The 2023 DSA National Convention will elect new members to the 16-person National Political Committee (NPC), which is the highest leadership body in the organization between conventions.

Three members of DSA-LA have declared their intentions to run for NPC.  A requirement to be elected to NPC is to receive an endorsement from the candidate’s local chapter.  To aid members in evaluating whether to endorse these candidates, the following statements have been offered.

Frances G.

Hi comrades! Thank you for considering my nomination as a candidate for DSA’s national political committee. I’d love to tell you a little bit about myself and why I’m running for NPC.

First and foremost, I’m a health care worker and a rank-and-file member of my union, the Committee for Interns and Residents (CIR). As an active member of my union, I was elected to our bargaining team last year and helped to negotiate our new contract, which included big wage increases and improved working conditions for me and my coworkers.

In DSA LA, I’ve been most active in the Labor Committee, where I have served as coordinator and then co-chair of the committee. I’m most proud of our committee’s strike support this year, which has included picket line support for teachers, hospitality workers, starbucks workers, writers, and more! Prior to being in DSA LA, I lived in New Orleans, where I helped to found New Orleans DSA. I also co-chaired the chapter during a winning campaign to save the public library system from being defunded.

I’m running for NPC because I believe my experience in both a smaller, Southern chapter and a big coastal city chapter provides me with a unique DSA organizing experience. I believe this experience would be beneficial for navigating the difficulties of steering the national organization. And I’d like to bring the lessons I’ve learned from organizing in my union into DSA, and vice versa! Lastly, I believe in our org, and I want to put the work in to help us realize our potential. We are the largest socialist organization in the US in decades, and our work has really only just begun. And I’m excited to run on the Groundwork slate with comrades from LA to Maine. Read more about our NPC slate here: groundworkdsa.com! 

Marc Krause

My name is Marc Krause (he/him), I am a member in our Eastside-San Gabriel Valley Branch, a Chicano and lifelong Angeleno, and I am running for the National Political Committee (NPC) on the Groundwork Slate alongside fellow DSA-LA comrade Frances Gill and other amazing organizers from Louisville, Maine, and New York City.

I have been a DSA member since 2019. I am a public sector worker and a rank-and-file member of SEIU 1000. Prior to joining DSA, I was an elected representative on my union’s bargaining team where I worked to undo contract concessions and advance significant wage, benefits, and working condition gains.

Since joining DSA, I have served in chapter leadership roles for DSA-LA’s Yes on Prop 15 – Tax the Rich campaign, Labor Committee, Dr. Rocío Rivas for LAUSD Board District 2 campaign, and Green New Deal for Public Schools LA campaign. Nationally, I have been the co-chair of DSA’s Green New Deal Campaign Commission since 2022.

I am most proud of my organizing of the Green New Deal for Public Schools LA campaign and Dr. Rocío Rivas campaign because they resulted in concrete wins for our chapter. We elected Dr. Rivas to the LAUSD school board, and she adopted our Green New Deal for Public Schools campaign as a core pillar of her platform. Dr. Rivas is now following through on implementing a Green New Deal for LAUSD as the chair of LAUSD’s Greening and Climate Resiliency Committee. Because of the relationship I was able to help cultivate with Dr. Rivas through the campaigns, DSA-LA now has an official organizational seat on LAUSD’s Greening and Climate Resiliency Committee where we get to plan and shape climate initiatives for the 2nd largest school district in the nation.

I believe DSA as a national organization is at a major juncture where we must decide if we are going to build for the long haul and operate as a proto-party that organizes the masses or will we continue to operate as a fragmented organization that organizes itself into obscurity. I want to ground DSA for the long haul because I believe DSA is the vehicle we must build to win socialism in the United States, to fight imperialism across the world, and to liberate our class from climate annihilation.

My priorities for DSA as a candidate for NPC are: 1) Building a socialist labor movement that engages the whole of our membership in workplace struggles, builds militant and high-participation unions, and forms a mass movement of workers capable of overturning capitalism. 2) Orienting DSA to take and wield state power through an electoral strategy that institutionalizes best practices for recruiting cadre candidates, building new organizers and recruiting new members, and establishing Socialist in Office programs across the organization. 3) Recruitment, retention, and growth of DSA especially in working class communities of color.

I am excited to take the experiences, skills, and strategies I learned here in Los Angeles to our national leadership body, and I hope I can earn your trust and the chapter nomination to run for NPC. You can find more information about the Groundwork Slate for NPC here: www.groundworkdsa.com 

Ruben A.

My name is Ruben Avendano and I’m a Mexican Born, American Citizen.  I’ve had a lucrative, and successful career in the Television industry for 20 years as a Camera  Operator. I have been nominated for two Emmy’s and I’m proud to say I’ve been a part of IATSE local 600 Union for 17 years. I’ve fought for higher wages and a safe work environment my entire career and I wish to continue this fight on a governmental level.