Dates and deadlines

• Early voting period: October 18 – October 29
• Deadline to request mail-in ballot: November 1
• Deadline to receive mail-in ballot: November 4
• Election Day: November 5

• Introduction
• Statewide
• Orleans Parish
• President of the United States
• Appendix

Introduction

The Democratic Socialists of America are fighting to win a world organized and governed by and for the vast majority, the working class. We are socialist because we share a vision of a humane social order based on popular control of resources and production, economic planning, equitable distribution, feminism, racial equality and non-oppressive relationships. We are democratic because we know that this transformation cannot be won from the top down, by a small group of elites who claim to have all the answers, or by even well-meaning politicians. This transformation can only come from the bottom up, when millions of working-class people stand together. DSA organizes to realize our working-class collective power, which stems from the reliance of the capitalist economy on our labor. Democracy is necessary to win a socialist society. Socialism is the complete realization of democracy.

Join New Orleans DSA in building a future for the people and not for profit. Read more here in our national platform and our national political program Workers Deserve More! 

Our chapter democratically debates and votes on any endorsements and recommendations that members propose. We explain the difference between endorsements and recommendations in the appendix at the end of this guide.

The socialist movement in America is at a crossroads. On one hand, we see more and more DSA candidates running for local office and getting elected across the country and Louisiana. Unionizing efforts have grown total union membership nationally, and tenant organizing is taking off all around the country. Palestinian solidarity has brought new members into DSA and other socialist organizations, and coalition building around a ceasefire and BDS are building valuable relationships on a local and national level. On the other hand, two of DSA’s members in Congress were defeated in primaries by AIPAC-funded challengers. The attempts to push Biden and Harris left on most domestic and international policies have failed, and right wing reactionary sentiment is gaining more institutional power. Union density continues to go down as cost of living and homelessness rise. Significant portions of both parties passed a Congressional resolution condemning the “horrors of socialism.” Anti-communist rhetoric fuels the punishing blockades of Cuba and Venezuela, while a sharp increase in economic warfare on China limits our country’s ability to increase solar retention or have electric cars that don’t explode or drive you into a lake. The genocide in Gaza has extended beyond a year and grows into a mass displacement of people in Lebanon and more killings in the illegally occupied West Bank. We must remain hopeful while acknowledging the decay of capitalism.

British author and communist R. P. Dutt once described fascism as “a weapon of finance capital, utilizing the support of the middle class, of the slum proletariat and demoralized working-class elements against the organized working class, but throughout, acting as the instrument and effective representative of finance capital.” Your ballot features candidates in both major parties at a federal and state level who continue to be bought by Wall Street and other corporate interests, selling the lie of the middle class American Dream and neglecting our demands for universal health care, college debt forgiveness, stopping our reliance on oil and gas, and an end to funding genocide. Your vote alone will not stop fascism.

Now more than ever, join an organization like DSA to focus your energy and passion towards collaborating and learning with your community. Join us so we can build a better society together. We have nothing to lose but our chains!

Statewide

US Representative 1st Congressional District

New Orleans DSA recommends Mel Manuel for Congress. For several years, Mel Manuel has been actively developing a competitive Democratic Party in St. Tammany Parish to challenge more reactionary Republican candidates. This includes cofounding Queer Northshore, which hosted its first Pride parade in St. Tammany Parish this year, and working with St. Tammany Library Alliance to speak out against book bans and censorship in libraries. From Manuel: ”As a trans, queer public school teacher, activist and parent, I am focused on fighting for public policy that encourages a much higher quality of life for everyone. This includes advocating for Universal Basic Income, a single payer healthcare system, LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive rights, diversified representation, free speech in our public libraries, legalizing marijuana and significantly more funding for all stages of education.” If elected, Manuel would be the first nonbinary and the first trans candidate to be elected to Congress from the South. Manuel is an elected member of the DSCC (the state Democratic Party’s main body) and represents the 1st congressional district on the state Democrats executive committee. They are endorsed by the Louisiana Democratic Party, Forum for Equality, Voters Organized to Educate (VOTE), Center for Freethought Equality, Committee to Protect Health Care, and Gun Sense Voters.

