Member Statements on EER10: Endorsement of Imara Crooms for Prince George’s County Council District 9
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 Imara Crooms. The PEC’s full recommendation and analysis can be found here.
In the last Democratic Primary for Prince George’s County Council District 9, the outgoing term-limited Councilmember Sydney J. Harrison won with 13,854 votes (66.97%), and previously won in an 8-way race in 2018 with 7,125 votes (34.5%%). At time of writing, there are two other candidates who have filed to run, Tamara Davis Brown and Sherman Hardy.
District 9 spans a vast and largely rural area, but has a few key population centers, including a few overlapping precincts with Maryland State Senate District 23 (where the PEC has recommended endorsing Raaheela Ahmed). In those overlapping precincts, there are approximately 16-19k registered voters, and the PEC strongly recommends that our canvassing operation limits the voter universe to this area and does multiple passes to benefit both candidates. Imara is also rightly excited to be among the first candidates in the county to run using the Fair Election Fund, which has faced the prospect of cutbacks in recent budget cycles. Given the geography and size of the district and Imara’s eligibility for public matching funds, the PEC strongly recommends an early push for member-to-member phonebanking and other methods to ensure he is a competitive fundraiser.
Endorsing campaigns and candidates in Prince George’s County has made the branch a significant area of growth in the chapter, and exhibits the kind of party-building the PEC would like to continue building on moving forward – from the formation of the branch to Uncommitted MD, targeting MD Reproductive Freedom Amendment canvassing in District 5 in anticipation of Shayla’s special election and then winning in that election, and most recently electing cadre candidate Frankie Fritz in Greenbelt. If Imara wins his election (and joins incumbent Councilmember Shayla Adams Stafford) after this cycle, the Prince George’s County Branch would not only further solidify a progressive majority but also establish a socialist bloc on the county council for the first time. This will be a competitive, open race in fairly new terrain for the electoral program, but one worth fighting to run and elect a longtime cadre member and leader in the chapter in District 9.
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 Prince George’s Branch Steering Committee has submitted a recommendation IN FAVOR.
Imara has been a longtime member of the chapter, and joined the Defund MPD campaign in MDC DSA. Imara was also a previous elected member of Chapter Steering and has done a lot of work across multiple working groups and formations in DSA.
From what we have heard from older and new members Imara is a boon to work with. He has spearheaded political education programming in our chapter, did multiple “How To Organize” trainings with multiple working groups in previous years, and worked extensively on the creation of the PG County Abolition working group. We can’t think of anyone more qualified to talk about socialism in such complex terrain.
Imara’s campaign has a lot of potential. It shows us we can stand by our principles of abolition and socialism into the boonies of PG County. It’s a bold stance, and by endorsing him we are carrying the flag alongside him.
This seat may be difficult to win but we shouldn’t underestimate the sheer amount of determination that Imara has shown during his campaigns. The PG branch is clear-eyed about the challenges, and is united on a program that we do what is necessary to win this seat. Regardless of difficulty, an investment in one of our cadre leaders and in building bridges in South County is not something that we can ignore. The potentials and fundamentals are there, let’s endorse Imara Crooms for County Council.
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 IN FAVOR of endorsing Imara Crooms. The caucus’ full writeup and analysis can be found here.
Imara is a longtime chapter cadre and a former member of the chapter’s Steering Committee. We wholeheartedly trust Imara, we believe MDC DSA can power a win here, and we think this is a race that fits the branch’s strategy of building power on the County Council. We strongly recommend endorsing Imara.
IN FAVOR by Aparna R
I’m voting yes to endorse Imara Crooms for Prince George’s County Council. I’ve known Imara for several years, and served on steering with him in 2023. He was a valuable member of that committee, bringing a key perspective as both a branch leader and organizer. He’s a deeply sensitive, deeply principled comrade, and I know he’ll bring those qualities to public office. He’s a longtime member of the chapter and unambiguously a democratic socialist, exactly the kind of cadre candidate we want to be building our electoral program around.
