How the left won Richmond: The Richmond Progressive Alliance and Left Electoral Strategy—Podcast

Solidarity Radio

In the last five years we have seen a significant increase in socialists elected to office, and this has inspired many more candidates to run. But these opportunities also raise a number of questions about electoral strategy.

How do we develop candidates? How do we support them and keep them accountable once in office? How do we combine the power of elected office with organizing beyond the ballot box to achieve meaningful change?

On May 16th we spoke with members from the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) in Richmond, CA, and in our discussion we explored how their model addresses these questions. RPA, for the past 15+ years, has won the mayorship and a majority of the city council of Richmond and have been able to achieve significant victories such as rent control and forcing Chevron to reduce pollution and pay higher taxes.

Former state representative candidate and Incorruptible Mass co-founder Anna Callahan talked to Sue Wilson and Steve Early – two RPA leaders – about the organizing model RPA has developed and the lessons of their success for our electoral efforts in Massachusetts.

Background article: https://socialistcall.com/news/how-the-richmond-progressive-alliance-organized-for-victory/

Richmond Progressive Alliance https://www.richmondprogressivealliance.net/