Member Statements on EER08: Endorsement of Josie Caballero for County Council At-large
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 IN FAVOR of endorsing Josie Caballero. The PEC’s full recommendation and analysis can be found here.
In the last Democratic Primary for the four At-Large seats on the County Council in 2022, the top four candidates (out of eight) who advanced to the general election were Evan Glass (88,301 votes, 18.91%), Will Jawando (80,193 votes, 17.17%), Gabe Albornoz (76,187 votes, 16.31%), and Laurie-Anne Sayles (61,490 votes, 13.17%). Previously, in 2018, the top four candidates (out of more than 30) who advanced to the general election were Hans Riemer (54,584 votes, 12.20%), Will Jawando (43,154 votes, 9.60%), Evan Glass (35,600 votes, 8%), and Gabe Albornoz 33,050 (7.40%). Only one of the County Council’s four at-large members is running for reelection, and the openings have already attracted a large field of nearly a dozen candidates. The PEC agrees with the candidate’s assessment that the dynamics of the race will be similar to the 2018 primary, while the win number will be closer to 2022 levels. There are at least three candidates with higher-than-average chances of finishing in the top four: incumbent Laurie-Anne Sayles, outgoing County Executive Marc Elrich, and Scott Goldberg, a conservative who came in fifth place last time and will receive a lot of big money support from business, developers, and landlords.
Josie has long identified as a democratic socialist and has been a member of DSA since at least 2014, including previous runs for office with the endorsement of the San Diego chapter in 2016 and 2020, and local, rank-and-file involvement in the push for rent stabilization in the county. The PEC appreciates the strength and specificity of her questionnaire and Q&A responses across most if not all issues, and that she has identified a clear set of top priorities to run on: 1) a charter amendment to guarantee a percentage of funding for education and support for community schools, 2) rent stabilization at 3% with no loopholes, and 3) getting ICE out of Montgomery County. Josie also has a compelling life story and both personal and professional experience that will allow her to speak effectively about issues of high importance to DSA members, including BDS, housing, migrant justice, policing, and trans rights.
Recently, Josie received the endorsement of the Montgomery County Educators Association (MCEA), which is widely considered the most important labor endorsement in county politics. There are currently multiple candidates who could vie for the progressive lane in the race, and the PEC assesses that there is still a window for Josie to become the progressive standardbearer. Metro DC DSA’s early endorsement could help sway other progressive organizations and labor unions who tend to endorse our candidates to support her campaign as well. Although Josie has a stated “door first” and high voter contact strategy, which aligns strongly with the main contributions of the “DSA Difference,” in an at-large race it will be much more important for Josie to raise a substantial amount of money from small-dollar donors. Josie will be eligible for the Montgomery County Public Election Fund, and the PEC strongly recommends an early push for member-to-member phonebanking and other methods to ensure she is a competitive fundraiser. Lastly, as an at-large seat, the race would overlap entirely with the districts of either of the other Montgomery County candidates the chapter is considering for endorsement, and the PEC strongly recommends knocking the vast majority of doors in a single district rather than splitting them between districts that do not overlap.
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 the following statement on Josie Caballero. The caucus’ full writeup and analysis can be found here.
We see Josie as a potential class-struggle candidate. We are heartened by her public affiliation with DSA and what appears to be a serious campaign that has won important endorsements like the Montgomery County Education Association. She may have a credible, if narrow, path to victory. We are also compelled by the idea that being movers here will unite a left-labor coalition around her candidacy, a sign of MDC DSA’s political leadership.
Our concerns here stem, first and foremost, from capacity. It will be extremely difficult for the chapter to make the impact needed to win a countywide race in Montgomery County, and if we do win, it will not be primarily because of the doors we knocked. We also have concerns about Josie’s history as a protest candidate in San Diego and her relationship with DSA and labor and progressive organizations at that time. Overall, we were unable to reach a consensus, and her endorsement should be viewed in the context of Gabe’s and Zola’s.
