February: The Revolution Report
2020 is a must-win moment for our movement. That’s why we’re holding Organize to Win 2020 Summits all across the nation.
We are mounting a massive mobilization to move Our Revolution’s nearly 1 million supporters to become active in local Our Revolution organizing groups, in their own communities.
To date, Our Revolution local groups have organized 23 Organize to Win 2020 kickoff events, with more than 200 local grassroots groups in 15 states — including Iowa, Texas, California, Florida, Ohio, and Michigan.
Together, we’re building a grassroots network of progressive, political powerhouses working to democratize local and state Democratic parties; advance our top policy priorities — like Medicare for All & the Green New Deal — and elect Bernie, together with a bench of progressive champions, that will represent US at every level of government.
Read on for updates from the political revolution. When we organize — we WIN!
TEXAS 2020
The Texas Organize to Win 2020 Summit in Houston drew hundreds of progressive activists from around the state. It was led by Our Revolution Texas and other local groups, representing over 40,000 progressive supporters.
“We have a long history of progressive power here in the Lone Star state,” said Our Revolution Texas founding organizer Jim Hightower. Recent successes include: convening a Texas House hearing on the single-payer Healthy Texas Act (HB 4127); building a Green New Deal for Texas Act, and successfully helping to elect more than half of Our Revolution’s 60-plus locally-endorsed candidates in 2018.
Special guests at the summit included Joca Marquez of the San Marcos, TX City Council and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee [TX-18]. Lee, the vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told the crowd: “Now is your time. We’re gonna march for the people, for the powerless, for the passionate. There are chains in America that have to be broken.”
Our Revolution HQ also announced 2020 endorsements for Texas races — including Mike Siegel [TX-CD 10] and Scott Feuless [Brazoria Cty Drainage Commissioner].
CALIFORNIA 2020
District Attorney Chesa Boudin, endorsed by Our Revolution in September 2019, was in the house for the California Organize to Win 2020 Summit with the San Francisco Berniecrats, the local Our Revolution affiliate. “When we build movements based on principles, based on people power, based on uplifting those who’ve been excluded for generations, that’s when we win,” Boudin told the crowd. “People said I was unelectable — and we proved them wrong!”
State Senate candidate Jackie Fielder, who received a national Our Revolution endorsement for her upcoming race, also spoke about wealth inequality: “California has 157 billionaires and the fifth largest economy in the world. Yet many of us in this city are trying to hold on for dear life.”
The group recapped their successes in collaboration with allied local groups over the past year. Every endorsed candidate won their election, including Boudin and Dean Preston — the first democratic socialist on the SF Board of Supervisors since 1992. Progressives are now a supermajority on the Board of Supervisors and a clear majority on the Board of Education!
FLORIDA 2020
Leaders from Our Revolution Florida brought together groups from Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, Sarasota, Tampa, Brevard County, Progressive Democrats of America — and even Our Revolution Puerto Rico — for our Florida Organize to Win 2020 Summit in Orlando. With more than 30,000 Our Revolution supporters in Florida, our members have been busy educating the progressive base.
“Florida is ready to build our political revolution,” said Kriston Hoffman, a leader with Our Revolution Florida. “We’re fighting for returning citizens’ voting rights, educating voters about our closed primary, and registering new voters every week. We’re standing with refugees at immigrant concentration camps, rallying for impeachment, and protesting for climate justice. Multiple cities have passed resolutions in support of the Medicare for All Act of 2019 — and we’re just getting started!”
