Chicago recently made international headlines for the victories of six — six!! — members of the Democratic Socialists of America running for city council. It’s an astonishing victory, the biggest socialist victory in any American city in probably a century.

These victories matter both for Chicago, which has seen growing working-class pushback to neoliberalism in recent years, but also for socialist organizers in cities around the country, who can learn from how Chicago won so many elections on a left platform.

One of the six victors in the April elections was Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, who represents Chicago's 35th Ward, a gentrifying area on the city’s northwest side. Carlos was the only incumbent socialist city council member (or “alderman”); despite being attacked repeatedly by the area’s wealthy real-estate developers, he won re-election comfortably.

You can read my interview with Carlos from two years ago, when he was kicked off a gubernatorial ticket for his support of Palestine (which we mention in our discussion) here:

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/09/carlos-rosa-chicago-bds-democratic-party

And you can read my piece in the Guardian on the Chicago electoral victories here:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/03/americas-socialist-surge-chicago