegate to the DSA National Convention because I believe DSA can build something different. We can be a democratic, member-led political force that organizes, governs, and fights in solidarity with the working class.

    Resisting the descent into fascism will require more than endorsing progressive Democrats. We need delegates committed to building a coordinated, democratic national organization with a shared strategy rooted in working-class resistance—not lesser-evilism.

    As your delegate, I will support resolutions & candidates that will move national DSA and NPC with intention toward the following priorities:

    • Bolder support for DSA-led state & local campaigns, and supporting DSA chapters to facilitate Socialist in Office committees.
    • Coordinating national responses and days of action in moments of crisis.
    • Development of a shared federal program.
    • Strengthening DSA’s connection to national labor organizations.
    • Investing in mutual aid networks that defend the communities most targeted by the fascist state.
    • Trainings available to all rank and file that prepare chapters across the country to grow their skills and share with one another.

      • I’ve seen the power of this kind of infrastructure firsthand. As a steering committee member and former co-chair of Seattle DSA’s Electoral Working Group, I helped lead our chapter through democratic, hard-fought campaigns—including electing Rep. Shaun Scott to the Washington State House. I now co-chair our Socialist in Office committee, supporting his work to challenge corporate power and expose the limits of the Democratic Party. When we run and support cadre candidates who are rooted in the DSA project, our politics stay sharp and the working class quickly sees that DSA electeds are their champion in the halls of power.

      I’m also deeply committed to strengthening member democracy. To model the world we’re fighting for, we need to ensure that our own structures demonstrate the democratic practices we want to see happening outside of our organization. For that reason, National DSA must prioritize transparency, regular communication, and open deliberation—expanding participation and building accountability between leadership and the rank-and-file.

      If elected, I’ll bring on-the-ground organizing experience and a track record of leadership in multiple DSA chapters. I’ve co-chaired Silicon Valley DSA’s Communications Committee and currently serve as interim co-chair of Seattle DSA’s Immigration Justice Working Group. I’ve led and supported multiple endorsed campaigns and consistently fought to build durable infrastructure for socialist organizing. I’ll bring the same commitment, strategy, and solidarity to the convention that I bring to every chapter campaign and committee I’m a part of. I’d be honored to earn your vote.

      In solidarity,

      Livey

  • Flowers J

    Fellow comrades,

    Throughout my time in DSA, I have always done my best to ensure one thing: that everyone has a voice. Whether during my time as a harassment and grievance officer, volunteering with campaigns like Raise The Wage or the Michael Westergard campaign, or in our Palestine Solidarity Working Group, I have fought to have everyone heard.

    If I am elected to the national convention, I would carry forward that principle and use my experience, which has gifted me the opportunity to talk to people in all spectrums of DSA, to be a voice for our chapter as we move forward and push for progress.

    We are at a time in the world where DSA needs to be a strong voice against facism and hatred. DSA continues to be on the frontline in this fight against this administration, but needs people who will continue this fight and push for us to stand up, and i am very excited to push DSA to stand up as this administration comes for us all.

    If you have any questions please reach out as I would be glad to talk to you about my experience and goals.

    Love and solidarity,

    Flowers

  • Jessica M

    Hello, I am Jessica MacDonald.

    While I am a relatively new member to the DSA, I have been active politically as a canvasser since the 2016 and 2020 Bernie Sanders campaigns.

    More recently, I canvased for prop 1A, showing up as much as I could through the later winter months. That win reinvigorated my determination to make socialism a major part of US politics.

    I joined and quickly became an active member of the electoral working group working on the current Michael Westgaard for Renton campaign, where I have canvassed, phone banked, fundraised and begun to shift lead. I have attended operational meetings and continued to learn the process with the goal of helping the DSA win elections.

    In addition to my work in electoral, I am a member of the burgeoning Ecosocialism Working Group. I hope to find ways to take the lessons I am learning in electoral use them to coalition build and bring other already active eco groups in the Puget Sound area into the DSA fold and expand our reach.

    I believe strongly in the necessity of the Green New Deal. Publicly owned energy, social housing, public transit, and public facilities is the way to create a fair and equitable world for the planet and its inhabitants.

    I am happy to be running with the Evergreen Slate and representing not only the GND, but Build to Win, 1 member 1 vote, More Labor More Left, and Socialism beats Fascism.

  • Shai C

    My name is Shai C. I’m running for delegate because of my deep commitment to struggling toward a better world and to building the authentic relationships with comrades that I know it will take to get there.

    I’ve been a member of DSA many times, but only since November 2024 have I felt truly at home in the organization. When I’ve joined in the past, I had no idea what to do next. Jumping straight into working group meetings felt like trying to merge onto the highway, and it was easy to stay off camera and muted during membership meetings. Socials were nice, but I was forever stuck in the “trying to get involved” phase.