WASHINGTON STATE 2020
After a successful lobby day in Olympia, Our Revolution Washington Berniecrats and other local groups — representing over 32,000 supporters from across the Evergreen State — continued mobilizing for progressive values at our Washington Organize to Win 2020 Summit in Olympia. Among other efforts, Our Revolution supporters have been flexing their political power at the ballot box. Our Revolution HQ endorsed several local candidates for Congress and the state house — including Chris Armitage [WA-5] and Marianna Hopkins-Everson [State Rep — District 19] . Speaking at the Summit about the power of the one percent, Armitage said: “The right people are worried about this movement — and we have the right anti-establishment endorsements.” Hopkins-Everson, founder of Our Revolution Coastal Washington in the red county of Grays Harbor, and a candidate for state representative in legislative district 19, said: “Everyone deserves to not just survive this life, but to thrive with good health and security.”
IOWA 2020
In the run-up to the Iowa caucuses (which Bernie won!), Our Revolution Iowa & Labor for Bernie members held a series of Good Jobs For All Town Halls across Iowa with laid-off workers from Siemens, John Deere, and other companies. During a 2016 campaign stop in Iowa, Trump promised to be “the greatest job producer God ever created.” Instead, under his watch, U.S. companies are continuing to offshore jobs. Bob Morrison, an Our Revolution leader and laid-off machinist, said: “Donald Trump promised to be a ‘worker champion.’ Instead, he rewards companies who send jobs overseas with billions in federal contracts. Bernie won Iowa because he’s the real ‘worker champion in the race!”
NEW JERSEY 2020
Our Revolution Monmouth County convened a public meeting to hold U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone’s feet to the fire for taking money from the fossil fuel industry while announcing a climate plan. “You can’t be serious about the climate crisis and take polluters’ dirty money,” said local organizer Anna-Marta Visky. They called out the congressman for ignoring his constituents who want a Green New Deal, for taking healthcare industry money, and not endorsing Medicare for All.
In addition, Our Revolution New Jersey and New Jersey for Bernie Sanders 2020 sent several busloads of members to canvas New Hampshire!
OREGON 2020
More than 200 people attended the Oregon Organize to Win 2020 Summit in Salem. The event was led by the newly-formed Our Revolution Oregon, which includes Our Revolution PDX, Independents for Progressive Action, Salem for Bernie, Our Revolution LBCC (Students For Bernie), Our Revolution Corvallis Allies and other local groups representing over 20,000 statewide progressives. Congressional candidate Mark Gamba [OR–5] was one of Our Revolution’s nationally-endorsed candidates who spoke at the summit. Gamba, mayor of Milwaukie, OR, said he’s running because “we need more people in Congress to prioritize housing, education, and healthcare as a human right.”
INDIANA 2020
Our Revolution South Bend & Michiana is partnering with Black Lives Matter to hold Mayor Pete and establishment politicians accountable for gentrifying South Bend and failing to address police abuse. At the Indiana Organize to Win 2020 Summit in South Bend, local organizer Jorden Giger said: “South Bend is Pete Buttigieg’s hometown, and we’re here to put Mayor Pete and the entire political establishment on notice.” They also partnered with Sunrise Movement to host an event to launch “The Decade of the Green New Deal,” which featured documentaries on the climate movement, a discussion of what’s at stake, and a plan to win in 2020 and beyond.
MASSACHUSETTS 2020
Our Revolution Massachusetts — a coalition of 17 local groups representing 30,000 supporters in the state — celebrated the election of a bench of progressive local candidates at the Massachusetts Organize to Win 2020 Summit outside Boston. “When we first came together to create ORMA, we put in place a structure that would ensure we were a bottom-up organization,” said Nichole Mossalam, one of the group’s first co-chairs. “As a result, we’ve won some major victories: Our Revolution Medford endorsed a slate of seven candidates, and five won; Our Revolution Malden also endorsed a slate of seven candidates, and four won; and Our Revolution Somerville had big wins on its city council and school committee.”
ILLINOIS 2020
At the Illinois Organize to Win 2020 Summit in Chicago, dozens of local groups — including Will County Progressives, Progressives of Kane County, Our Revolution Chicago, and Our Revolution Lake County — came together to launch Our Illinois Revolution, a statewide network representing over 30,000 progressive voters.
