Member Statements on EER02: Endorsement of Oye Owolewa for DC At-Large Councilmember
Per Section 4 of our bylaws, “The Political Engagement Committee shall be permitted to issue a recommendation and rationale as a body, to be delivered by its chair or their designee, before or during debates on all electoral endorsements and will be allotted additional speaking time if requested to deliver findings from their engagement with the candidate or ballot initiative campaign. This recommendation and rationale will be included along with endorsement ballots sent to members.”
The Political Engagement Committee has issued a recommendation AGAINST endorsing Oye Owolewa. The PEC’s full recommendation and analysis can be found here.
In the last Democratic Primary for this At-Large seat on the District Council, Council member Anita Bonds won with 42,421 votes (35.85%). After much speculation about (and increasingly open calls for) Councilmember Bonds’ retirement, she recently announced that she is retiring. Even before it officially became an open race, there was an evolving field of candidates that so far includes democratic socialist Councilmember Janeese Lewis George’s former chief of staff, Candace Tiana Nelson, and Leniqua’dominique Jenkins, who has also sought the chapter’s endorsement.
Oye himself was previously elected District-wide to serve as Shadow Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, garnering 74,101 votes (95.79%) in the 2020 primary election and 240,533 (81.6%) in the general election, respectively, as well as reelection in 2024, receiving 46,582 (57.66%) against a challenger in the primary and then increasing his vote share in the general election to 267,661 votes (90.75%). Before that, Oye had also been elected to the D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) for Ward 8, District 8E in 2018. The PEC believes Oye’s estimated win number of 54,000 votes is a reasonable assessment. In 2022, the chapter knocked approximately 40,000 doors for Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker in a four-way race that he won decisively (7,761 votes, or 43.5%). Even assuming a consistently high contact rate of 20% and a high share of those doors winning over voters that otherwise would have voted for one of the other three candidates or stayed home, we could only claim credit for perhaps 2,000 votes. Even if we were to double that as a chapter, we would remain well under 10% of Oye’s win number.
It is also still unclear whether the DC Council will delay the implementation of ranked choice voting in the District, as well as what implementation will look like for the At-Large seats on the council, which could have a significant impact on the competitiveness of the race. As of the November filing, Oye’s fundraising numbers are not as strong as they would need to be to run a District-wide race, less than even some ward-level candidates. Additionally, Councilmember Lewis George recently announced her own run for mayor, and given the chapter’s previous overwhelming support for her in two previous campaigns and the chapter’s impending consideration of her endorsement in that race, these dynamics combined with the crowded at-large field could pose considerable complications for the cohesion of a prospective slate and make the potential for cross-endorsement more challenging. We have yet to run a multi-candidate slate in DC, and there are notable costs and logistical considerations in terms of both campaign compliance requirements and canvassing operations that become more burdensome and complex if the chapter were to endorse as many as three candidates. Pending who ultimately decides to run and the results of this election cycle, it is also likely that there will be additional special elections to fill vacancies in At-Large council seats at a time when fewer of the chapter’s electoral organizers in DC are involved in other campaigns and we could make a more significant contribution.
The PEC acknowledges the overall strength of Oye’s questionnaire and Q&A responses and that he has been a member for several years. But it also has serious concerns about his rhetoric, such as his statement that Muriel Bowser is an "unparalleled champion of [DC] Home Rule,” a position directly contradicting that of MDC DSA. The PEC also respects his candor in noting that he previously accepted the endorsement of the erstwhile charter school lobbying group Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) and that his views do not align with DFER. Although the PEC does not believe it is wise for us to endorse in this race and does not have a history of deep collaboration with Oye while he’s held other offices, it appears likely that other progressive organizations and unions will endorse him and the PEC would welcome both his more progressive vote and the opportunity to support a fellow chapter member on shared priorities if he is elected.
Per section 6.5 of our bylaws, “recognized caucuses shall have the right to publish statements and proposals in public forums for the local, subject to the moderation of that forum.” Metro DC DSA’s Groundwork Caucus has submitted a recommendation AGAINST endorsing Oye Owolewa. The caucus’ full writeup and analysis can be found here.
There are some good reasons to endorse in this race. First, Aparna on the Council and Janeese in the Mayor’s office will need more support. Second, Oye has been a member of the chapter for five years and has won districtwide before. Last, this is an open seat, and the race is winnable with a strong candidate. However, a few things give us pause, and we do not believe Oye meets our criteria for endorsement.
