Although I have a deep respect for David Schartzman’s contributions to social and economic justice in DC, I will be voting against Metro DC DSA endorsing his campaign for one of the DC Council’s at-large seats.
My rationale for not voting to endorse David is rooted in my belief that our DSA chapter should only endorse in races where we have a chance to be the difference. This doesn’t mean that I’ll only support endorsing candidates who are “viable” (whatever that means) or guaranteed to win their races (e.g., incumbents, broad consensus candidates, etc). Instead, I think our chapter is best poised to deploy our limited resources—like volunteer time, expertise, and small dollar donations—in cases where those resources or the lack thereof will mean either victory or defeat for a candidate.
As there is an extremely low likelihood that David will win this race, regardless of whether our chapter endorses him—and despite the fact that I will be casting my vote for him in November—I will vote against endorsing David, and I urge fellow chapter members to do the same.