Democratic Socialists of America won't endorse in race for L.A. mayor
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The Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America will not endorse a candidate for mayor.After City Councilmember Nithya Raman decided at the last minute to run against her former ally Mayor Karen Bass, the group called a vote on whether to reopen the endorsement process, which it had closed without supporting a candidate.DSA-LA backed Raman’s two successful city council runs, but she has been at odds with the group on some issues.Also in the mix was another mayoral candidate, community organizer Rae Huang, whose positions align more closely with those of the group.
The two candidates were present for Saturday’s vote at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Koreatown, though neither spoke.The left-wing organization, which has about 5,000 members, is known for running strong ground game campaigns that include canvassing, door-knocking and phone banking.
In addition to Raman, three other DSA-backed politicians now sit on the 15-member City Council.California Some members believe that a mayoral endorsement would take valuable phone-banking and door-knocking resources away from the slate of six local candidates they have already endorsed.Before the vote, DSA-LA members argued for and against reopening the endorsement process.
“The worst thing we can do right now for our movement is to say, ‘Well, actually, we’re not going to endorse Rae or Nithya.We’re going to do a third thing, which is to issue no endorsement.’ Who is the audience for this message?” said Leslie Chang, a co-chair of DSA-LA.DSA-LA member Anna Gross argued that neither candidate was ideal, with Huang, who has little political experience, being a long shot and Raman hesitating to fully embrace the group.“I do want a democratic socialist mayor, but as it stands, we have one candidate who is not going to win ...
and a candidate who will not openly identify as a democratic socialist,” Gross ...