In our view, Oye does not meet the standard for cadre candidate despite his long-time membership. He has not been a participant in DSA’s political life over the last five years, and questionnaires from previous races bring into question his alignment with the chapter on some core issues, like policing. He has also been tepid in his commitment to joining our Socialists in Office Committee and co-governing with the chapter. He will need to be organized consistently in office, and there is a great risk that he will take positions contrary to the organization in a way that causes public damage to the organization.
We also do not believe he quite fits the criteria for a class-struggle candidate. We struggle to see his path to winning over labor and polarizing this election along class lines. His previous race for a seat with low visibility and large levels of undervoting showed serious weakness with working class voters, especially working class black voters. Finally, we think endorsing in this race is beyond our capacity, or at least our capacity if we want to seriously help Oye win this race districtwide. While some have suggested that we could fold in our work for Oye with work for Aparna or Janeese Lewis George, this is easier said than done. It will be very difficult for us to knock for three candidates at once, with three asks at each door, and impossible if all three candidates do not cross-endorse each other. This would be doable with an independent expenditure campaign, as we have done in Montgomery County, but our program is not set up to do this in DC, and doing so would harm organizing for Aparna and Janeese. We hope, and would advocate for, aligned groups that are able to make this sort of intervention, like the Working Families Party or the Metro Washington Labor Council, to spend on behalf of Oye and the rest as a slate. We believe there are more reasons not to endorse here than to endorse, and that endorsing Oye could harm our chances in other races.
AGAINST by Irene K
I am writing this statement in opposition to endorsing Oye Owolewa in his campaign for DC Council at large. As a DC voter, I’m excited to vote for him and sincerely hope he wins. However, I do not believe it makes sense for us as a chapter to endorse him, in what will be the most high-profile, critical year for our chapter’s electoral program, for the following reasons.
I do not disagree that our ability to advance many of our priorities and campaigns depends on shifting the balance of the DC Council. I understand that Oye would absolutely be an improvement over Anita Bonds and whoever Bonds endorses to replace her. However, endorsing someone because they will vote with the progressive bloc is, in my opinion, not a sufficient bar for a DSA endorsement—especially given our chapter’s growth and development in recent years. There are numerous members of the DC Council I would love to replace—starting with everyone who voted to repeal Initiative 82 and voted for the RENTAL Act—but contesting for every single open seat and crossing our fingers is not a strategy, especially when diluting our efforts across too many races risks losing all of them.
We saw a similar question come up very recently in NYC-DSA, as members considered whether or not to endorse Chi Ossé. I don’t think there’s a single member who doesn’t want Hakeem Jeffries out of Congress, but the chapter ultimately voted against endorsing him because they recognized their limited capacity, the extremely low probability of pulling off a win in a high-profile race, and the importance of prioritizing other critical races this cycle with cadre candidates (Diana Moreno, Aber Kawas, Eon Huntley, and Claire Valdez for Congress).
DSA’s endorsement matters because we’ve shown that when a candidate has full buy-in from this chapter, they can win—and that WE are the organization that makes the difference. Over the past few years, we have developed significant expertise and electoral leadership in DC and in the branches. However, we simply do not have a deep enough bench of experienced electoral organizers who are prepared to manage his campaign on the DSA side; I know this because literally every one of us in DC is already working on Aparna or Janeese’s campaigns. When I asked the sponsors of Oye’s endorsement resolution exactly who from the chapter is planning to manage his campaign and handle setting up and planning all of the canvass launches, member mobilization, social media and comms, and the other incredibly taxing, time-consuming work that’s involved in our endorsed races, I did not receive an answer. I consider this to be a huge red flag, and I do not think expecting Oye to piggy-back off DSA’s efforts in Janeese or Aparna’s races is an appropriate strategy for something as challenging as an at-large race.
To that point, I have significant concerns about winnability. We have not been successful in our previous attempts to contest in competitive at-large races as there are too many wards of the city where DSA has yet to build a base. While an inspiring candidate can certainly mobilize new volunteers in the thousands (as we saw with Zohran), I do not think that Oye is that candidate, based on his comms and public presence since launching his candidacy. We have no reason to expect this sort of volunteer labor to materialize for Oye, and we have to be clear-eyed about what experienced electoral organizers in this chapter have said we have the capacity to do.
I’ll also note that as of the most recent campaign finance report publicly available on OCF’s website (October 10 filing), Oye has raised less money than Aparna Raj from DC donors ($23,088 compared with $29,215), despite the fact that he is running citywide (i.e., the race is nearly 10 times as big as Ward 1) and the Fair Elections cap on donations to at-large candidates is twice that of ward-level candidates ($100 vs. $50). At-large races depend significantly more on money (for ads and mailers) than volunteer canvassing labor, which makes this first finance report especially concerning to me.
