Meet the Slate of Socialist Insurgents Running for Office in New York
In New York City, the Democratic Socialists of America are running a six-candidate socialist slate aiming for state and national office. It will serve as a test run for socialist organizing in the age of coronavirus.
Democratic Socialist Julia Salazar delivers her victory speech after defeating incumbent Democrat State Senator Marty Dilan on September 13, 2018 in New York City. Scott Heins / Getty Images.
On Valentine’s Day, three hundred airport food service workers protested for healthcare and a living wage outside Terminal 8 at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. Protesting alongside them were Zohran Kwame Mamdani, Samelys López, and Jabari Brisport, all of whom are running for office in New York. “We were standing in solidarity with the workers,” says López, “but also standing in solidarity with each other.”
López, Mamdani, and Brisport are part of New York City’s Democratic Socialists of America (NYC DSA) electoral slate this year, along with Marcela Mitaynes, Phara Souffrant, and Julia Salazar. Of the six members of the NYC DSA slate, only Brisport and Salazar have run for office before. Salazar was elected in 2018, unseating incumbent Martin Dilan to become a New York State Senator.
“We are dominated by a capitalist system, so it’s very difficult for democratic socialists to find reinforcement in the mainstream political world. It can be very isolating,” says López. Half a dozen socialists running on a joint slate changes that.
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