The incumbent “David Duke without the baggage” Steve Scalise is the Republican leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2002, then-State Representative Scalise spoke to a white supremacist group called the “European-American Unity and Rights Organization” affiliated with KKK leader David Duke. In 2023, following the Speaker McCarthy ouster and House GOP implosion, Majority Leader Scalise failed to secure the speakership, which eventually went to fellow Louisianan Mike Johnson. He has a 9% lifetime score for labor issues from the AFL-CIO, a 0 rating on abortion rights from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, a 0 rating on LGBTQ+ equality from the Human Rights Campaign, and a 4% lifetime rating on environmental matters from the League of Conservation Voters, but an A+ rating from the NRA. In the past two years, he has received over $200,000 from AIPAC and over $150,000 from the National Association of Realtors. 

In his Ballotpedia response, former naval airman Randall Steven “Randy” Arrington (R) writes, “The United States of America is currently engaged in a Revolutionary War against Marxist Traitors who control almost all the levers of power in our country.” If only, Randy. Arrington has denied Trump’s 2020 loss, argued that January 6th was planned by Communist Revolutionaries, and called climate change a “Cultural Marxist scam.” He believes Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are “a pair of devout Marxists.” Curiously, he joined SAG-AFTRA’s picket line in 2023. In 2010, he ran as a Republican for California’s 53rd Congressional District (now-defunct). At the time of this writing, he has not filed a campaign finance report with the Federal Elections Commission.

J. “Frankie” Hyers (No Party) has unsuccessfully run as a Republican for an at-large Jefferson Parish Council seat in 2023 and state senate in 2019. His website spends a large portion of real estate and attention on proportional representation in Congress, but provides no platform. Though he’s a resident of Jefferson Parish, Hyers argued at New Orleans City Council that increasing the minimum wage will benefit the wealthy more than working people.

Ross Shales is a Metairie Republican who works in real estate and insurance. His top platform position is supporting grants or tax breaks for hurricane-proofing Louisiana homes, increased financial support for job training, and term limits for members of Congress. He opposes Project 2025 and argues for more immigration in Louisiana to stimulate the economy. Unlike some of his GOP peers, he supports limited gun regulation. He supports an abortion ban after 21 weeks, with exceptions for health of the mother or viability of the fetus. At the time of this writing, he has not filed a campaign finance report with the Federal Elections Commission.

US Representative 2nd Congressional District

New Orleans DSA voted unanimously to endorse our member Devin Davis (D) for Congressional District 2. Davis most recently served as political director for formerly incarcerated persons’ advocacy organization VOTE, and ran for the Democratic State Central Committee on the BlueReboot slate against sitting state Senator Royce Duplessis. Davis is a New Orleans native who has been an active organizer for much of his life, primarily in racial and economic justice. His campaign is built around a collection of progressive pillars including environmental justice, the housing and insurance crisis, and justice in Palestine. We are also very happy to report that Devin Davis received the endorsement of National DSA, the first candidate in Louisiana to score that achievement. 

Davis has roots in St. John the Baptist Parish, where several members of his family worked in petrochemical plants in the heart of Cancer Alley. Like many neighbors to petrochemical plants and other plant workers, he has lost family members to cancer as a result of petrochemical pollution. This personal experience drives his campaign’s focus on environmental issues, and his platform includes detailed plans for economic redevelopment and a just transition to end Cancer Alley while reinvesting in the communities that have been desecrated and poisoned by pollution and industrial overdevelopment. He is the only candidate to pledge to refuse campaign contributions from petrochemical companies and executives, to support a moratorium on new petrochemical development in Cancer Alley, and to pursue financial reparations for individuals and communities who have suffered health and environmental harms at the hands of the oil and gas industry.

Davis took the unique approach of centering in his campaign a detailed policy proposal for a federal disaster insurance program, “Insuring Our Future,” as a means of combating the housing affordability crisis driven by home insurance rates skyrocketing as a result of increasingly frequent and destructive natural disasters brought on by the climate crisis. The plan is ambitious and serious beyond any other policy proposal tackling the issue of home insurance, which most local, state, and federal politicians have either ignored or deflected in favor of coddling private insurers in exchange for favorable treatment and campaign contributions. In addition to refusing contributions from the petrochemical industry, Davis explicitly refuses contributions from insurance companies, as well as all corporate entities generally.

Moreso than any other candidate for perhaps any other race on your ballot, Davis has embraced calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and weapons embargo on Israel as a key plank of his campaign platform. Davis has called Israel’s war on the Palestinian people what it is – genocide – and he does not shy away from advocacy for Palestine and Palestinians locally and abroad. 