Our electoral program has grown and matured to the point where we can be choosy and prioritize candidates who are clearly in line with DSA’s values, explicitly campaign as democratic socialists, and make us an integral part of their campaign. We must prioritize cadre candidates and candidates who have a demonstrated track record of partnering with us to advance the democratic socialist project. Having seen how Oye has used his office and run his campaigns over the past several years, and his lack of partnership on our legislative and political campaigns despite being a member for years, I do not see that being the case. I’m additionally concerned by his remarks supporting a youth education initiative with the FBI and recent description of Bowser as an “unparalleled champion of Home Rule.”
There are clear consequences and stakes to overstretching ourselves and losing. Whether we like it or not, the June primary is going to be seen as a referendum on DSA and our power in the region. If we have a high-profile loss, our opponents have no reason to take us seriously, and our coalition partners have no reason to let us lead in future campaigns. Endorsements are zero sum. We have a limited amount of volunteers and time and money. Let’s use our power to support the numerous cadre and class-struggle candidates who have asked for our endorsement this cycle who have a clear path to victory. I encourage members to vote NO on this endorsement.
AGAINST by Carl R
Comrades, I urge you to vote AGAINST the endorsement of Oye Owolewa.
While I am excited to vote for Oye in his primary race, I do not believe the chapter should vote to endorse Oye - and do all the work that our endorsement has historically entailed, i.e. organizing our members to knock tens of thousands of doors. I don’t believe we should endorse for one simple reason: I am not convinced that the opportunity cost of Oye’s campaign is worth it.
The chapter is already considering two races in DC: for our former chair Aparna Raj, and for Janeese Lewis George, who has actively used her office to organize with us. I believe we should prioritize these two races this cycle.
Oye’s race, while impactful if he wins, will come at the expense of the other two races. Carrying lit for two different candidates is already not ideal; carrying it for three is essentially prohibitive, as voters don’t want to stand and listen to two different pitches and will close the door if you start on a third (I know, I’ve knocked thousands of doors myself!). That means pulling people away from our other DC races to campaign for Oye. I don’t believe we have the organizing hours - or will be able to drum up enough new membership specifically interested in campaigning for Oye - to close that gap. That means we will put at risk two campaigns that are incredibly winnable for a third, less viable campaign.
I bring up Oye’s viability because I think it’s important. Per the last publicly available filings, Oye ($36,000) has raised meaningfully less money than Aparna ($41,000). Oye’s race will likely have over 100,000 voters, compared to just ~15,000 in Ward 1. From what is publicly available about Janeese’s campaign - nothing official, to be clear - Janeese raised over $110,000 in less than 24 hours of announcing her candidacy. These fundraising numbers are important because they represent campaign structure: how many people can the campaign get to text, call, and chat with their family, friends, and coworkers to donate? And then how many of those people actually donate? It’s a good sign, in my opinion, of energy, of the work already put into a race. And Oye lags massively behind. This isn’t a super hard knock against him - the comparisons are two record shattering campaigns! - but it makes it abundantly clear that his race will be the hardest of the three candidates worth considering in DC.
I don’t think that risk is worth it. No races we are considering are guaranteed - quite the opposite. It will take each and everyone of our members spending their time and money on these races to successfully win them.
Comrades, vote NO on endorsing Oye Owolewa.
AGAINST by Julia P
I will be voting for Oye for Council and would love to see him win, but given the bumper crop of strong candidates applying for endorsement this year, we need to be judicious about allocating resources. Frankie’s win as a cadre candidate represents a profound ontological shift for our chapter’s electoral program. We can and should have higher standards than ever before. I believe Oye is a sincere progressive, but his lack of experience contesting and holding offices with substantive power (the Shadow Representative position is effectively powerless) and his relatively low profile in left/labor coalition spaces raises concerns as to whether his campaign is ideally suited for our electoral program. Candidates such as Aparna Raj, who’s running for Council in Ward 1, and Janeese Lewis George, who’s been previously endorsed by the chapter and has applied for endorsement in the mayoral race, are backed by DSA’s strongest labor allies, whereas Oye barely seems to be on their radar. Oye has sought the support of questionable groups such as Refuse Fascism, a front group for the fringe Revolutionary Communist Party (often characterized as a personality cult of leader Bob Avakian), indicating his footing on DC’s left is not entirely sure. He has publicly called Muriel Bowser “an unparalleled champion of home rule,” and his statement on the Council’s brutal gutting of tenants’ rights focused primarily on the clerical errors of CM Bonds’ infamous last-minute amendment rather than the existential threats facing DC tenants. While I want DSA to have a significant role in helping electeds draft policy and handle public messaging, I’m concerned Oye will need more hand-holding than we are prepared to give, especially given the likelihood that we endorse other high-profile candidates who will require significant investment of resources, and his evident susceptibility to social pressure. Vote yes on Oye at the polls, but vote NO on endorsing him as DSA.