    I strongly credit the new member cohort orientation for helping me integrate into DSA and for showing me my love for member engagement work.The warm welcome, and the celebration of the fact that I showed up, emboldened me to try new things. Since then, I have canvassed for Prop 1A; been the master of ceremonies at the Boycott War Profiteers’ keffiyeh rally where we demanded PCC stores drop Israeli products; phone-banked Delta workers about unionizing; and shared my perspective as a federal researcher in front thousands of people at the Presidents Day rally downtown. It also inspired me to join the Member Engagement Committee, where I’ve recently begun having 1:1 meetings with new members and existing members looking to plug in. Guiding someone else toward the work that will be most fulfilling and sustainable for them brings me joy and keeps me coming back for more.

    Convention would not only allow me to meet other comrades and find out what most energizes them, but it would also afford me the chance to participate in the democratic process of shaping our organization. I’ve gotten a taste of this kind of deliberation in the Ecosocialism Working Group as we’ve debated our orientation toward degrowth; in the Palestine Solidarity and Internationalism Working Group as we’ve decided on campaign tactics; and at the local convention as we’ve voted on the resolutions that will guide our priorities in the coming months and years. National convention would be all of this on a far broader scale, and I’m excited to do my part to help grow DSA into the organization that the working class trusts to lead the fight against capitalism and to build a just, socialist future.

    I would be proud to represent Seattle DSA as your delegate. Thank you for considering me, comrades!

  • Bryan W

    Trump is unleashing a furious attack against the working class through a blizzard of blistering executive orders. The feckless Democratic Party establishment has proven themselves completely incapable of effectively taking on Trump and the Right and have gleefully taken as much money as they can from Billionaires.

    However, despite this, the anti-Trump movement has started to emerge. But much more is needed.

    I believe over the next 4 years DSA can and should be at the forefront of visibly and energetically building the anti–Trump movement more broadly, and it’s socialist wing more specifically. I also think these next 2 years we can take concrete steps toward popularizing the need for a new political party, independent of the Democratic Party, while continuing to fight to build a powerful, democratic, class struggle oriented labor movement.

    Moreover, I think DSA needs to find ways to connect the problems facing humankind to capitalism and the solution to socialism. This requires connecting the interests and consciousness of the broader layers of the working class to a socialist horizon in our campaigns, demands, speeches, written material, and platforms.

    Vote Bryan W for SDSA delegate to DSA 2025 National Convention

  • Pete W

    My name is Pete Wensel and I’m excited to be running as a delegate to the National Convention to represent both the Seattle DSA Chapter and the GroundWork vision for DSA on the 2025 Evergreen Slate.

    That vision represents an organized, mobilized working class whose political power ushers in the kind of societal change we strive to realize every single day as members of DSA.

    Only with a multifaceted strategy of wielding state power, strike power, and street power can we unilaterally usurp the forces of capital that divide us, oppress us and prevent our mutual liberation.

    I’ve been a member of DSA since 2016 and a member of the Seattle DSA Chapter since 2024 after moving to the area 9 months ago. I joined the Electoral Working Group in 2025 because I believe in its “Build to Win, Win to Build” strategy.

    It’s my view that by engaging in electoral politics we can simultaneously deliver material gains to the working class as well as begin to dismantle and undermine the power structures in place that aim to divide us. A Socialist campaign is an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to meet people where they are. It’s an opportunity to turn supporters into members, members into volunteers and volunteers into organizers.

    For a lot of Americans – political power is something for other people. A vote is something to be cast once every couple of years. I believe that the political project(s) of the Electoral Working Group, of DSA, and Groundwork are antidotes to the political disenfranchisement and ostracization that facism depends on to thrive. Together we can make a difference.

    Join me and my Evergreen comrades in supporting a Build to Win, Win to Build strategy for the National Convention. Stay tuned for more information about our slate at https://linktr.ee/evergreen2025

    Solidarity!

  • Alina L

    I’m running on the Evergreen slate to support resolutions that strengthen our internal democracy processes and increase union relationships for a mass labor backed movement.

    I’m relatively new to Seattle DSA, but I’ve always aligned with socialist values. I believe that our current capitalist society where profit is prioritized over people, nature, and our children’s future is unethical and unsustainable. I joined DSA because I was angry and frustrated with our government and the democrats like many other new members, and I wanted to use my data skills to support campaigns. I could no longer take a backseat on politics as I saw human rights being stripped away, and do nothing.

    Since joining SDSA, I’ve helped canvass for Prop 1a, textbank and phonebank for Mike Westgaard, workshop resolutions, and joined the electoral campaign ops group. These experiences taught me more about organizing, the power of unions, and how to hold politicians accountable. I also saw many opportunities to increase our membership inclusively and advocate for change via electoral work. As a result, I’m excited by the grassroots movements in Seattle, but I want DSA to increase their impact nationally.