Per Section 6.4.2 of our bylaws, “Branch Steering Committees shall be permitted to issue a recommendation and rationale on candidates running for seats exclusively within their territorial jurisdiction during endorsement general body meetings. This recommendation and rationale will be included along with ballots sent to members.” The Montgomery County Branch Steering Committee has submitted a recommendation IN FAVOR. The branch’s full writeup and analysis can be found here.
Josie’s experience running for office previously, her long-time DSA involvement, and her clear campaign plan and policy positions give us confidence to endorse her campaign in the at-large race. Even before Josie got involved with the branch, she has been involved in DSA and the organized left for years during her time in San Diego, organizing a 3,000 attendee unity march and rally for Bernie Sanders in 2015 and serving as a national Bernie delegate in 2016 and in 2020. Since moving to Silver Spring, she has been active, including as a DSA member, a canvasser for rent stabilization, and a supporter of our partners and fellow candidates. Josie brings important lived experience to her role as an organizer and as a councilmember- as a Trans woman, as a veteran–perspectives not represented currently on the council. She would be the first Trans woman on the county council, a historic campaign that is already energizing Trans and Queer county residents. Substantively, we know from her record that she will fight vigorously from the position on the council to protect Trans and Queer residents, particularly youth, from the unprecedented attacks facing them today from the federal level.
The County Council At-large race has a similar dynamic to the County Council District 3 race-- it is sure to be a battle of renters vs. capital, though with more candidates in the field. Because the field of candidates is wider, we believe that our branch’s involvement could make a significant impact in this race; we think an early endorsement from us could positively sway other endorsing partners in her favor and help to mobilize key early support. We think we could play a significant part in her field operation if we coordinate with her campaign, emphasizing our involvement in District 3 and District 39 as well as in renter-dense areas throughout the county. We were impressed by Josie’s strong campaign operation and anticipate working alongside her existing base of volunteers and a coalition of endorsing partners. Notably, Josie also recently received the MCEA endorsement, the most influential endorsement in Montgomery County politics, showing her strength as a candidate. We’ve seen other partners such as CASA and Progressive Maryland look to our endorsement as well as MCEA’s as signs of strength, and anticipate that with MCEA and DSA endorsing in favor, other endorsing partners are more likely to follow. An additional socialist, pro-renter, pro-worker seat we are able to win on the Council will be transformative-- we believe that we must fight to beat back the real estate industry-backed candidates wherever we can, and Josie’s campaign in the at-large race presents a clear opportunity to do just that.
IN FAVOR by Lexie G
Metro DC DSA Chapter Members,
I am writing in favor of Resolution EER08: Endorsement of Josie Caballero for Montgomery County Council. I am impressed by the strong campaign operation Josie has built, as well as her long history with DSA. I think that she has a very real shot at winning her race for an at-large seat on the county council, particularly now that she has received an endorsement from the Montgomery County Education Association, which is a highly influential endorsement in MoCo. With our endorsement, we have the opportunity to establish a co-governing relationship with Josie.
Although the fact that Josie is running for an at-large seat means she has a high win number, it also means that we can simultaneously canvass for her while supporting Izola Shaw and Gabe Acevero in their races. During her Q&A session, Josie expressed a willingness to leverage DSA volunteers in areas where there is overlap with other potential DSA-endorsed candidates. She also identified the Silver Spring/Takoma Park area as an important part of the county to turn out supporters, and as a resident of that area, I would be very excited to canvass my neighbors in support of Josie.
Thank you,
Lexie G.
Steering committee member
Montgomery County branch
IN FAVOR by Sarah B
I enthusiastically support endorsing Josie Caballero for Montgomery County Council At-Large!
AGAINST by Tim S
Our endorsement has historically worked best when a candidate has been endorsed by a strong left-labor coalition, and when our volunteer capacity is sufficient to make a large difference in their victory. Despite Josie’s strengths as a candidate, I don’t think either of those conditions holds here. This is largely because the race is too large for our likely volunteer capacity to make a difference: Josie correctly estimates that she’ll need around 250,000 voter contacts to win, and we won’t be able to make a large dent in that this year, as we can see based on our turnout in Frankie and Omo’s races. I urge you to join me in voting no on this endorsement, so that we can focus our efforts on races that we can win, and build not only our capacity for the day when we can compete in a race this size, but also our ability to legislate in support of our socialist objectives.
