Chicago DSA and the national DSA organization have not endorsed Daniel Biss’s campaign at this time.

Chicago Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, a member of the Chicago chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, was announced as Democratic gubernatorial candidate Daniel Biss’s running mate at a campaign event held August 31 in Ramirez-Rosa’s home 35th Ward.

“There’s something much more powerful than money and political machines, and that’s organized people,” Ramirez-Rosa said at the event.

Chicago DSA congratulates Ramirez-Rosa on the nomination and the opportunity it represents to fight for democratic-socialist values at the state level. As alderman for Chicago’s 35th Ward, Ramirez-Rosa has demonstrated his commitment to these values through his community defense committees designed to protect neighbors from deportation and his support for publicly financed elections, a Civilian Police Accountability Council, and participatory budgeting for his ward’s funds.

Ramirez-Rosa’s commitment to democratic-socialist values is not just talk but something he practices in the community. The team of volunteers at independent political organization United Neighbors of the 35th Ward regularly canvasses the community on his behalf, soliciting ideas from voters and empowering neighbors to become “co-creators of the communities in which they live.”

This campaign is just the latest of many DSA electoral actions in 2017. Many DSA members have run successful campaigns for public office this year, including Rock Island, IL, Alderman Dylan Parker, South Fulton, GA, City Councilman khalid kamau, and Jackson, MS, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba. If Ramirez-Rosa were to win the election on November 6, 2018, he would become DSA’s highest-ranked official in state government anywhere in the country.

DSA is not a political party but a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that seeks to spread democratic socialism through community organizing, activism, and electoral work. The organization has more than 25,000 members representing more than 100 chapters in 49 states and the District of Columbia.