While he refrained from offering an endorsement for President Joe Biden while Biden was still in the race, shortly after Biden’s withdrawal, Davis endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. As a result, local Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions organization New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports quietly withdrew their endorsement for Davis. Neither this chapter of DSA nor the national organization for DSA have any official position, endorsement, or recommendation for president, beyond opposition to Donald Trump.

Davis has also been endorsed by VOTE and Sunrise New Orleans. His coalition is built around grassroots environmental justice activists, young progressives, legal justice reform advocates, and Palestinian solidarity activists opposed to the incumbent’s at-best noncommittal and avoidant position on the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people, a position better characterized as supportive of and catering to anti-Palestinian and Zionist lobby organizations such as AIPAC. 

Our chapter is proud to support Devin Davis because he has demonstrated a commitment to movement-first campaigning and long-term organizing to reinvent the electoral environment in New Orleans. Many of the city’s most prominent political positions, above all the Congressional seat for District 2, have been held in the hands of decrepit and morally bankrupt political machines helmed by acolytes of elite establishment Democrats with little commitment to systemic change, and Davis’s primary opponent and current incumbent is no exception. Davis’s candidacy represents an unprecedented opportunity to strike a blow against that political establishment that has held back our city for decades. The process of building a better future takes a long time, and incorporates many avenues for action beyond the electoral realm, and we believe that Devin Davis has a long-term commitment to that work, that vision, and our common project: a New Orleans, a United States, and a planet liberated from the constraints of capitalism, of colonialism, of bigotry of all kinds, and of profit-driven environmental destruction. Devin Davis is the candidate worthy of representing our city.

In contrast, incumbent Congressman Troy Carter (D) is eager to have the support of all of the corporate interests making life in Louisiana so much more difficult. When he first ran for his position to replace his political mentor Cedric Richmond in 2021, he had pledged, along with all of his Democrat opponents, to reject fossil fuel contributions. Carter has broken that promise. 

His contributors include Nucor, which illegally and surreptitiously poisoned their neighbors in St. James Parish with the gaseous equivalent of battery acid; Entergy, which you surely know and love to hate; and AIPAC, the main Zionist lobby organization cheerleading the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. AIPAC has had a chilling influence on US criticism of that genocide. DSA’s own Congresswoman Cori Bush lost to a bad faith primary challenger this year thanks in large part to AIPAC funding. Troy Carter doesn’t care how dirty the money funding his campaign is. All that matters to him is keeping his position of power and influence, which he uses to enrich himself and his cronies rather than improve the lives of his constituents.

Troy Carter loves to flatter and talk out of both sides of his mouth. Instead of actually supporting the Congressional ceasefire resolution, Carter wrote a “letter of concern” to President Biden so he could tout his supposed support for a ceasefire, and then promptly dropped the issue entirely. He pays the most meager lip service to his Palestinian constituents – and it should be noted that his district is among the most heavily Palestinian in the south – but cares nothing for their cause. Meanwhile, he stood and clapped for war criminal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he was invited to address a joint session of Congress and said he needed more weapons to “finish the job” in Gaza. Carter is happily aiding and abetting genocide, and the only problem he has with that is people bothering him about it. He doesn’t want to get involved, he doesn’t want to do the moral thing, he hardly even wants to do his job. He felt entitled to the seat his mentor bequeathed him. Troy Carter represents everything wrong with the political establishment in New Orleans. He feels as though you owe him, not the other way around, and you better not expect him to actually stand for anything. 

Christy Lynch (R) is the first of our Republican also-rans in this district which heavily favors Democratic candidates, and claims the official endorsement of the state Republican Party. She is Governor Jeff Landry’s appointee to the Orleans Parish Board of Election Supervisors, a member of the Republican State Central Committee, and a booster of the ill-fated Recall LaToya effort. Lynch believes that support for reproductive and abortion rights is a Democratic Party plot to reduce birth rates in favor of increasing immigration, a manifestation of the racist conspiracy theory of the “Great Replacement” that has become part of the Republican consensus over the last decade.

