News from the Frontlines of the Political Revolution!
Join us for Our National Organize to Win Call this Monday at 8.30p ET!
Ahead of Labor Day, we’ll get the latest on the PRO Act and the budget bill from US Rep. Andy Levin; we’ll hear from Laborer’s Union organizer Taft Mangas and Rideshare Workers about modern day union-busting schemes; and we’ll get an update on Revolution Recess from Our Revolution South Carolina leader & National Board member Lucero Mesa!
Don’t Miss Monday … RSVP HERE! And, if you have any questions for our guests, you can submit them here!
5 YEARS IN THE FIGHT: CLAIM YOUR LIMITED EDITION BERNIE POSTER!
5 years ago this month, Bernie started Our Revolution to be a transformative force in American politics. Since then we’ve grown into the largest entirely grassroots funded progressive political action organization in America.
This week, our grassroots organizing was key to moving Bernie’s budget bill through the House (Read more below!).
But the fight is far from over – that’s why we need the resources to take on corporate-funded Democrats who are trying to stop our momentum.
CORPORATISTS CAVE!
Action gets results! This week, US Rep. Josh Gottheimer and his gang of corporate Democrats caved to progressive pressure, voting to advance Bernie’s $3.5 trillion budget bill!
Over 100 Our Revolution New Jersey activists rallied outside of Gottheimer’s district office after his group threatened to hold Bernie’s bill – which expands Medicare, cracks down on union-busters, and ends fossil fuels subsidies – hostage by demanding an immediate vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Gottheimer’s gang buckled and agreed to advance the measure after Speaker Nancy Pelosi pledged to bring the infrastructure package to a floor vote by Sept. 27th.
Our Revolution is insisting the budget bill gets a vote first to ensure it gets the full support from Democrats in Congress.
While we jumped the first hurdle, we know corporate Democrats are going to go all out to strip out our progressive priorities from the final legislation.
“You will see the progressive wing squaring off against the corporatist wing of the Democratic Party in a full-on face off over the next 30 plus days,” Joseph Geevarghese, Our Revolution’s executive director, told Newsweek. Joseph declared the “fight is going to continue” to make sure parts of Bernie’s budget bill aren’t “watered down.”
That’s why we’re holding “Revolution Recess” actions to demand that every Democrat support key progressive priorities – like improving worker protections, ending fossil fuel subsidies, and expanding Medicare – in the final bill.
This week, Our Revolution Massachusetts members rallied outside the offices of US Rep. Richard Neal, the Massachusetts Democrat who is the chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee – to demand he stop governmental support for fossil fuel extraction; Our Revolution Virginia members visited the Richmond offices of Senator Mark Warner to call on him to support the PRO Act, and Our Revolution South Carolina members confronted US Rep. Jim Clyburn on Medicare expansion and climate justice …
Our Revolution national board member Lucero Mesa and leaders from The Poor People’s Campaign engaged in a 10-minute debate with Clyburn – the House’s top vote counter – after he came out to complain about “this foolishness.”
Sorry, Jim, we don’t think fighting for Medicare for All and an end to fossil fuel subsidies is foolishness. Clyburn also declared himself to be “more progressive than anyone in this room.” Yep. Right.
DEMS ON NOTICE! Over the next 30 days, Our Revolution members are going to continue to push Clyburn and the rest of the Democratic leadership to support our priorities.
If you want to take action, join us for our National “Revolution Recess” Phonebank on Tuesday to make sure key House leaders support the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package with Medicare Expansion, an End to Fossil Fuel Subsidies, and PRO Act Labor Protections.
Our Revolution is currently campaigning in support of Medicare expansion, but the goal is always to pass Medicare for All.
This week, Our Revolution New Jersey’s Anna Marta Visky joined Bernie Sanders and hundreds of Medicare for All advocates on a national strategy call to get ready for action.
On the call, Bernie gave an important update on the current fight to improve and expand Medicare and how it ties into our larger fight for Medicare for All, while Anna Marta laid out the plan to get US Rep. Albo Sires and additional co-sponsors on board.
In the coming months, it’s very possible that HR 1976, the Medicare for All Act of 2021, will have committee hearings in the House. When these hearings happen, it will be a huge opportunity for our movement to mobilize for MFA!
Local groups are the foundation for change. Since Bernie founded Our Revolution 5 years ago, we’ve organized a national network of over 30 statewide groups – made up of hundreds of city and county affiliates – who are willing to take on the establishment to improve the lives of everyday Americans — from police reform and worker’s rights to affordable housing and action on climate change.
