A lot has changed since Robert LeVertis Bell last ran for office in 2020 — a Democratic majority in the United States government, a Republican majority in the Kentucky state government, new COVID variants and outbreaks, a mini-revival of the teacher strike wave, and unions formed for the first time at US Amazon and Starbucks shops. But the goal for LeVertis Bell, now running for Kentucky State House’s forty-third district, remains the same: building lasting working-class political power in Louisville and beyond.

LeVertis Bell originally announced his candidacy in what was formerly District Forty-two of the state house, currently occupied by a retiring twenty-year incumbent. Not long after, Kentucky underwent the state’s first-ever redistricting, led by the Republican Party. Now he’s running against one-term incumbent Pam Stevenson in the newly formed District Forty-three.

LeVertis Bell and the Louisville Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are looking to bring class struggle to the newly formed and “overwhelming progressive district.” LeVertis Bell discussed his previous and current campaigns with Jacobin contributor Peter Lucas.