Devin Lance Graham (R) previously ran for US Senate in 2022 on a “John Kennedy isn’t a real conservative” platform, and for Congress in District 6 in 2016 and 2018. When he’s not running for office, Graham works as a realtor and electrical contractor in the Gonzales and Prairieville areas. This cycle, Graham has made further efforts to hone his paradoxical pro-industry, pro-environment position by advocating for the relocation of petrochemical facilities further upriver, away from the disappearing coast he wants to defend. To his credit, he is aligned with Livingston Parish circles who oppose plans to produce ammonia and capture and sequester the carbon under Lake Maurepas, an environmentally destructive and technologically unfeasible project that threatens both residents of Cancer Alley and the health and future of the fragile Lake Maurepas ecosystem. The project has divided conservatives into two camps: one made up of hunters, fishers, and small-time conservative local officials, and the other camp closer to Republican leadership and oil and gas lobbyists and executives. 

Shondrell Perriloux (R) is the self-anointed “Real Voice of the People” and a former President of the St. Charles Parish NAACP. She boasts that she changed her party registration to Republican while still serving as NAACP president to “promote unity.” As it’s often used, unity here is shorthand for aligning with power: Perriloux is eager to “defend our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and our fundamental freedoms” by “carry[ing] out the largest deportation operation in American history,” including deportation of “pro-Hamas radicals” to “make our college campuses safe and patriotic again.” In this case, the ideology Perriloux promotes represents a far greater threat to any “fundamental freedoms” than any college student outraged at the genocide of Palestinians waged in their name.

State Constitutional Amendment

Oil and gas companies have long enjoyed massive tax breaks and other advantages in Louisiana at the expense of the health of residents and thousands of square miles of land loss. In order to combat land loss and reduce the strength of hurricanes, Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund was created as a pass-between for funding smaller restoration and protection projects. Currently, the state constitution requires federal revenue collected from “oil and gas activity” generated in the Gulf of Mexico for Louisiana to be dedicated to the coastal fund – let the people who created the problem pay for fixing it.

The proposed state constitutional amendment expands the scope of “oil and gas activity” to also include all energy production in the Gulf, including “wind energy, solar energy, tidal energy, wave energy, geothermal energy, and other alternative or renewable energy production or sources.” This eliminates the possibility of renewable energy revenue going into the state’s general fund that can be reinvested into energy jobs, infrastructure, and other future programs to reduce our reliance on the petrochemical industry. The amendment removes the very rare competitive disadvantage oil and gas companies have in Louisiana. Currently, the only scalable technology that can be leveraged in the Gulf of Mexico is wind power, which has the potential to be a booming industry and calls to question the inclusion of all renewable or alternative energy sources that have not been developed for scaled industrial usage. Should millions of dollars from wind farms go towards researching these other renewable energy sources, or should green energy be on the hook for the damages caused by oil and gas while oil and gas have less of a total share of the responsibility?

The state house unanimously passed the state constitutional amendment and saw only three No votes in the state senate.

Orleans Parish

City Charter Amendments

Housing Trust Fund (Parishwide HRC Amendment No. 1)

New Orleans DSA recommends voting YES for the Housing Trust Fund. The city’s capitalist real estate barons have been waging a war against working class renters for decades. Post-Katrina, City Council demolished 4,500 public housing units that were never replaced, permanently displacing thousands of Black residents. Though housing advocates have shown that we need over 1,000 new affordable units each year, only 97 were built in 2023. Neighborhood associations, disproportionately run by rich, white board members, continuously block new construction to “protect neighborhoods” while advancing de facto segregation. Make no mistake, elites are waging a war of displacement against the city’s poor and working class, supported by thousands of individual choices by our city leaders. The city is harassing and criminalizing the unhoused to prepare for the Super Bowl. Councilmember Freddie King passed a discriminatory zoning law that violates fair housing laws and has rendered New Orleans ineligible for millions in Federal Housing grants. Two out of three landlords won’t take housing vouchers. And Covid-era protections against evictions are effectively over, leading to a spike in displacement. At this point in the housing crisis, everyone knows the hits by heart: The Rent is Too Damn High. Slumlords control the majority of affordable multi-family housing. High interest rates make first-time homeownership unattainable. Airbnb has turned neighborhoods into open-air hotels for tourists instead of residents. There’s no public housing.