IN FAVOR by Jonathan N
I am supporting Oye for DC Council because of his charisma, experience as our Shadow Representative advocating for statehood, and especially his goal to make UDC tuition-free. The University of the District of Columbia, one of the nation’s oldest HBCUs and our state’s only public university and community college - every year, thousands of Washingtonians flock to private colleges and other regional public schools at a financial premium when they should be able to get a high-quality education right here in DC, from Pre-K to senior year of college. A thriving UDC is essential for the fight for statehood and autonomy, and I believe Oye is the best candidate for advancing our socialist cause for local autonomy and higher education excellence.
IN FAVOR by Imara C
Comrades,
I’d like to offer a few words in support of endorsing Oye Owolewa. Until recently I didn’t know Oye well, but in that time I’ve grown to respect and appreciate him immensely. Oye’s a long-standing member of the chapter rather than a fair weather friend, and throughout his time as a member he’s left a record of politics aligned with ours.
One thing that stands out to me about Oye is that he isn’t asking us to take a gamble on vague promises or consultant-speak. Oye’s provided a long history of serving working-class Washingtonians, from fighting for DC Statehood as Shadow Representative, to holding expungement clinics, and youth programming as an ANC commissioner. He has consistently used the platform he’s worked for to deliver real material gains, especially for communities in Wards 7 and 8 who are consistently ignored by the city’s political class, and who we as a chapter should absolutely be using our political strength to support.
Oye is running in a district-wide race against one of the most corporate-aligned, anti-tenant members of the Council. Anita Bonds has been a direct obstacle to our priorities since forever, from trying to gut Initiative 82 to weakening TOPA rights. Bonds is consistently on the wrong side of every issue and I believe that replacing her with someone committed to labor power, and redistributing resources toward working people would be a transformative win for our chapter.
We aren’t yet at the state that one of our cadre members could possibly win an at large race, perhaps in a few years we will be there but Oye presents a real opportunity to deal a blow to our opponents while also growing working class strength in the city. Oye can win, and our siding with him will make that possibility much more feasible.
So many candidates come to us asking for legitimacy. Oye is coming to us with a platform, a real base, demonstrated vote share, existing campaign infrastructure, and a track record of showing up for the communities DSA organizes alongside. I believe this is a rare and powerful combination and one it’d be a mistake to pass up. With Fair Elections money, DSA field strength, and a candidate already known across the city, this is a race where our chapter can actually win at a District-wide scale.
We shouldn’t underestimate what Oye’s victory would mean. Electing a socialist to the DC Council at-large would open doors for more cadre candidates, strengthen our hand in coalition politics, and build the foundation for a true socialist bloc in office.
Oye isn’t just viable, he’s someone whose work aligns with our values, whose commitments are clear, and who has already been advocating for the people we fight for every day. I think endorsing him is a strategic and principled choice for the chapter.
In solidarity,
Imara
IN FAVOR by Hugh M
Ive been part of the anti trump encampment thats been outside of union station for over 200 days. Oye has went there numerous times for either events or to just chat. He has helped our encampment by putting us in touch with local officials. And when Ice agents along side masked up feds invaded our city to terrorize our neighbors he joined us for a anti ice patrol. While I was canvassing for the Frankie Fritz campaign I remember Oye canvassing with us to help secure the election victory in Greenbelt. Aside from his participation in the local activist scene and the DSA chapter that Ive witnessed his endorsement is important for other reasons. We are witnessing a wave of support for socialism across the country, and we cannot squander this moment while we have it. We may very likely see a socialist mayor in the capital and for Janeese to do her job well and in order to pass the policies that we advocate for we need to have as many socialists in the city council as possible. Oye has name recognition from him time serving as the DC shadow rep, to give an idea of how many people have seen his name over 46,000 people voted for him in the most recent primary and over 260,000 voted for him in the general. It should also be noted that Anita Bonds the incumbent Oye challenged just dropped out leaving the seat wide open. To not endorse Oye would be squandering such an easy opportunity at securing a city council seat that would help push the needle of socialism forward. I urge everyone of my comrades to endorse Oye not only for his participation as a 5 year long member of the chapter, not only as an activist but because his success will mean we are just that closer to the better world we all dream about. Endorse Oye, love yall and thank you for reading.
IN FAVOR by Zach T
Being a socialist in the U.S. means living with near constant disappointment while maintaining revolutionary optimism. We have had our hearts broken and our dreams dashed many times, but we know that our cause is righteous and our time will come.