I’m confident in both Imara’s integrity as a socialist leader and in his ability to win and to govern. He can win this race, strengthening our bloc on the PG County Council. There’s already a progressive majority on the council, thanks to the campaign of DSA-endorsed Councilmember Shayla Adams-Stafford, but we have an opportunity to move the Council to make life more affordable for everyone in Prince George’s County, from social housing to labor protections to data center regulations. Just like my race, though, it’s going to take a huge volunteer effort to win. So please vote to endorse Imara!
IN FAVOR by Mina/Nat S
As with Aparna, I will keep it short and sweet: Imara is dedicated chapter cadre, a former member of the chapter’s Steering Committee. In every single interaction I’ve ever had with him going back several years, he is everything you would want a socialist to be: dedicated, strategic, compassionate, levelheaded, with a strong political lens. We don’t have to worry whether or not Imara will uphold our political lines, because he came out of us; he is one of us. It won’t be a walk in the park, but this race is a good race for him and for our chapter – it is winnable and Imara has a strong plan to win. I am incredibly excited that a region like Prince George’s County, one which is very important to socialism in our metro region and especially to our DSA chapter, has the opportunity to vote and canvass for such a solid cadre member of our chapter.
Having Imara running in this race makes me confident that the future of DSA in Prince George’s County will continue to be bright for the coming election cycle. Vote YES to endorse Imara!
IN FAVOR by Julia P
Imara is a strong cadre candidate who’s served in chapter leadership, and I think this race will be great opportunity for the PG branch to keep their recent electoral winning streak going.
IN FAVOR by Stuart K
Imara Crooms is a cadre Metro DC DSA member who has spent significant time in chapter and working group leadership, which is exactly the type of candidate we should be endorsing in electoral campaigns. Therefore, I urge fellow chapter members to vote YES to endorse Imara Crooms’s candidacy for the Prince George’s County Council.
IN FAVOR by Joe R
This year I had the opportunity to interact with more DSA candidates and elected officials than I ever have while serving the chapter’s Political Engagement Committee, and nothing compares to the experience of having a comrade you know and trust be in one of those positions. The future of DSA runs through the cadre we recruit and develop through years of struggle, some of whom will run for office and help us win and wield state power. That’s why Imara is one of the two candidates I’m most excited about (alongside Aparna Raj). We should all be ten toes down for him — donating, calling/texting, and most importantly, canvassing! Join me in voting YES to our next cadre candidate and elected officials in Prince George’s County.
IN FAVOR by Samuel M
Imara’s leadership skills and impact within DSA alone would convince to me support an endorsement; I also think it’s valuable for DSA to maintain involvement in PGC during a busy DC election year
IN FAVOR by Carl R
Comrades, I urge you to vote FOR the endorsement of Imara Crooms.
I served with Imara on the chapter steering committee. During that time, I saw him regularly make well thought out, considered decisions; stand firm and dialogue effectively across political lines in the chapter; and spend his time, even when it meant working around his newborn’s schedule, in vital organizing tasks. He’s the real deal: he’s one of us. Imara’s race (just like Aparna’s, and Frankie’s earlier this year) is the point of our electoral work: putting DSA organizers into office to lead with DSA’s values.
Imara’s race is also winnable. He has a clear cut idea of how he’ll get to his win number, how DSA fits into that plan, and has been doing the personal work since June 2025 to make it happen. He’s thought about it seriously and set achievable goals. He’s thought through the different possibilities for the race and how to handle them (e.g. different numbers of candidates). With the recent upswing in electoral work in PG County - Frankie’s election, Shayla Adams-Stafford, and Question 1 - this is a race where we can win.
Comrades, vote FOR Imara’s endorsement!
IN FAVOR by Thomas S
I am writing in strong support of Metro DSA’s potential endorsement of Imara Crooms in his race for the District 9 seat on Prince George’s County Council. I first met Imara in 2022 when I made the leap from being a long-time paper member to an active member of the Prince George’s County Branch. Since then, Imara has consistently impressed me with his thoughtfulness, commitment to our shared values, ability to connect with a wide range of people, and willingness to do the work. The first two traits convince me that Imara will be outstanding council member for the residents of District 9 while the latter two convince me that he has what it takes to win. Imara will be (and is already proving to be) a success on the doors, and he will most assuredly be on the doors.