It is possible that a left-labor coalition coalesces around Josie by the election, but the fact that it has not yet done so concerns me. This is, admittedly, partially a function of the endorsement calendar, as many MoCo organizations and unions have not yet endorsed, but in a race of this size I want to be confident that there is a winning coalition, and I’m not. This matters because these endorsements matter to the voters we’re going to be targeting, and to the voters who are usually most amenable to our positions in general. Splitting the left-labor coalition sets us up to split the vote and cede the seat to a more conservative choice, and that’s particularly relevant in a thirteen way race with four winners, like this one. In the past, we’ve been good about avoiding this split, but when we haven’t – notably in McKayla Wilkes’ race in 2020 and Karishma Mehta’s in 2021 – we’ve lost by fairly wide margins, and totally failed to build momentum off of those races, leaving the jurisdictions in which we contested them with weakened electoral programs.
The other issue, of course, is the size of the race. The goal of 250,000 doors is laudable and strategically correct, but in a year when DC and PGC capacity will be focused on their own races, I don’t see us being able to make a big difference there. In 2022, we knocked around 24,000 doors in MoCo, for Gabe and Max combined. That was enough for a significant win for Gabe and a quality loss for Max, against a very strong opponent, but it wouldn’t make a dent in Josie’s goal, let alone make us the difference maker in the election that we want to be. If this were the only race we were running, focusing our entire electoral program’s efforts could maybe make a difference here, but we’re going to have at least one race in DC, and likely more. In 2022, many DC comrades, myself included, canvassed for our MoCo candidates, but that will be far less common this year, since there won’t be a gap between DC and MoCo primaries like there was in 2022. Whatever races we endorse in MoCo will be won or lost nearly entirely with MoCo capacity, so we should choose one of the races where that capacity can make a difference.
Finally, I worry about fundraising. In a race this size you really need mailers, and maybe even TV, even if an impressive field operation does emerge. Josie’s fundraising so far does not put her on track for the amount she needs to raise to do these things effectively: she’s raised less than Aparna, who’s running in a race with a win number about 20% of the size. Fundraising is difficult, and it sounds like she’s working hard to fix this deficit, but when we think about our capacity to influence an electoral win, we need to be clear-eyed about the campaign’s capacity to make it over the finish line, and unfortunately I don’t see that here. We should endorse in MoCo, and I’m confident that we can be the deciding factor in Gabe or Zola’s race, but we can’t here, for a variety of reasons; please join me in voting no.
IN FAVOR by Sangeeta G
Hi everyone! My name is Sangeeta Goel and I am encouraging everyone to vote in favor of endorsing Josie Caballero for Montgomery County Council At-Large. Josie has a long, demonstrated track record of fighting for socialist values and the infrastructure to run the type of massive grassroots campaign needed to win the seat.
Although it is early in the cycle, she already has good infrastructure in place. There is already a mailing list for supporters and volunteers helping to run events like meet and greets. In addition, she has a trusted team around her that is already diving into strategy and helping her campaign gain traction. In a race that has 12 candidates vying for the seat, this movement is crucial, as not every political candidate is as far along at this stage of the cycle.
She just secured the endorsement of the Montgomery County Education Association, one of the most influential endorsements in MoCo. With the tireless work her campaign has done already and her stated door first strategy, DSA canvasses can push her campaign over the top.
Josie has been a member of DSA since 2014 and ran for the San Diego City Council with the endorsement of that chapter. Her campaign knocked 67,000 doors in 3 months in that race. She has also led various Bernie marches back in 2015. Even before that, she protested during Occupy back in 2011. Her track record stands out because she has been involved in the fight since before DSA’s popularity boomed.
In an era where DSA is becoming more influential, it can be easy for candidates to seek our endorsement to leverage our influence without truly believing in socialist values. Because of this, authenticity is key to ensure they truly believe what they are telling us. Josie has that in spades, and she is someone DSA needs to get behind. She has walked the walk for almost 15 years on an organizing/direct action level.