In this endorsement vote you face a choice. Do we endorse a candidate who has been a DSA member for over 5 years, a candidate who has proven electoral success, a candidate who participates in our democratic process and shares our socialist values? Or do we reject him because it’s not the right time, he is not the right candidate, and it is too big of a risk? I ask you comrades, what is a bigger risk? A candidate who may break your heart or the inability to govern which will break our movement?
This year we suffered a huge defeat: the roll back of I-82, a ballot initiative our chapter fought hard for, which only passed by a margin of 1 vote. Even opponents of this endorsement agree that if Oye was on the council thousands of DC tipped workers would have gotten a pay raise this year. This defeat has real material harm to the working class. And as we in all likelihood gear up for a mayoral campaign, how do we carry out a socialist executive agenda with a conservative council majority? When a socialist mayor fails to pass universal child care and free buses and a rent freeze because we were too timid to gain a leftwing council majority will voters or our members give our inability to govern the benefit of the doubt? Will they listen next time when we say we have the right candidate, and if you give us 1 more chance we can accomplish what we promised? Comrades, we can not wait on the sidelines, we can not assume in 1 year or 2 years or 4 years conditions will be more favorable. Our time is now, our candidate is here.
Oye is our comrade, he is our champion, and he should be our candidate!
AGAINST by Tim S
I’m writing to convince you to join me in voting against our chapter’s endorsement of Oye Owolewa. My opposition fundamentally comes down to the fact that I don’t think that we can make the kind of difference in this campaign that our endorsement has historically aimed towards. This ‘DSA Difference’ is important not only because it helps us to allocate our resources efficiently, but also because it helps ensure accountability to our line after the election. Some will argue that this latter component isn’t necessary, because of his longtime membership in the organization, but while this view has some merit, I disagree with it. Oye is the best option in this field, and I’ll be voting for him in June, but he has a limited record inside and outside of this organization, so I just don’t think we can rely on general ideological alignment to ensure accountability – we need to be the decisive member of his coalition. Because we can’t be that, we shouldn’t be involved.
The crucial question, then, is why I don’t think we can be that decisive member. This comes down to the difficulty of scaling our volunteer contribution to the point that it is decisive in a race this size. Oye estimates his win number at around 54,000, which I think is reasonable. My concern is that our approach – sending dozens to hundreds of volunteers to knock doors – won’t be able to make a decisive dent in this number. In 2022, we knocked about 40,000 doors for Zach Parker in a race he won convincingly with about 7,800 votes and 43.5% of the vote, in what amounted to a four way race. When one accounts for the number of knocks that turned into contacts (about 20%, or 8,000), and a 25% share of contacts turning into votes that would otherwise have been nonvoters or opponent voters, we can claim credit for around 2,000 votes. That was a significant contribution in a race of that size, and even so Zach distanced himself from us quite soon after we ensured his victory! We’ve grown significantly since 2022, but even if we doubled the number of votes we turn out, we remain under 10% of Oye’s win number: a meaningful, but hardly decisive, member of a much broader coalition.
That doubling would indicate newly-built chapter capacity, which is very positive, but we also need to soberly account for how plentiful our scalable, but certainly not infinite, resources are. We’ll nearly certainly be endorsing difficult, but winnable, races in Ward 1, Montgomery County, and Prince George’s County and yes, likely a district-wide race for Mayor. It’s true that, to a certain extent, these district races build on each other: candidates can cross-endorse, probably share canvasses, and target different areas of the city, but we need to be realistic about the fact that while it’s not zero sum, it’s not positive sum either. There are tradeoffs, because there are real frictions: it’s very likely that it will be easier to attract canvassers to Aparna’s and Janeese’ races, since both have a deeper relationship with DSA than Oye, and since Janeese will be running for a higher and more powerful office. We can, compliance permitting, send out canvassers to knock packets for multiple candidates at once, but that is a harder ask to make on the doors, where we generally want to make a quick, clear, and compelling pitch rather than explain the difference between at large and ward-level councilmembers to voters – the doubling up isn’t free.
I really want to emphasize this, because Aparna’s race is far from a sure thing. She’s running a very good campaign and can absolutely win, but she’s a relative newcomer running against two political insiders with real bases, and will need to have a significantly larger field operation than Zach did to overcome that disadvantage. Electing cadre to the DC Council is something we’ve been working towards since 2017, and paying the opportunity cost of endorsing a second candidate, especially one for whom we can’t be senior partners in the coalition, could put that at risk. We should ask for a tremendously strong case to take that risk, and I don’t think Oye has succeeded in making that case, despite his many good qualities.
