Twin Cities DSA

TCDSA Moving Local Politics

Many TCDSA members were naturally drawn to Jennifer Nguyen Moore this past campaign season, as her platform and approach reflected who we wanted to be as socialists. Her platform focused on equitability and justice for all in the Ramsey community, and she had a plan to bring this vision forward through the Commissioner’s Office. Through the hard work of her supporters in the community, which included many of our members, she came very close to taking office. In the process the campaign changed the tone of the race, pulling her opponents platforms towards her own as she did so. She and her campaign had this to say about the campaign and those who helped her along the way.

Although we put forward our best effort this campaigning season, Jennifer Nguyen Moore will not be advancing past the primaries for the position of Ramsey County Commissioner. Thank you to Kevin McClean and Tim Schaeffer, our DSA allies for coordinating volunteers in a crucial moment during the campaign. During our Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts, we had 2-5 DSA members at each session, making phone calls, knocking on doors and connecting with voters. A big thank you goes out to all of our volunteers and supporters. Without your support, we would not have been able to reach the people we did, or connect with the community in such a meaningful way. We are beyond proud and grateful for the army of staff who invested their heart and soul in this movement.

This is not a loss, we have won in so many ways: we registered brand new voters, we motivated first-time voters and voters who only vote for state and federal elections to pay attention to local races. We developed a solid team of volunteers and Deputy Organizers who made the election process more accessible to the “average resident.” Most importantly we raised the key issues necessary to break the cycle of poverty and eliminate disparities that keep us from thriving.

With our audacious, authentic and grassroots efforts, we garnered 2,503 votes! We were just 168 votes away (1.83%) from advancing, and managed to create a ripple effect by expanding our understanding of the role. Jennifer was very close to changing the face of the County Board: having a their first millennial Commissioner, mother of a toddler, first Asian Commissioner and becoming the first Vietnamese elected official in Minnesota. That speaks volumes to our movement and the power of our organization skills! Our community is hungry for representation that is reflective of our community!

This does not not mean it’s the end of our movement, but only that it now takes a different direction. Now is the time to make sure our elected officials are held accountable and question the authenticity of those vying for our vote. Be ready to see our faces out in the commUNITY working to make a difference! Don’t stop, we won’t stop. Follow Jennifer on Social media: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. She will continue to use these platforms to talk about important issues, to mentor future candidates running for office and to hold our elected officials and candidates accountable to their promises to us.

Jennifer looks forward to joining the local DSA branches and getting to know you all. This summer and fall, let’s work to get our DSA member Brad McGarr elected to Shakopee City Council!

For many involved from TCDSA this was a first real dive into working on a campaign. TCDSA member Tim Schaefer helped coordinate between the branch and Nguyen Moore’s campaign. “I hadn’t done electoral volunteer work since I was about 14 or 15, so this was basically new territory for me. However, I saw this campaign as a big chance to help out an emerging socialist voice in St. Paul –and to demonstrate DSA’s growing political power,” said Schaefer. “Despite Jennifer’s very narrow loss, DSA provided real material support to an anti-capitalist, anti-establishment candidate and helped shake up the political order a bit in Ramsey County. We showed up, did the work, and brought her this close to a huge upset. That’s worth celebrating“I think we did amazingly well, especially considering the short time frame.”

Twin Cities DSA has become an influential part of local politics, and Jennifer’s campaign serves as a seed of what we might be. Bringing forth the world we want will take both direct and political action. This season we are showing our communities that we all need less capitalism, and a lot more solidarity.

Lucas

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p style=”text-align: center;”>There is a nation wide prison strike and anti-ICE mobilization in progress that TCDSA is supporting. If you want to help out check out #antiicemobilization on our slack channels or look into other wasy to support the prison strike at the
Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee

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p style=”text-align: center;”>Twin Cities DSA 2018 Convention
Sunday, September 30 at 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM CDT
Macalester College
If you are interested in running for office or submitting an amendment the final day to do so is September 8th. More Details at TwinCitiesDSA.org

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