    That’s why I am running on the Evergreen Slate to back the Groundwork Caucus, which aims to build a stronger party through increased democratic processes and labor involvement. Groundwork is a group of DSA members that want DSA to be a mass party, or in their words “A DSA For All”. Thus, I support their platform to mobilize mass participation into the DSA party and build winning electoral strategies.

    Stay tuned for more information about our slate at https://linktr.ee/evergreen2025.

  • Philip L

    DSA has a crucial role to play in building a strong socialist pole of attraction within the mass movements against Trump and all forms of economic and social inequality. As a revolutionary Marxist, I believe DSA needs to be actively engaged in building these movements, working in a non-sectarian way with other political trends even though they do not share our socialist outlook, while vigorously challenging liberal and pro-capitalist forces for leadership within our common movements.

    This includes patiently explaining the class character of the Democratic Party – a political party of the US ruling class and US imperialism – and how workers need our own democratic, mass membership political party that runs candidates in elections, organizes mass struggles, and acts as a broad forum for political education, discussion, and solidarity.

    In my view DSA needs to play a more proactive, intentional role in running candidates who clearly spread this message and use their campaigns and elected office to consciously build support for a future mass break from the rotten Democratic Party (while remaining flexible in our tactics today, including utilizing the Democratic ballot line when useful).

    I have been an active member of the Seattle chapter since 2018, been elected co-chair of Seattle DSA, and served two terms on the Local Council. I am a member of the Seattle Education Association, and have been active in the chapter’s Save our Schools Working Group. I also served as the Spokesperson for the 15 Now campaign that won the first $15 minimum wage in a major US city, sparking a nationwide movement for a $15 minimum wage.

    As a delegate to the national convention I will be a voice for revolutionary politics, an orientation to the working class as the key agent in the struggle to overthrow capitalism, and an opponent of ultra-left tactics and messaging that unnecessarily isolate DSA from workers and young people moving into struggle.

    I would be honored to be elected by Seattle DSA to be a delegate to the National Convention and ask for your vote!

  • Jai B

    Hello comrades! My name is Jai and I’ve been a member of DSA since 2022 and Co-chair of our Palestine Solidarity/Internationalism Working Group since January, and a member of Red Star Caucus. I couldn’t be more excited to be running to represent our chapter as a delegate at the 2025 DSA National Convention to advocate for:

    • Building on our solidarity with Palestine and pushing DSA to grow into a truly anti-Zionist and anti-imperialist organization that stands in solidarity with oppressed people everywhere who struggle against capital and American empire.
    • Defending migrants and racialized minorities from the bipartisan regime of militarized borders and deportations. We must present a principled socialist vision of global working-class solidarity.
    • Bridging the gaps between DSA chapters, working groups and committees and turning DSA into a fighting force that can contest power at the ballot box, in the workplace and in the streets.

    I joined Seattle DSA in 2022 after almost three years of organizing 1,500 Research Scientists at the University of Washington with UAW Local 4121. I joined with the modest goal of brushing shoulders with other socialist union members, but DSA has since become my organizing home; having DSA members picket during our nine-day strike and helping us win our first contract was nothing short of life-changing. Since then, I organized DSA and UAW members to prepare for a potential strike of 340,000 Teamsters at UPS, have trained new and old members on participating in DSA democracy with the National Growth and Development Committee, and am organizing with SDSA’s Boycott War Profiteers campaign to build a local base of anti-war activists and fight for an apartheid-free Seattle. I look forward to a lifetime of struggle with the comrades I’ve made in DSA.

    I have tremendous gratitude for my comrades who have pushed me to dream bigger about what DSA can be, and I want to pay that forward by doing my part to build a real workers’ party and participate in our governance at the 2025 Convention and beyond. As the largest socialist organization that this country has seen in decades, DSA has an incredible opportunity to show the entire working class that a better world is possible in the face of daily attacks on workers, immigrants, trans people and the countless other vulnerable groups with the boot of capital and empire on our necks. But we need to demonstrate that we can take up that mantle; we must emerge from the convention this August with a clear vision and strategy for meeting this moment.

    Forever in solidarity,

    Jai B.

  • Stan S

    I’m a public school teacher and revolutionary Marxist helping to build a rank and file caucus in my union. Looking forward to meeting other union activists and fellow educators at the DSA convention.

    DSA needs to find to creative steps towards a dirty break to form an independent party. DSA has an official goal of running class struggle elections that build toward this future party and I’m excited to help towards that goal. We have a world to win!

  • Krysteena M

    I have served this chapter as a Co-Chair and 2023 delegate. I always seek the wider chapter opinion when evaluating policies. I believe in democratic socialism through an intersectional lense, as we all experience capitalism differently.

  • Lucas C

    As your chapter treasurer and LC member, I would like to rep the chapter at convention.