There’s an elephant in the room here, of course: Janeese Lewis George’s near-certain mayoral run, and frankly near-certain endorsement. How can it make sense to oppose Oye but support Janeese? The key differences are that Janeese has a strong record of support for our legislative priorities, often at a high political cost, and that marketing the mayoral race to newer members and prospective members, which we will need to do in order to produce the number of volunteers needed to win, is much easier in her case than in Oye’s. Janeese has held the line on housing, policing, and social programs very consistently, and has managed to both pass priorities and mitigate the harm of bad policies even as the lone dissenting voice on the council. That has isolated her and made her unpopular in significant parts of the city – Matt Yglesias recently called her one of the worst members of the council – but she’s been consistent anyway. That’s much stronger proof of her allegiance to our line than what I’ve seen from Oye, despite the fact that he clearly does mean well.
I believe that we can be a decisive partner in Janeese’ race by creating new volunteers because the stakes are very high and because our longstanding relationship will inspire people to get involved. Some comrades have argued, in support of Oye, that my reticence writes ourselves out of our own Zohran moment, but if anyone is our Zohran it’s Janeese, who was not cadre when she was first elected but has consistently acted like cadre for years, and who can make a far bigger difference as mayor than even an at large councilmember. We can make a difference in this race by motivating people to join a Zohran-style field operation with clear arguments from her record and the significance of the office, in a way that we can’t for Oye. At this moment, we’re facing an opportunity to play a leading role in electing multiple longtime DSA leaders with unimpeachable records, let’s not risk that by endorsing in a race where we can’t make the difference, however much we wish that we could.
AGAINST by Ken B
Comrades, it is with a heavy heart that I write to recommend against Oye Owolewa. I believe Oye is a nice person and his heart is in the right place, however this alone is not sufficient to earn a Metro DC DSA endorsement. Our endorsement–and the world class volunteer canvassing operation that comes with it–is a precious resource that must be deployed carefully, in races where it will build the chapter and have a decisive impact, for cadre candidates or “class struggle” candidates, as stated in our Chapter Program. Proponents of Oye’s endorsement will argue he is one such class struggle candidate, someone who will, “cleanly divide all of labor and progressive forces against all of capital.” I do not believe Oye’s campaign meets this criteria, and even if it did, I believe other factors would still strongly disincentivize endorsement.
Oye has struggled to align the labor movement with his campaign. He has mis-named key labor partners multiple times and does not seem particularly aware of the balance of forces in the DC labor movement. He also casts small business owners as a key part of his coalition. While a certain amount of lip service to the virtues of the petit bourgeoisie is an unfortunate sacrifice even many cadre socialist candidates have to make, they should not be key coalition partners or a cornerstone of a class struggle campaign. We have not seen Oye mobilizing a large working class base thus far. His fundraising numbers have been anemic at best–he has raised less than Aparna R’s campaign for Ward 1 council, despite being in a more expensive race with a higher contribution limit.
Proponents of Oye’s endorsement might also argue that, having been in office as a chapter member for so long, we know what he’s made of and should think of him as cadre or something close. I do not believe this to be the case. Oye has not used his seat to proactively organize for DSA, despite being in a position to do so. During the fight over the 2025 DC budget Oye was present and even spoke at rallies the chapter helped organize–but as a representative of the DC Healthcare Alliance, not DSA. His position is essentially entirely ceremonial: beyond advocacy, there’s not much else to do with it, so i dont see much of an excuse for not using it to advocate for the chapter, and importantly we have not seen him tested by the contradictions of wielding true power.
Lastly, many proponents of Oye’s endorsement will argue that, if the chapter is going to endorse Janeese Lewis George for mayor and undertake a city wide campaign anyway, we may as well endorse Oye, because it doesn’t cost us anything and it would be better for him to be in office than whoever he runs against. The first part of this statement–that the endorsement would not cost us anything–could not be further from the truth. Knocking “double packets” (canvassing jargon for carrying two candidates’ literature and making multiple asks at once) is harder on canvassers and on voters. Many people who would be tolerant or even welcome to being canvassed become irritated when canvassers continue the conversation after they thought they were done. This results in worse experiences on the doors for canvassers, making them less likely to come back. It also leaves more negative impressions in the minds of voters. The likelihood of a voter following through on any of the asks made decreases with each additional ask. This means that, if we were canvassing for Oye and Janeese, at the same time, not only would our canvassing for Oye be less effective but our canvassing for Janeese would be less effective as well. If we are to endorse Janeese, we must bring our absolute best and I don’t think we can take the risk of reducing our efficacy by canvassing for another candidate alongside her.