Meet some of our organizers below!
OHIO’S GETTING ORGANIZED
Diane Morgan – urban farmer and reluctant dentist who’s fighting for Medicare for All – was one of the first Ohioans inspired by Bernie’s 2016 presidential run to sign on to create a new progressive movement. Five years later, Our Revolution Ohio now has more than a dozen state chapters, 500 volunteers, and several big wins under its belt.
Ohio organizers helped elect progressives like Charmaine McGuffey as Sheriff of Hamilton County, the third most populous in the state, and Gary Tyack as lead prosecutor for Franklin County, the state’s biggest. Supporting candidates like McGuffey and Tyack can advance priorities like bail reform and better policing.
Ohio Our Revolution also worked to give citizens a bigger voice in Cleveland City Council meetings and is fighting for a ballot initiative to ensure citizens maintain oversight of the city’s troubled police department.
“We’re building a powerful activist coalition in Ohio,” Diane told Our Revolution members on Monday’s call.
MOMENTUM IN MASS!
Harriotte Ranvig and Our Revolution Somerville didn’t waste time getting going and doing good in Massachusetts. In 2017, the group endorsed a progressive slate for City Council and elected several of their candidates, including the Council’s first Black member, Will Mbah, who is now running for mayor.
Our Revolution-endorsed officials are actively reshaping Somerville’s government to better represent workers and an increasingly diverse community. They passed one of the country’s few ordinances outlawing wage theft and raised the salaries of teaching assistants in the community, often women of color, by 20%.
“We’ve worked long and hard,” Ranvig said. And they continue to do so in support of progressive causes and candidates.
BUILDING A MOVEMENT IN MARYLAND
As an organizer, Carlos Childs has helped Our Revolution Maryland (ORMD) grow to eight active chapters around the state made up of powerful volunteers who are active in state and local politics: ORMD Treasurer Jimmy Tarlau sits on the Mount Rainier City Council; State Delegate Sheila Ruth who is OR Baltimore’s Co-Chair; and ORMD member Marc Elrich is Montgomery County Executive. All three are great progressives working to make life better for their constituents.
ORMD is turning its political power into real policy. Our members helped pass a statewide ban on fracking and raise the minimum wage in Montgomery County, Maryland’s largest county, to $15 an hour. We have also built grassroots support for Medicare for All through local resolutions and are fighting to end punitive bail and pass an expansive clean energy bill.
Get your Bernie limited edition poster today, and help us build a bottom-up movement for change!
PROGRESSIVE POWER AT THE POLLS!
Change happens from the bottom up, which is why we don’t take any election for granted. Over the last 5 years, Our Revolution has helped elect more than 700 progressive champions up and down the ballot: from school boards to city councils to the US Congress!
Read about our latest endorsements below!
MBAH FOR MAYOR
Our Revolution is proud to support Will Mbah for mayor of Somerville, Massachusetts. Mbah grew up in Cameroon, earned an environmental science advanced degree in Sweden, and immigrated to the U.S. in 2011 after winning the visa entrance lottery.
During our latest Monday Night Organize to Win National Call, he called coming to the U.S. “one of the most profound things to ever happen to me.” With an immigrant’s sense of gratitude, Mbah is now determined to do what he can to improve the lives of his fellow citizens in his adopted hometown.
As Somerville’s first Black City Council member, Mbah led the fight to increase teacher assistant’s pay by 20%. He’s also pushing for more affordable housing, an issue that has particular resonance with him. Mbah worked as a custodian to pay rent after moving to the U.S. Struggling financially, he was forced to move five times in six years. It left an impression he’ll carry to the mayor’s office.
“Our most marginalized do not have a seat at the table,” said Mbah, who now works as an environmental analyst for the state. “I’m running to ensure my story remains possible in our community.”
GIVING VOTERS A VOICE
Cleveland Heights, Ohio, hasn’t had a mayor in 100 years. Kahlil Seren may be worth the wait.
“I’d like to open up our government to the people that we serve … and this election can help me do that,” Seren, who now serves as vice president of the town’s City Council, said during our Monday Night Organize to Win National Call.
Cleveland Heights, which has more than 40,000 residents, has been led by an unelected city manager since reformers a century ago adopted what they saw as a more professional form of government in response to widespread corruption.
