Tiffany McCoy

Yeah, Seattle DSA was critical. We would not have won Initiative 135, the previous initiative [to create the Seattle Social Housing Developer, passed in 2023], without DSA, and we would not have won Prop 1A with the margin of victory we did without DSA. DSA serves on the steering committee of the campaign.

Speaking as a former member of a different socialist party, DSA is a socialist organization that does believe in, let’s call it a popular front — or it believes in mass movements and that it has a role to play, without it being its way or the highway. There are some socialist groups that very much think, if you do not theoretically agree with us 99 percent of the way, we can’t work together. What’s amazing about DSA is it has its principles and its beliefs, and it works in coalitions to make the lives of working people better across the board.

I think what other DSA chapters and other community organizations around the nation can take from this is that we do have power. We do not have to rely on [elected officials] to make change. If you have the ability to run ballot initiatives in your states, look into running a ballot initiative.

That doesn’t mean that it’s easy, or it doesn’t cost money, or it’s not a ton of work. But especially under a Trump administration that is slashing funding for some of our most basic needs, we have to come together and find ways to make the world better on our own.