Some have noted that District 9 - in contrast to District 5 which Shayla Adams Stafford represents and other north county districts like 2 and 3 (where no one sought our endorsement) - is not the most favorable terrain for a DSA-backed candidacy. While there are aspects of the district that are legitimately challenging for us (more on those momentarily), I do think that some of those concerns are overblown and stem from the disconnect between how Prince George’s County residents talk about the County and how the County is positioned in regional context. Simply put: District 9 is not rich, upper middle-class or anything of the sort. It does have the highest median household income of any district in Prince George’s County, but, in light of the predatory racial capitalism that shapes our region, income levels are, for example, substantially lower than in Fairfax or Loudoun Counties (as a whole, not cherry-picking the wealthiest parts) and on a par with Montgomery County (again as a whole).
This dichotomy points toward an opportunity: the system that one might assume is working for District 9 residents based on a superficial scan of the built environment actually deeply fails the majority of middle-class Black homeowners who live there. They may have the security of tenure that renters lack (though they didn’t during the foreclosure crisis and the Great Recession), but they don’t have the near-guarantee of speculative returns experienced by homeowners in other parts of the region. Unlike their counterparts who - sometimes for better or sometimes for worse - may have an effective NIMBY veto over a wide range of development plans, they are largely ignored - as most Black communities are - in planning processes (or, in a classic Prince George’s County pattern, they are listened to in the planning process but planning documents are subsequently ignored). District 9 residents face a precarity that it would be very challenging for white homeowners in the region’s majority-white suburbs to imagine.
It likely won’t make sense to lead with tenants’ rights in making the pitch to District 9 voters, but they themselves won’t be the source of pressure for Imara to abandon his commitment to tenants. Organized real estate capital would be, but we know that, between the values that we have seen Imara live up to as a cadre member of the chapter and branch and the fact that he is relying on our new public financing system, Imara can resist that pressure. We also know that on a range of issues from transportation to other infrastructure to the environment to community safety, Imara has a message that will resonate.
The toughest part of District 9 isn’t the class composition of its voters, it is that it can be challenging for DSA members who don’t have cars to get there. Depending on canvass locations, we can solve for that a bit, whether it is ferrying members from Branch Avenue to canvasses in Clinton, arranging for carpooling from origin points in D.C., or having members who are driving down from north county pick up folks in New Carrollton or Largo (or wherever else makes sense). Members from outside of Prince George’s should also be aware that the vast majority of our members in the Branch have cars. This is a real logistical challenge, but we have the wherewithal to overcome it.
This might also be an especially daunting race if Imara were running against incumbent or against a single opponent with very clear establishment backing. That isn’t the case here. We have a divided, chaotic field that will give Imara a window of opportunity to consolidate the progressive lane while centrists flail about.
We really need Imara now because his vote - even though it may seem like it would push a 6-5 progressive majority to 7-4 - will shift the balance of power on key issues. Almost inevitably, some of our erstwhile progressive allies have started to crack at times as their power has increased over the past six months. Having Imara at the left flank of the Council, an even more reliable vote than Shayla, will be critical for ensuring that the Council majority does not lose the plot.
I urge folks to vote yes on Imara’s endorsement!
IN FAVOR by Ken B
Comrades, I am writing to you today to encourage a YES vote on endorsing Imara Crooms for Prince George’s County Council. Imara is a long time chapter leader and exactly the sort of candidate our Chapter Program calls for us to run. A leader in abolition work and a steering veteran, I know that we can trust Imara to serve a strong left pole on the PG County Council and that endorsing him will help build popular power and lay the groundwork for a socialist majority on the council in years to come, as we already have one incumbent elected, Shayla Adams Stafford. Our coalition in PGC has been fractured recently due to many unions taking an opportunistic, if rational and understandable, position on the construction of data centers that threaten the health and comfort of many working class PG residents, and getting Imara on the council will provide Shayla with a strong and reliable partner to press on this issue.