To fight back, the Renters’ Rights Assembly has been leading city-wide coalitions to expand protections for tenants. New Orleans DSA has been proud to support these efforts, which have won significant gains since 2020: Right to Counsel provides eviction court representation for all; Healthy Homes guarantees rental standards and takes aim at curbing slumlords; and we continue to make gains against short term rental expansions. Critically, though, these programs are less effective unless new, permanently affordable housing is preserved and built at scale. Lack of available housing undermines all of these gains, and New Orleans fails year after year to meet these critical housing needs.

This is where the Housing Trust Fund comes in. The Fund is not a new tax, but a binding requirement that the city spend the equivalent of 2% of the General Fund for affordable housing. This amounts to approximately $17 million annually (NOPD receives $155 million, almost 9x that). Although Council passed a watered-down housing fund ordinance back in March, it’s important to note that it double-counts existing funds for housing, shrinking the total pot available. That alternative to the Housing Trust Fund is supported by the Bureau of Governmental Research, which was formed to advance the interests of local elites over the needs of the working class, and advocated for the abandonment of low-income housing post-Katrina (when they say we don’t need a Housing Trust Fund, don’t believe them). 

We can do better. New Orleans DSA recommends voting YES to the Housing Trust Fund. If adopted, the measure would make funding for housing permanent by amending the City Charter. Future councils would have a much harder time removing the city’s contributions to housing funds. 
Voting for the Housing Trust Fund is a small, but meaningful, step on the way to creating more housing affordability in New Orleans — it will dedicate additional funds that are sorely needed. However, until city leadership actually supports housing reform as a top priority — not just lip service to the working class while they continue to support billionaire developers — we will never get what we need to ensure that housing is treated as an actual human right.

Workers’ Bill of Rights (Parishwide HRC Amendment No. 2)

New Orleans DSA recommends voting YES for the Workers’ Bill of Rights. Our chapter signed a letter of support for Step Up Louisiana’s Workers’ Bill of Rights campaign, which advocates for including basic rights for working people in New Orleans to be added to the City Charter’s Bill of Rights. It includes the right to fair pay, healthcare, and workplace organizing, and could be the first of many steps to enshrine basic workplace rights for New Orleanians:

The people have the right to live in economic prosperity and to receive fair living wages for their labor, equal pay, comprehensive healthcare coverage and paid leave for the purposes of medical, family, bereavement, and vacation time.

The people have the right to a safe workplace which complies with all Federal, state, and local workplace laws and regulations including wage and hour laws, as well as the right to organize and to associate freely in pursuit of workplace and economic justice.

While state preemption laws prevent municipalities from enforcing municipal minimum wages or leave policies on private businesses, this can set a new standard for City workers and contracts for City work, as well as setting a clear expectation of what is acceptable from our city’s policymakers. It would also put New Orleans at the forefront of the greater struggle for workers’ rights throughout the state, demonstrating that our city stands for workers.

Orleans Parish School Board

The Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) is a locally elected council that governs the parish’s public schools, which up until this summer had been entirely composed of charter schools governed by their own independent charter networks. Our voter guides in the past have covered the history of the charter takeover and the damage it has caused to public education in New Orleans for students, families, and employees. These School Board races include the dynamics of a return to district control versus charter expansion, protecting marginalized students, and the fight for workers to organize their schools. Our chapter has continually advocated for restoration of school district control of schools, combating legislation aimed at criminalizing marginalized students, and for teachers to be unionized. 

Dr. Avis Williams was hired as superintendent of the school district in late 2022, and the outgoing school board inquired about her experience with closing schools. OPSB and the district have reported on capital plans that require the “consolidation” of schools with low performance and high maintenance upkeep, which would in turn increase classroom sizes and the amount of money charter networks receive. Lafayette Academy was slated to be one of those schools, and 300 students would have been moved into other charter networks. After pushback from the community, parents, and advocates, OPSB and Dr. Williams had a change of tone. By law, OPSB can reincorporate failing charter schools into the public school district, which it did to introduce the Leah Chase School. Since then, much of the current school board supports the district taking on more schools  This positive outcome precedes the election of two of those school board seats, who will be tasked with continued stewardship of the dozens of properties owned by the district, collecting property taxes, and ensuring all children in New Orleans are provided an education they’re entitled to. 

Monied pro-charter profiteers like Leslie Jacobs and her brother Stephen Rosenthal continue to fund candidates who are explicitly pro-charter or oppose the district taking over more schools. We support local democratic control and teachers unions. We oppose charters that take power away from parents and teachers. Here’s where each candidate stands.

