Progressive Champions

Our Revolution is working to get out the vote in South Carolina, where State Rep. Wendell Gilliard is running for State Senate in South Carolina (SC – 42) in a special election this Tuesday! 

Gilliard kicked off his campaign with an economic justice bus tour and led a rally for higher wages with Bernie Sanders in Charleston. He was a 2020 campaign co-chair for Bernie and state director in South Carolina, and like Bernie, he has been a powerful champion champion of working people for decades. 

US Rep. Ro Khanna has also joined us in campaigning for Wendell Gilliard who’s been a union leader, a Charleston City Councilor, and a fighter in the SC House for good-paying jobs, neighborhood safety, and criminal justice reform. 

“We need a voice not afraid to speak truth to power,” Wendell said. “They want this seat so they can keep power in Columbia and not in your hands. They want to control the money, jobs, and opportunities.” 

Bernie Sanders just endorsed progressive climate champion Aaron Regunberg for the September 5th special election in Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District. 

Aaron is running to succeed David Cicillini and hold R1-1 for progressives and the working class. Electing Aaron means protecting the largest progressive caucus in Congressional history. 

Jalen is a former public school teacher, who is dedicated to housing as a human right and green building to meet the city’s climate goals.

Election Day is May 6th in Texas! We have to make sure that folks who are willing to stand up don’t lose their bid for re-election for standing against powerful interests.

Our Revolution is endorsing Jalen McKee-Rodriguez for re-election to San Antonio City Council (D-2).

Jalen is a former public school teacher, who is dedicated to housing as a human right and green building to meet the city’s climate goals.

Election Day is May 6th in Texas! We have to make sure that folks who are willing to stand up don’t lose their bid for re-election for standing against powerful interests.

Early voting has started in Texas, and we’re excited to back community organizer and San Antonio Council Member Teri Castillo for re-election in District 5!

Teri helped pass a $17.50 minimum wage in the city and worked with the community to secure permanent affordable housing measures that passed by one vote on the council.

“We’re bringing more people into the process for solutions on housing, workers’ rights, development, and more,” she said on our National Organizing Call on Monday. 

Our Revolution Board Member and BLM South Bend Co-founder Jorden Giger is running for City Council in South Bend, Indiana!

Jorden’s community organizing work has helped secure millions in home repair for low-income communities, led the city’s first racial wealth divide study, and provided $400k in rental assistance

“For six years, we’ve been organizing in South Bend to hold our local government accountable to our low-income communities, raise wages, win housing, and rein in tax breaks to the wealthy and well-connected,” Jorden told us on our Live Call. 

“So we decided to run and now we’ve built this coalition of progressive champions endorsed by Our Revolution and putting forward a unifying agenda for the city,” he said.

“Our Revolution’s executive director, Joseph Geevarghese, said local progressive organizing, from mayor to school board, is more effective now than it has been in decades,” The Associated Press wrote. 

Thanks to our members and volunteers, our 400k voter contact operation helped propel Mayor Brandon Johnson to victory in Chicago and elect a progressive trifecta to lead St. Louis.

Local races are key to moving the progressive movement forward nationally, Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese told Billy Penn. “City and local governments are laboratories of policy experimentation,” he said.

Billy Penn highlighted our work to “turn out progressive super voters in Philadelphia,” where we’ll be mobilizing our 40k members and making 300k voter contacts over the next couple of weeks. 

“Our theory of change,” Joseph said, “is if we can get that slice of the electorate out, through multiple contacts, that can be a game changer.”

We’re also investing resources to elect a more progressive City Council to work with Helen, including Amanda McIllmurray — a working-class organizer who would be the first openly queer Council Member ever in the city.

In 2016, Amanda was working as a nanny, a law firm clerk, and a softball umpire when she got involved with the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign and later started organizing for local power.

“I’m running to win good jobs, affordable housing, worker’s rights, and universal family care,” Amanda said. As the daughter of union members, she knows “everyone deserves the chance to have just ONE job, a family-sustaining job.”

Last week, Our Revolution-backed Sara Innamorato beat back big money to become the next Allegheny County Executive – creating a progressive trifecta in Pittsburgh!

We backed Sara in her successful run for PA House back in 2018 alongside now-US Rep. Summer Lee, and now we’re proud to see her take the helm of the second-largest county in Pennsylvania!

As County Exec, she’ll have the power to directly affect people’s lives — from county-wide housing to addressing human rights violations in the county jail to protecting abortion care.

Jovanka Beckles has kicked off her run for California State Senate with the backing of Our Revolution East Bay and Richmond Progressives! She’s the strongest progressive in the race and would be the second black woman in the state’s 40-seat legislature. 

Jovanka got a rare local endorsement from Bernie Sanders in her run for Richmond City Council in 2014, when she was embattled with Chevron. She won her race and helped get $100M from the corporation to invest in the people of the city.

An activist, Jovanka is featured in the Smithsonian for her work with BLM and the Oakland Museum, which describes her as a ‘community member facing down goliath, who became a member of Richmond City Council as Chevron waged a multi-million dollar campaign against her, went on to raise the corporations’ taxes, lower crime by 33 percent and pass California’s first rent-control ordinance in 30 years.’ 

“Siblings, this is just to say that I have a track record of standing up and defending the community,” she told us on our live call.