Every year is an Election year. Every vote matters because there is no United States of America without free and fair democratic elections. This foundation remains the bedrock of our government, enshrined in The Constitution, despite the violent efforts of the current administration’s illicit actions to reduce it to a dictatorial oligarchy.
Electoral politics is the process by which citizens elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf. It is a crucial aspect of democratic governance. By grounding our electoral work in the needs of people DSA Ventura County fights to ensure that politics serves the many, not the few.
Recently, across the county we’ve seen elections flip districts, overhaul city councils, oust mayors, and usher in reform at an unprecedented level prioritizing the core pillars of democratic socialism. The old parties may be dying, but the machine lives on. Electoral politics, indifferent to the dying of the light, continues to bring about material change for all in the form of a new, equitable future.
Putting Electoral Politics into Action
Working Groups are committees made of DSA chapter members that form around central topics, efforts, or objectives. The mission of the DSA-VC Electoral Working Group is to build working class county, state, and Federal power through local socialist electoral efforts in order to win socialism.
The Electoral Working Group is Ventura DSA’s vehicle for engaging in local politics with a clear socialist perspective. We understand that working people can also use the ballot box as one tool to advance justice and build class consciousness.
Within the Electoral Working Group are responsibilities and strategies that ladder up to goals. First, it evaluates candidates seeking public office in Ventura County, making recommendations to the chapter for possible endorsements. Every candidate is carefully assessed on their record, values, and willingness to stand with working-class communities, with the understanding that elected officials must be accountable to the movement, not the other way around.
Second, the group reviews and analyzes ballot measures and propositions, studying their potential impacts and making recommendations for support or opposition. A central output of this work is Ventura DSA’s Voters’ Guide, which helps neighbors cut through political spin and understand how each measure affects working people, immigrants, and marginalized communities. Developing a Voter’s Guide is a massive undertaking, so we encourage any members-in-good standing who are interested in this work to join.
Beyond, the Electoral Working Group sees elections as an opportunity to grow organizing power. Campaigns bring members into neighborhoods, onto phones, and into direct conversations with Ventura residents about the county we want to live in. Whether canvassing for a candidate, writing about a ballot measure, or creating voter guides, the group builds skills, relationships, and capacity that strengthen every part of the chapter.
Democratic Socialism Electoral Work in Action
A landmark moment in electoral democratic socialism in action was Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont’s 2016 presidential campaign. While not an active member of DSA, Sanders (a registered independent), has described himself as a democratic socialist for decades, and championed DSA ideology in his campaign; from universal basic income, to Medicare for all and higher education reform. Sanders received DSA National endorsement, and with it hundreds of DSA members coordinating campaigning efforts across the county. This work resulted in Sen. Bernie Sanders receiving national media coverage, becoming a household name, and securing nine national Democratic party debates opposite Hilary Clinton.
Recent years have seen the elections of DSA members including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. Both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez — as well as the NYC-DSA — endorsed NYC Mayor elected Zohran Mamdani before the primary in June 2025.
The Future
Momentum is building around Democratic Socialism because its tenants prioritize people, welfare, and progress by means of fair, democratic elections. To date DSA achieved its highest-ever membership in September and broke 80,000 members in October. With Democratic Socialists elected to various offices throughout the country, change is more than possible – it’s happening right now.
Join today, change tomorrow.