DFA announces $500,000 initiative to build progressive power, confront Trump in America’s cities

DFA’s Jim Dean: “More important than ever” to “build our own wall of resistance” in cities

Today, Democracy for America (DFA) announced a new initiative to invest half a million dollars in progressive municipal candidates across the country, transforming America’s cities into bastions of resistance against the Trump regime.

“As Donald Trump tries to advance his broken and bigoted agenda, DFA is expanding our investment in the next generation of progressive leaders who will help ensure that our country’s local governments are more reflective and responsive to every member of their communities.

“We will help these leaders win election to school boards, transit boards, county commissions, and city councils across the country, where they will welcome immigrants, enact policies that make it clear that Black Lives Matter, and create vibrant local economies where every American can build lives that are safe, thriving, and free.

“Cities can’t be an afterthought for major Democratic institutions, and they can’t be an old boys network of the corporate Wall Street wing. Our cities must be the labs of progressive policy where we can make a real difference in people’s lives. DFA has long supported leaders running for municipal office, but, in the era of Trump, we’re redoubling our efforts because it’s more important than ever to build our own wall of resistance leaders in city governments nationwide.”- Jim Dean, Chair of Democracy for America

This new initiative will build on DFA’s recent successes to identify, recruit, train, staff, and elect a new generation of city officials - mayors, city council leaders, school board members, state’s attorneys and more - who are ready to fight for racial and economic justice through winning people-powered campaigns. It will focus on investing in progressive leaders of color.

DFA yesterday announced its first municipal endorsement of the year, Tishaura Jones for Mayor of St. Louis. The emerging leaders DFA has previously helped elect to municipal offices include Mayor Michael Tubbs of Stockton, CA; Vice Mayor Regina Romero of Tucson, AZ;  and City Councillor Helen Gym of Philadelphia, PA.

The program will include specific investments in border municipalities, building a “resistance wall” ready to combat discrimination against immigrants, refugees, Muslims, LGBTQ people, and communities of color. The initiative will also feature:

• On-the-ground trainings in target locations - based on the renowned Campaign Academy curricula, DFA’s intensive trainings allow participants to run grassroots campaigns by building core skills such as messaging, field organizing, fundraising and more.
• City-focused versions of DFA’s virtual Night Schools, which trained more 26,000 people in 2015 and 2016 alone.

Democracy for America is a member-driven, people-powered progressive PAC with more than one million members nationwide committed to taking on income inequality, money in politics, and structural racism.

Since its 2004 founding, DFA members have raised and contributed more than $40 million and made more than 11.1 million volunteer calls to help successfully elect 907 progressive candidates nationwide.