District 2

New Orleans DSA endorses Gabriela Biro for School Board District 2. Biro (D) is a member of our chapter and a vocal supporter of union organizing at New Orleans public schools and across the region, which has garnered her the endorsement of the teacher’s union UTNO. Biro is the only candidate who has not served on a charter school board. In order to combat right wing culture war legislation, Biro has mentioned that OPSB has their hands tied because of the state law Act 91 that sold our schools to private charter corporations, and she argues that the more schools that are brought into district control, the fewer students will be forced into experiencing these bigoted laws with a school district that respects LGBTQ+ children and staff. Her website’s priorities focus on teachers, combating corruption with charters, and having inclusive policies so all types of children and families are not ignored. As a parent of a young child, Biro has consistently centered the focus of her campaign on the wellbeing of the students and the workers.

When Biro’s mother emigrated to the United States, she learned about United Farmworkers and related the experience to Biro’s grandfather who was a migrant farmworker in the south. Her mother became a shop steward for the local AFSCME. This cemented Biro’s solidarity with working people and unions, including supporting parent unions. After the mass firing of teachers following Katrina, it’s imperative now more than ever to have a champion for unionizing teachers and staff. 

In addition to DSA and UTNO, Biro is endorsed by Forum for Equality, VOTE, and the Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO. Her grassroots funded campaign has received over $1,000 in mostly small dollar donations to combat the $30,000 that privatization interests are funneling into her opponent Chan Tucker (D), a business executive for Entergy who is bankrolled by $10,000 from charter school advocate Leslie Jacobs and her family members. Tucker sits on Audubon Charter Schools’ board. His fundraising numbers are significantly higher than the other two grassroots/self funded candidates, bringing in just shy of $30,000 and spending almost $20,000 of it. Tucker has been endorsed by pro-charter group Democrats for Education Reform. Between Jacobs and DFER, Tucker is wholly supported by those responsible for the privatization and consequent degradation of the New Orleans’s school system.

Eric “Doc” Jones (D) ran for School Board District 2 four years ago, garnering 16% of the vote and missing the run-off. He previously ran for the statewide Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in 2023 but was disqualified. He had some experience as a band director before joining Teach for America as a recruiter. He has served on various boards, including the board for Coghill Charter. In 2019, Jones resigned from the Coghill Charter board after issues with school finances and directing teachers to not give students failing grades. His position on schools being returned to the district has changed over the years depending on the host of the candidate panel or questionnaire. He has reported only one $125 campaign contribution. Jones is a member of the local Democratic Party apparatus OPDEC, and has received endorsements from OPDEC, the Independent Women’s Organization, and the Noonie Man-adjacent New Orleans United Front.

The New Orleans DSA chapter endorsed Gabriela Biro by a vote of 57-1.

District 4

Dr. Donaldo R. Batiste (Democrat) is the incumbent who won the seat unopposed in a special election after JC Romero vacated the seat and a libertarian candidate withdrew. He is a professor at University of Holy Cross and has experience as an educator and principal in the New Orleans Public School system. While he has “nothing against charters, as long as it’s a quality school”, he has shown an interest in returning more schools to the direct control of the school district, and has stated in multiple forums that due to Act 91, the OPSB cannot govern charter school operations but can with district run schools like Leah Chase School. Dr. Batiste has been endorsed by OPDEC, IWO, UTNO, Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO, VOTE, Forum for Equality, the New Orleans Coalition, and several state and local politicians. He has received campaign contributions from elected officials including Matthew Willard, Royce Duplessis, Dr. Joseph Bouie, and school board member Leila Eames. He has raised over $14,000 in contributions and has spent a few hundred dollars less than what was raised. 

KaTrina Chantelle Griffin (Democrat) is a mother of two children who graduated from the NOPS system and is a CEO of her own consulting firm. Her website offers few details on platform or priorities, but lists philanthropic and nonprofit experiences. Griffin has raised over $41,000 and has spent over $30,000. She has taken max contributions from charter advocate Leslie Jacobs and her family members totalling $10,000, nearly a quarter of all fundraising by Griffin. During IWO’s candidate forum, she indicated that she supports the current performance of charter schools in the city. The treasurer that filed Griffin’s ethics report is Gregory St. Etienne, a former member of Firstline Schools board of directors and deputy mayor under Mitch Landrieu who resigned after questionable finances. She has an entire page dedicated to truancy (without any suggested policies on how to reduce it) with a quote from District Attorney Jason Williams, the “progressive” DA who went back on his campaign promise to not try children as adults, giving his support to Griffin to reduce truancy without specifics on how he plans to work with her. Griffin has been endorsed by pro-charter group Democrats for Education Reform.