Please vote in favor of endorsing Josie Caballero!
IN FAVOR by Eric F
Josie Caballero was a stalwart ally in DSA’s endorsed Gaithersburg councilmember race for Omo Williams, knocking doors and providing high level campaign feedback to assist with our efforts. These efforts were done out of genuine support for our goals, taking time away from her own campaign in order to assist with our movement. She embodies the values of DSA on renter protections, LGBTQ advocacy, and many more.
Further, if our mutual political alignment alone is not sufficient reason to endorse, than the practical boots-on-ground view should. Josie is running for an at-large seat in the county, which makes campaign coordination with any other endorsed races extremely easy. Were DSA to endorse Gabe or Zola, every single canvassing effort for Gabe and Zola can include Josie’s literature, essentially doubling the value of those door knocking efforts. In addition, the MCEA apple ballot has endorsed Josie which drastically increases the odds of her winning. This is a race Josie can win, and it would be a mistake to not seize the opportunity to support a strong candidate.
IN FAVOR by Dami O
I’ve encountered Josie at a few electoral events, including Frankie’s launch campaign. I think electing her is the correct decision if want to bring a fighter that will be unapologetic fighter for rent stabilization, trans rights and fighting the MIDC. She has one of the strongest questionnaires and I think she would be a worthy edition to the slate of candidates that we have this year.
IN FAVOR by Brandon W
I am writing in favor of endorsing Josie Caballero for Montgomery County Council At-Large. To me, Josie has shown her commitment to DSA as a canvasser for rent stabilization and as a supporter of fellow candidates like Omo. Her lived experiences would bring meaningful perspective to the County Council as the first Trans woman on the County council, and DSA would be working with a campaign that already has a base operation in place; coupled with MCEA’s endorsement and the creation of a left-labor coalition spearheaded in part by our chapter, I believe that DSA can make a crucial difference and contribution in helping elect Josie to the Council.
IN FAVOR by Stuart K
Electoral campaigns with overlapping districts represent key strategic opportunities to efficiently maximize our chapter’s resources in electoral endorsements. In Montgomery County, we have exactly this type of opportunity with Josie Caballero’s at-large council campaign overlapping entirely with Gabriel Acevero’s House of Delegates district. The Montgomery County Education Association — a key chapter labor ally with county-wide reach — also just endorsed Josie’s campaign. It’s for these reasons that I urge fellow chapter members to vote YES on endorsing Josie Caballero for Montgomery County Council.
IN FAVOR by Zach BW
Hello comrades,
My name is Zach B.W., and I have been a DSA member since 2014. I was on the electoral committees in MoCo in 2018 and 2022, and I am the current and founding treasurer of the MDC DSA Solidarity campaign. I am also Josie Caballero’s treasurer. I rise in support of endorsing her.
I got to know Josie while working closely with DSA cadre leaders in MoCo in Gaithersburg this past summer. And I’ve been so impressed by her integrity, her courage, her experience, and her determination to live out democratic socialist values.
Josie would be the first transgender legislator in Maryland history at a time trans people are under unprecedented attack. Our community was dragged to the Supreme Court over this by homophobic and transphobic bigots who wanted to stop our schools from teaching basic tolerance. We know the importance of solidarity here.
And so does Josie. She is a longtime democratic socialist, organizing a 3,000-person march for Bernie Sanders in November 2015, a time when being an open socialist was politically costly. She was a Bernie national delegate in 2016 and 2020.
She is a policy wonk, but her wonkiness is based on democratic socialist values. She’s made regular full funding of social services a keystone of her campaign. She recognizes the danger of austerity, and that’s why she was endorsed by our labor allies in MCEA.
She has supported efforts like rent stabilization in MoCo and supporting DSA-endorsed candidates like Omo Williams. She wants DSA to use her endorsement as an opportunity to grow, to train and recruit new members.
And democratic socialist is key to who she is. Most of us do not choose our own names – but she did. And when she chose her name, she chose the middle name of Rose. Because she always wants to remember Rosa Luxemburg and her adage: the workers must have bread, but they must have roses too.
Please vote to endorse Josie Caballero. Thank you.