Our Mission »
One prime way to build our chapter is through electoral work — petitioning and campaigning for candidates who run on our organization’s guiding principles.
DSA is not a political party, but does endorse candidates running on any number of ballot lines (e.g., independent, Green, Democratic). This is the age of Bernie Sanders & Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. One hundred Bernie’s! Four hundred AOCs! Now is the time for DSA to inject its platform of socialist solutions at every opportunity — on the street, in the media, and at the ballot box.
Syracuse DSA Electoral Working Group will only endorse candidates who can demonstrate a strong grasp of socialist principles and/or represent a strategic opportunity to spread our ideas through electoral organizing.
Our chapter is open to endorsing candidates at every level of government, whether municipal, state, or federal (in NY State this includes cities/towns, counties, state and federal levels). Our goal is to endorse candidates who have a serious chance of winning office. Every election opportunity will be sought to share democratic socialism & platform democratic socialist policy solutions that enable our systems and society to work for working class sisters and brothers, not the wealthy.
Our electoral campaigns will strive to be living, breathing examples of socialist democracy in action, promoting inclusion & the voices of all, and operating from just, wide-reaching decision-making. The wisdom and energy of all active DSA members will be tapped. We will resist the conventional drift toward cults of personality and authoritarian campaign structures. Candidates will swap “I believe…” and other individualistic proclamations in favor of “The democratic socialist idea/position/ platform/belief/argument/ outlook/hope… is that…” The Electoral Committee will coordinate Syracuse DSA’s support for candidates as laid out by our policy on endorsements.
While we recognize a fundamental difference between government elections and other forms of democracy, our chapter supports all forms of democratic participation. We are willing to support socialist candidates and platforms in trade unions, worker-owned enterprises, tenant’s unions and neighborhood associations, consumer cooperatives — including credit unions and food cooperatives — and student governments.
Our Campaigns »
2018
Cynthia Nixon, Governor
Jumaane Williams, Lt. Governor
2019
Misse Ross, Onondaga County Legislature, District 15 (came within less than 50 votes)
2020
Bernie Sanders, US president
Shadia Tadros, Syracuse City Court Judge (win!)
2021
Joe Bennett, Onondaga County Legislature, District 15
Twiggy Billue, Syracuse City School District Commissioner of Education (win!)
2023
Maurice Mo Brown, Onondaga County Legislature, District 15 (win!)
2025