Neighborhood Security Districts

New Orleans DSA recommends voting NO to the security district measures. Security districts “reinforce inequality, are ineffective against violent crime, and sidestep desperately needed debates around public safety and criminal justice reform.” While NOPD has a budget surplus and is getting fined for having fewer cops than they’re budgeted for, property owners pay these taxes to a few cops who patrol their neighborhood for them. Let these security districts be a constant reminder that police first and foremost protect the interests of property and capital. One of these is a 4 year renewal for Lakeshore (map), while the other for Mid-City (map) is for the next eight years. Because these are not city-wide millages, City Council cannot “roll back” these property taxes.

President of the United States

The first President of Tanzania Julius Nyerere famously said, “The United States is a one-party state but, with typical American extravagance, they have two of them.” Not many would have anticipated Karl Rove and Dick Cheney stumping for the Democrats mid-October. So let’s start with the similarities between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. They both have full-throated support of Israel’s genocidal campaign against the people of Palestine and Lebanon, they both want war with Iran, they both want to harshen immigration restrictions, they both support the privatized health care system and student debt for profits, and they are both beholden to the interests of corporations and the richest of the rich. 

We acknowledge the differences between the two corporate candidates as well, both in terms of their place in racial and gender hierarchies as well as their different positions and records on labor and social issues. The rhetoric from the Trump administration is racist, sexist, and chauvinist. As socialists, either of the capitalist imperialist Presidential candidates are harmful to working and poor people in the United States and across the planet, the debate lies in how much worse the oppression will be. 

This specific election brings out very strong contradictions of grassroots organizing’s impact (or lack thereof) on the highest office in the country. Continued organizing has failed around Medicare for All (despite Harris’ alleged support during the 2020 Presidential primaries) and a Green New Deal (Biden and Harris continue to boast support for fracking and increase tariffs on renewable energy products from China). The Uncommitted campaign did not move Biden or Harris on their support for funding the genocide let alone a speaker at the DNC. The White House now provides the weapons and fuel for regional war. How do these failures reflect on the strategy of working within the Democratic Party? 

The question becomes this – in a heavy Republican state in the electoral college system of American “democracy”, does the vote for President matter in Louisiana? The answer is yes. Candidates in support of abortion rights by any means and opposing the genocide in Gaza and arms shipments to Israel include Jill Stein (Green Party), Claudia de la Cruz (Party for Socialism and Liberation), and Cornel West.

Appendix

Recommendations vs. Endorsements

As defined by our general membership at the June 2023 Local Convention, an endorsement represents a direct material investment from our membership for a candidate, including volunteers and securing the support of the national DSA when applicable. Our endorsement requires the candidate to be a member of our chapter, and the process is initiated with a resolution signed on by at least 1% of our membership in good standing at a general membership meeting. The candidate will attend a Q&A interview curated by members, and requires a majority vote from at least 25% of our membership after chapter-wide debate. Our chapter has endorsed multiple candidates under this endorsement process for State House, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and Democratic State Central Committee. 

National DSA endorsements are initiated by the chapter and require a local endorsement, a review from the DSA National Electoral Commission, and is approved by the National Political Committee, DSA’s national leadership body. 

In contrast, a recommendation can be initiated by any member by presenting a recommendation resolution at one of our monthly general meetings. These recommendations require the consent of a majority of members in a quorate meeting with at least 10% of membership in good standing. Recommendations will be made explicit in voter guides, but do not devote member time and resources to a given campaign as a chapter priority like endorsements do. A lack of recommendation in a given race should not be interpreted as condemnation or praise of any particular candidate(s), but that there is, if anything, no majority opinion on that candidate among chapter membership. The recommendation process has been employed multiple times since it was established by membership in February 2021.

We hope to connect issues in the races to larger discussions in our city and world, and give a better understanding of the positions and processes of our city and electoral system. This guide is written and researched by members working with the Voter Guide Working Group of the New Orleans DSA and is approved by elected chapter leadership. If you have made it this far, join our chapter if you haven’t already and help out on our next voter guide.