The second part of the earlier assertion–that Oye would be better than the opponent–is probably true but insufficient to endorse a candidate over. There are many candidates who would be better than their opponents that DSA does not endorse. We used to, in an earlier and less mature era of our organization, which is why it’s true that Nancy Pelosi and our own Muriel Bowser can claim to be former DSA endorsees. We are aiming to build a fighting socialist party, not improve the quality of democrats on offer, and we cannot build a party without focused and impactful endorsements. This strategic orientation towards party building and making focused, impactful choices is what separates us from organizations like WFP or Justice Democrats. For all these reasons, please vote NO on endorsing Oye Owolewa.
IN FAVOR by Blake P
I support Oye Owolewa’s endorsement for one simple reason: practicality. Practicality makes for a pretty poor rallying cry, but it is what I heard time and again motivating our chapter as we discussed candidates at our convention this past weekend. We want to be sure that our endorsements are practical, that we have the time and resources to truly throw our support behind our chosen candidates. We also want our candidates to be practical: proven members with the drive to actually bring political wins home to the chapter and the constituents they represent. Finally, we want our vision to be practical, with a slate of candidates that not only push our political agenda but also drive further growth in the chapter. Oye’s candidacy is all of those things.
Oye’s race is practical because we are already committed and ready for a district-wide race. Don’t get me wrong, I too first flinched at the idea of a district wide race; it is no small lift to canvas a city of over half a million. But with our endorsement of a candidate for mayor all but assured, that lift is significantly lighter. There have been arguments that knocking doors for two candidates makes for a more awkward discussion than just one, but anyone who has canvased before will tell you that all conversations at the doors start awkwardly. It is the canvasser’s job to make them comfortable. I know that our committed volunteers can and will do just that.
Oye is also a proven and practical political representative. Having served in political office for nearly a decade now, Oye has demonstrated a consistent commitment to the party’s values through his actions. Oye has organized countless direct actions while in office, from expungement clinics to Narcan distribution efforts. But the most practical aspect of Oye’s capacity as a representative will be to support the work of others. I am confident that we can elect a cadre mayor and ward 1 rep, but they will need more friendly faces in government to carry out our priorities. If we are serious about supporting a socialist agenda in DC government, we need a critical mass of socialists in DC government.
Oye’s race will also be practical for the chapter. We heard time and again at the convention that our single most effective recruitment tool is political organizing. People hear our message and want to join the fight. We also heard time and again that we have a depressingly small presence south of the Anacostia. Oye’s base of support has always been in that underserved area of our city and his campaign will necessarily center the lived experience of residents in Wards 7 and 8. If we are serious about reaching out and meeting those workers where they live, Oye’s race is the time and place to do that.
Comrades, I hope that you will join me in voting in favor of Oye’s endorsement. Not just because it is the right thing to do, or the fun thing to do, but because it is the demonstrably practical thing to do.
IN FAVOR by Giancarlo V
I write today to support the endorsement endorsement resolution for Oye Owolewa for an at large seat on DC Council. Oye is a longtime member of the chapter who hails from a part of the District where we need to grow our membership, and he is experienced in seeking public office. And although I do understand the fears about his campaign that were brought up during the second reading of his endorsement, I think they misunderstand the political moment we are currently in. The ascension of the proto-fascist wing of the Trump administration calls for a response that effectively blocks the most horrific policies that Congress and the White House pursue, whilst also building an alternative vision for a society that meets peoples needs. The contrast between the needs of this moment is why there is such widespread dissatisfaction with establishment Democratic leadership, from the Capitol to the Wilson Building. But as we saw in the year’s following 2020’s nearly-successful Bernie candidacy and racial justice uprisings, this insurgent atmosphere will not persist on its own. We need to not only take advantage of this current political moment, but do so as widely as possible to help sustain its energy. Endorsing Oye, and getting him elected along with Janeese and Aparna, would not only create significant excitement this coming spring and summer, but create more opportunities to pass socialist policy on DC Council come 2027.
The question of the Council is especially important. As we have seen in Chicago with Mayor Brandon Johnson, a leftist mayor who does not have a city council aligned with them faces significant hurdles to enacting their agenda to the extent their constituents deserve. If we successfully elect Janeese, she will have latitude to enact some significant policy changes through her choices of personnel, and decisions to not interfere in the work that staff in departments like DDOT have been prevented from doing by Mayor Bowser. But the deeper changes — to labor laws, the tax code, and the funding levels of our crucial public services — will require a collaborate city council. Even if Janeese and Aparna both win in November, without a successful Oye candidacy it seems to me like they would be each other’s only allies. A successful Oye candidacy would create an actual socialist block on Council starting January 2027 ahead of additional election opportunities, and provide a stronger starting point for inching towards getting 7 of the council’s 14 seats in the future. Although I understand many people’s hesitancy to add an additional ask to our canvassing scripts, or worry about his fundraising numbers so far, this is not a chance we can afford to pass up, but an opportunity we can use to begin building a socialist bloc on the council.