This is not to say Imara’s race will be a walk in the park–it may be one of our most challenging this cycle, due to a relatively rural and wealthier district with many homeowners and a lack of available capacity from DC to bolster efforts in the branches. However, it also presents us with opportunities to build where we haven’t before, and to pull in additional resources from regions we have not been able to effectively mobilize for electoral work. Imara’s district is closer to Northern Virginia than it is to much of DC and Maryland, and it should be possible to arrange carpools from Nova to canvas, as the only potential endorsement in Virginia is a congressional campaign in VA-10 that would not be winnable and in which we are not positioned to make a decisive intervention. This will allow for Nova electoral organizers to gain valuable experience canvassing and organizing carpool logistics, which will be invaluable if the chapter endorses the “Yes on All 3” ballot measure campaign to protect abortion rights and gay marriage as well as restore voting rights to felons.
We must continue to build in Prince George’s County and endorsing cadre socialists like Imara is the way to do it, so once again I urge you all to vote YES!
IN FAVOR by Tim S
Focusing on endorsing cadre candidates is an important tactic for ensuring that electeds are loyal to our line in office: we know what people who have been organizing with us for a long time believe, we know what they’ve accomplished in that organizing, and we know what they’re running on, so we can be confident that they’ll keep doing the same thing in office. Similarly, running for low win number races where victory meaningfully alters the composition of an important body is strategic for us, since it lets us flex our advantage – door knocking with volunteers – to maximal effect. In Imara’s case, both of these conditions are very clearly true: he’s a longtime member, with a strong record of organizing in our abolition work, through AfroSoc, and on the Steering Committee, and he’s running in a winnable district that will extend the progressive majority on the Prince George’s County Council, which governs nearly a million people. Our recently-passed Chapter Program directs us to focus on races and candidates just like this – it’s a part of our official strategy. This is a winnable race, for a strategic seat, with a strong cadre candidate; it’s an easy case for endorsement, please join me in voting yes.
I served on the 2023 steering committee with Imara, and his service there makes me very confident in his cadre status and his reliability as a principled socialist in office. Throughout our term, Imara was really focused on empowering members and resolving conflicts, in combination where possible, through developing, executing, and encouraging member trainings, and keeping disagreements principled. We didn’t always agree, but he consistently acted in good faith and assumed the same from others, and that sets him up very well both to govern as a principled socialist, and to handle the pressures that come from our democratic organization as a socialist in office. Our chapter is in no danger of seeing a significant shift from our values once Imara takes office, which in turn sets us up to do productive co-governance with him, which both helps to build our chapter and helps to mobilize our people to ensure that his agenda passes and is implemented.
This race will be difficult but it’s also eminently winnable! Imara has started fundraising and canvassing already, and the PGC branch is fired up to elect a second cadre candidate: there is capacity to knock the doors needed to win this race, even with DC comrades being occupied with several contests in their own territory. The win number of approximately 7,000 is of course larger than the number in Frankie’s race, but we have more time to reach it, the benefit of matching funds for in-district donors, and the advantage of an open race. We are quite capable of knocking enough doors, and raising enough money, to get Imara over the finish line, and we should absolutely endorse him and then do just that. It won’t be easy – this territory is much harder to canvass than Ward 1 or Ward 5 in DC – so I urge everyone voting yes to think hard about where else we can endorse while preserving capacity for this key race, but we can win here, and add an additional socialist to PG county council. This is a great opportunity to enhance our bloc in a strategic location, so let’s get together and do it!
IN FAVOR by Giancarlo V
I only met Imara at the new member fair before the November General Body Meeting, but just two hours later I was ready to knock doors for him. Between the time that I started a short conversation with him about an arrest I walked past where I saw federal agent involvement, to the time that he left the happy hour we had both gone to, it was crystal clear that with his every breath he exudes the best qualities of being a DSA member and organiser. And from reading his platform and having a short conversation with him during that happy hour, it was also very apparent that he translates this to policy as well. Particularly of interest to me is the transportation section of his platform. Although it’s short, it hits all the right notes, and talks about the experiences that make our current transportation system unaffordable, unpleasant, and unsustainable. I will be voting to endorse him, and I look forward to seeing more of his district in Prince George’s County to knock doors for him next year as a chapter-endorsed candidate.