But what may have been a good fit at the time of the Teapot Dome scandal doesn’t fit so well in ours. That was never more clear, Seren says than when the city considered turning over its water system to a private company.
Grassroots organizers helped fight off that proposal. As mayor, Seren has pledged to continue to work toward greater environmental, social, and racial justice. Seren said Our Revolution has been crucial to changing the political dynamics of his state.
“This is working. This inside-outside strategy where our activists, our politicians, our public servants are working together. Sometimes there’s friction. Sometimes there’s collaboration. But there is always pushing us forward.”
Khalil will be joining Our Revolution Ohio Candidate’s Town Hall along with our other endorsed candidates. If you’re an Ohio activist, RSVP HERE!
JUMP IN
Rob Savidge was the type of employee Maryland politicians who serve corporate interests instead of citizens don’t always appreciate. He blew the whistle when developers in Annapolis were clearing protected forests in violation of state law.
Motivated to prevent that type of abuse from happening again and by a desire to protect the state’s treasured Chesapeake Bay, Savidge jumped into politics by running and winning a seat on the Annapolis City Council.
“It’s absolutely doable for people,” Savidge said during our Monday Night Organize to Win National Call. He sees local activism on climate change, economic reform, social justice as necessary to set the stage for sweeping changes.
“These initiatives grow into larger movements that can keep spreading and growing,” he said.
WHEN WE ORGANIZE, WE WIN!
Over the past 5 years, Our Revolution has built an unstoppable grassroots political campaign operation, boosting our win rate to over 70% during the 2020 and 2021 election cycles.
Here’s the breakdown:
BIG WIN IN THE SUNSHINE STATE!
Our Revolution-endorsed candidates keep piling up electoral victories. This week, Richie Floyd won his primary for the St. Petersburg, Florida, City Council.
Floyd, who is a local teacher, has pledged to “build a city that works for everyone” through progressive reforms like expanding public housing and acting to mitigate the risks of climate change.
Floyd won the primary with 51% of the vote. The top two vote-getters face off in a general election in November for the seat. Floyd’s opponent is former city councilman Jeff Danner, who garnered 27% of the vote.
MANAGING MARYLAND’S MONEY
Our Revolution Maryland hosted two candidates for Maryland Comptroller on Maryland’s Monthly Organize to Win Call on Wednesday. The comptroller is one of only three independently elected statewide offices in Maryland. Their chief responsibility is collecting around $16 billion in local and state taxes each year to pay for things like school construction and transportation initiatives. They also regulate the state pension system and play a key role in awarding state contracts.
Civil rights attorney and Maryland General Assembly Delegate Brooke Lierman said she’ll work to build an economy that “works for everyone.” She noted that this race marks the first time since 1998 that the comptroller race was open with no incumbent running for reelection.
“This is a once in a generation opportunity for us to reimagine how we can use the resources of the comptroller’s office to do right for Marylanders, to make sure we’re confronting climate change, to make sure we’re tackling the racial wealth divide and doing the big things to help working people,” Lierman said.
Tim Adams, who in 2019 became the first Black mayor of Bowie, Maryland, after building a successful security company based in Upper Marlboro, said he’d work to ensure large companies in the state paid their fair share of taxes. “I want financial accountability, where we can have a state that’s financially stable,” he said.
Get your Bernie limited edition poster today, and help us ELECT MORE PROGRESSIVE CHAMPIONS!
When Congress goes back to work after Labor Day, they will be voting on a $3.5T national budget that Bernie Sanders says is “the most transformative piece of legislation” since the New Deal.
That’s why we’re holding Revolution Recess – we’re holding phone banks and on-the-ground rallies to hold Democrats accountable to getting Bernie’s bill over the finish line!
GET INVOLVED BELOW!
On Tuesday, you can call top Democrats and tell them to expand Medicare, protect worker rights and end fossil fuel subsidies!
Join Our Revolution Pennsylvania in Scranton, PA as we call on US Sen. Bob Casey to stand with his constituents on the budget bill!
Join Our Revolution West Virginia as we rally in Morgantown to call on Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito to stand up for working families!
Join Our Revolution Texas as we rally to call on Rep. Henry Cuellar to get with the progressive program!
Join Our Revolution Maryland as we rally at Rep. Steny Hoyer’s Greenbelt office to demand he stand up and fight for our priorities!
Last chance – Get your limited edition BERNIE poster!
ELECT MORE PROGRESSIVE CHAMPIONS!
