March, 13 2019, 12:00am EDT
Democratic Socialists of America Members Express Overwhelming Support for a Bernie Sanders Endorsement
WASHINGTON
Members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have voted overwhelmingly in an advisory poll to endorse Bernie Sanders for president in 2020, a crucial step in the endorsement process for the 56,000 member organization.
The final results of the advisory poll, issued to members by DSA's National Political Committee (NPC) on March 5th, were 76% Yes and 24% No. The poll received responses from 13,324 DSA members, representing 24% of eligible membership. According to the DSA's National Electoral Committee, this is the greatest number of members to participate in a democratic decision in the history of DSA.
Since Bernie Sanders announced his 2020 campaign for president, the Democratic Socialists of America have undertaken a democratic process to determine whether or not to support Sanders. Before DSA can endorse Sanders, the NPC must vote. The NPC will be meeting the evening of Thursday, March 21st to consider the membership poll and vote on endorsement. The results of this meeting will be sent to membership via email promptly afterward.
DSA grew into the largest democratic socialist organization in the United States, with over 250 groups across all fifty states. After Bernie Sanders' 2016 campaign, Trump's 2016 victory, and the election of younger democratic socialist leaders to Congress like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez the question of whether or not to endorse Bernie Sanders's 2020 presidential campaign is a pressing one for democratic socialists. Capitalists control our lives and our society, impoverish our schools, and poison our climate. That is why DSA is committed to building a multiracial working-class movement that can take on billionaires and corporations, and transform our society into one that puts people over profit.
"DSA's primary task today is to help build a movement of millions of workers and the oppressed to fight against the billionaire class and win" said NPC member Jeremy Gong. "When considering the endorsement of Bernie Sanders, we have to think about how a Sanders campaign and a Sanders presidency will be an opening for the growth of this movement from below. We know that it will take a mass movement of working people to transform our society."
You can learn more about DSA's 2020 presidential endorsement process here.
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has over 55,000 members and 200 local groups (as of November 2018) building working class power while establishing an openly democratic socialist presence in American communities and politics.
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