IN FAVOR by Brandon W
I support endorsing Imara Crooms for Prince George’s County Council District 9 because of the opportunity to continue building socialist power on the Prince George’s County Council that will make a difference for Prince George’s County residents. Imara has been an active member of the chapter for six years in addition to serving in leadership and will continue fighting in Prince George’s County for working people. To help continue building off our momentum of electing Shayla Adams-Stafford to the County Council & Frankie Santos Fritz’s election to Greenbelt City Council, I urge my comrades to vote in favor of endorsing Imara Crooms.
IN FAVOR by Kurtis H
Our chapter’s endorsement of Imara Crooms would represent a step of maturity for our chapter. We would not only be maturing our position in Prince George’s County, where Crooms would serve alongside previously endorsed elected Shayla Adams and in-county with endorsed elected Frankie Fritz, we would also be furthering our development towards more cadre-focused campaigns. His endorsement, alongside that of Aparna and Frankie (from last cycle) would offer a strong showing of cadre candidates in our chapter. Having proudly served alongside Imara on our chapter’s Steering Committee, I have seen his dedication to our vision of collective liberation and his thoughtful and intentional approach to the practical “how” questions. While he and I may not always agree on the answers to those questions, I have never doubted his respect for the difference of opinion, for his interlocutors as humans, and for the chapter as an institution and vehicle for collective decision making. I urge you to join me in voting YES for his endorsement!
IN FAVOR by Dieter LM
My name is Dieter Lehmann Morales, and I am writing in full, unapologetic support of Imara for Prince George’s County Council in the 9th Council District.
Imara and I served together on the Steering Committee, and we organized side-by-side in the DSA Multiracial Organizing Committee. And I can say clearly: Imara does not treat multiracial organizing as a slogan — they treat it as a discipline. The discipline of showing up, building trust, and fighting for a working class that is as diverse as it is powerful.
Prince George’s County is majority working class, majority people of color, and rich with organizing history — from tenant fights to labor struggles to immigrant justice campaigns. District 9 deserves a councilmember who comes from that organizing tradition, not from the developer pipeline. That is exactly what Imara represents.
ThIs endorsement represents a real choice. Are we going to stay comfortable — or are we going to build the mass, multiracial, working-class movement this political moment demands?
Because there is no path to power that does not run through the full multiracial working class. And that path requires real investment in organizing, leadership development, and candidates who are rooted in movement — not ambition.
On Steering, Imara proved they are exactly that kind of leader. They brought rigor. They brought accountability. And they never lost sight of who this organization is meant to serve.
I urge you to vote to endorse Imara for Prince George’s County Council, District 9 — and to vote for the bold organizing vision before us.
Let’s choose growth. Let’s choose discipline. Let’s choose power.
IN FAVOR by Guido V
Comrades, I urge you to vote in favor of endorsing Imara Crooms for Prince George’s County Council District 9.
IN FAVOR by Emily N
Comrades, I’m writing to urge you to vote to endorse Imara Crooms in his race for PG County Council.
There are many reasons our chapter should support Imara. In recent years, the PG County Council has often led the region in advancing progressive policy, and Imara’s leadership would only strengthen and deepen that trajectory. This race is also a crucial opportunity to continue building out our PG County Branch – fresh off our win electing Frankie Santos Fritz to the Greenbelt City Council. And, as with Frankie’s campaign, Imara’s candidacy represents the next step in our political development as an organization: our people running to win, and to govern with power and purpose.
But what excites me most about supporting this campaign is the experience of serving alongside Imara on chapter leadership last year. Imara leads with grace, kindness, and a profound commitment to integrity. His ability to organize and move people across differences will be a tremendous asset as he builds power with fellow electeds and constituents alike.
I hope you will join me in voting to endorse our comrade Imara Crooms, so we can continue growing our movement across PG County and throughout the region.