A group of progressive candidates were endorsed by ORHQ, including Marie Newman, running for U.S. Rep in IL-03 — one of the most anticipated Democratic primaries of 2020. At the summit, Newman said: “The premise of our campaign, and the question we ask everybody is, ‘Is your life affordable today?’ And the answer is resoundingly, NO!” Meanwhile, Rachel Ventura, also a nationally-endorsed candidate, presented her vision for Illinois’s 11th congressional district, including tuition-free public education and green, living-wage jobs.
After the summit, Our Revolution WIll County members staged a “die-in” at the Joliet district office of Congressman Bill Foster, who is facing a primary challenge from Ventura, to demand a meeting about Medicare for All and other progressive priorities, and recorded it on Facebook live. They ultimately succeeded in scheduling a meeting with Foster.
MICHIGAN 2020
Our Revolution Michigan joined with other local groups at the Michigan Organize to Win 2020 Summit in Livonia, where they spoke about their work on issues such as the Fight for $15 and Medicare For All, and the effort to oppose a dangerous pipeline. In this critical battleground state, former UAW President Bob King told the gathering: “We have to raise expectations. We have to show that change is possible by building a broad-based movement from the bottom up. And, we have to recommit ourselves to rebuilding the labor movement.”
In addition, results of a survey of 399 Our Revolution members in metro Detroit were released, which showed that Medicare for All is the issue that’s overwhelmingly most important to them, followed by the Green New Deal.
OHIO 2020
On the campus of Ohio State University, National Field Director Mike Oles joined Our Revolution Ohio — representing 20,000 progressive Ohio voters — for its first-ever statewide meeting.
Building on successful efforts to elect progressives across Ohio — from Lakewood to Toledo to the state legislature — Our Revolution Ohio endorsed another round of progressive candidates, including Morgan Harper who’s running for Congress to represent Ohio’s 3rd District. Josie Moore, a volunteer with Ohio for Bernie, summed up the event: “What we’re seeing is a coalition of activists coming together to change the way our government works so that it’s actually serving the people, not the billionaires and mega-corporations. We have a lot to do — from addressing climate change to reaffirming the American Dream for all — but we’re excited to come together and get to work!”
VIRGINIA, MARYLAND & D.C. 2020
A coalition of 12 Our Revolution groups from Maryland, Virgina, and Washington, D.C. joined together for our Organize to Win 2020 National Kickoff, where speakers included Our Revolution’s Board Chair Larry Cohen, Executive Director Joseph Geevarghese and elected officials, including Montgomery County (MD) Executive Marc Elrich, Virginia Delegate Lee Carter and Prince William County (VA) Supervisor Kevin Boddye. Carter, a fiery speaker, told the crowd: “We aren’t fighting for incremental reforms, we’re fighting for a revolution!”
And, in an exciting development for Maryland progressives, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan appointed Sheila Ruth, co-chair of Our Revolution Baltimore, to the House of Delegates in Annapolis. Ruth, a longtime progressive and community activist in Baltimore County, will fill the House of Delegates seat in District 44B.
TENNESSEE 2020
Our Revolution Tennessee organized their Organize To Win 2020 Summit in the Music City with members from Nashville, Knoxville, Clarksville, and other cities from across the state. The powerful event featured three Nashville city council members who were nationally endorsed by Our Revolution: Zulfat Suara, Emily Benedict, and Delishia Porterfield. Suara, the first Muslim immigrant elected in Tennesesse, told the crowd: “I stand here as a beacon of hope, as a symbol of what we can do when the people organize!”
HARVEST THE VOTE
Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party and Our Revolution national board member, has authored a new book: Harvest the Vote: How Democrats Can Win Again in Rural America. She makes the case that the Democratic Party has lost an entire generation of rural voters by focusing on urban and coastal voters, and that there is more common ground and shared values between the two groups — on climate change, for example — than it may seem.
Buy the book here!
FOR LIVE UPDATES, LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!