IN FAVOR by Brooks G
Oye has been a DSA member for many years, and I believe they care deeply about improving the lives of people in his community. I would also support having a majority of the city council seats to be controlled by socialist.
IN FAVOR by Avram R
I support an MDCDSA endorsement of Oye Owolewa for at-large council. I believe Oye will be a strong ally to the organization and a values-driven Democratic Socialist in office. While opponents talk about his previous affiliation with DFER, I believe we must allow for growth and the fact that Oye has left them in the past is a sign of his true values and our organization’s influence.
In addition, in a year where we have a strong chance to elect a democratic socialist mayor, we ought to position ourselves to have multiple DSA members on the council when she takes office. Without many allies on the council, JLG’s agenda will be hamstrung from the beginning and voters will begin to lose faith in the DSA line. This is also valuable, I believe, because, based on recent polling, Robert White is likely to win the Delegate seat. In the scenario where JLG and White win their races, there will be special elections for Ward 4 and at-large. If we win the mayor’s, Ward 1, and Oye’s race, this will put the organization in a very strong position to win those special election primaries and have up to 4 members on the council with a DSA mayor.
IN FAVOR by James S
I’m James, one of the abolition working group stewards and I want to encourage members to endorse Oye Owolewa for DC At-Large Councilmember. My main reasons are:
Oye has strong questionnaire answers, especially for sections that are difficult for other candidates, like policing-related questions
If we elect Janeese Lewis George for Mayor and Aparna Raj for Ward 1 City Councilmember, I think we need more people in the city council to actually do anything
The current council makeup shows a huge weakness of progressive depth and we need to start developing more talent. Supporting Oye in a run would be a great way to develop more candidates
Oye is outside of DSA’s traditional DC base of power, which I think is important for us expanding our chapter’s reach across the region. Ward 8 (Oye’s base) in particular is a huge blindspot for DSA and would be the most benefited by DSA’s vision
IN FAVOR by Leah T
My name is Leah T. and I am urging you to vote YES for the endorsement of Oye Owolewa, running for DC Council At-Large.
When I think about the DC that I want to live in, Oye is exactly the type of councilmember that can get us there. I’ve spent a lot of time at the Wilson building this year, in ANC and neighborhood association meetings, and in general conversation with councilmembers, and the number one frustration that I have is that oftentimes, it feels like our councilmembers aren’t working for us the way they should be.
Oye’s record shows the opposite — and, when it comes to this endorsement, so does his questionnaire. His responses are some of the strongest I’ve seen, particularly when it comes to abolition and Palestine, two areas that most candidates struggle to embody our values in. We’re at a make-it-or-break-it moment in both our city and our country and, with an occupation of DC and multiple US-backed genocides occurring throughout the world (each with dire implications within our own city) and we need a councilmember who is committed to protecting our city. We need someone who understands what is at stake and what it takes to win. We need someone who can protect our neighbors from ward 1 to ward 8 and won’t back down from a fight, regardless of whether it comes from the DC or federal government. Oye is that someone. He will show up for the residents of DC every single day while in office and work with the chapter to ensure that our values are reflected throughout the city.
Oye’s commitment to the people of DC is unmatched. He has served tirelessly for years now — working double time as a public servant and a pharmacist — and he deeply understands this city and its unique challenges. He knows the deep history of our neighborhoods, the joy of our neighbors, and is prepared to fight to protect us.
I urge you to vote YES on Oye’s endorsement. Endorsing him is an endorsement of all the work our chapter has done and an endorsement for our city and its residents.
IN FAVOR by Ashwin J
I’m writing in favor of endorsing Oye for DC at-large council character.
Oye has been an active DSA member for years and has canvassed for several candidates over that time, even as he holds elected office as well himself. His campaign platform would produce tangible gains for the DC working class, like free tuition for UDC and building more affordable housing. Just as importantly, he would be a crucial vote on the council in favor of prospective council mayor Janeese Lewis George and council member Aparna Raj. Without a solid majority on the council that’s friendly to DSA and its priorities, it will be difficult to enact our agenda and build a positive reputation for DSA that would make further progress possible. This would be a crucial pickup for DSA on the council and it would be worthwhile to expend DSA resources to elect Oye.