Steering Committee recommendations for endorsement!

Reclaim Philadelphia members will be voting on endorsement in several races beginning at our upcoming Citywide Meeting Saturday January 18th 3-4:30pm at Calvary United Methodist Church, 48th and Baltimore Avenue. RSVP here!

Membership voting continues from January 18th through January 25th.

Below are Steering Committee’s recommendations to membership for endorsement votes. All candidates who submitted questionnaires in House Districts 184,188 and 200, Senate District 1 and the Presidential have been invited to speak at the Citywide meeting. Analilia Mejia will be representing Bernie Sanders as his official campaign surrogate and Dom Miller will be representing Elizabeth Warren as her official campaign surrogate.

184th State Representative District

In 2018, Reclaim endorsed Elizabeth Fiedler for State Representative in the 184th District. Together with Fiedler’s campaign, we knocked on 60,000 doors to send her to Harrisburg and to increase progressive civic participation in the First Ward. Since she has been in office, Fiedler has been a champion for the fair workweek, for school funding, for General Assistance, for the climate and the rights of the incarcerated. She endorsed and campaigned for Kendra Brooks in last year’s city council victory. Elizabeth Fiedler is one of our closest collaborators in public office and the Steering Committee is thrilled to recommend her for endorsement again.

188th State Representative District

Steering Committee recommends that membership endorse Rick Krajewski for State House in the 188th House District.

As an early member of Reclaim Philadelphia, Rick Krajewski has been vital to our success as an organization. His visionary leadership for mass liberation and criminal justice reform has made those issues a central mission of our organization for 3 years now. On the basis of political alignment and strategic vision, no other candidate for State House comes closer to matching Reclaim than Krajewski --- largely because he played such a central role in shaping that vision in the first place! Should Krajewski win the race in the 188th, we will have a very close accomplice in Harrisburg.

It should be noted that Krajewski’s opponent, the incumbent Jim Roebuck, is also a formerly endorsed candidate of Reclaim Philadelphia. Roebuck has been a progressive legislator for decades and has been a major leader in the fight for public schools. Our endorsement of Krajewski should not be seen as an attack on the legacy of an important lawmaker, rather we see this as an opportunity to bring a bigger and bolder vision to Harrisburg from one of the most progressive districts in the state.

200th State Representative District

Steering Committee recommends that membership vote to endorse Chris Rabb for State Representative in the 200th. Since 2017, he has been a leading voice for the progressive movement in Philadelphia- fighting for our values in Harrisburg and standing up to the corporate interests that rule our state. While we believe his Energy bill and carbon pricing proposals don’t go far enough to address the urgency of climate change, we also respect and agree with his suggestion that Reclaim Philadelphia should include support of reparations for slavery in our candidate questionnaire. 

First Senate District

Steering Committee recommends that membership vote to endorse Nikil Saval for the 1st Senate District. His vision and experience fighting for that vision as well as his record of using political power to boldly lead and shift what is politically possible define him as a movement candidate. As a founding member of Reclaim Philadelphia, Nikil was instrumental in shaping the vision and values of our organization. In his work as a writer he has argued for Democratic Socialism, in his work as a labor and community organizer he has acted on his political values, taking action against injustice and empowering workers and volunteers to demand more from our government, institutions and workplaces. As a ward leader in the 2nd ward he has used his political power to push against the status quo - calling out patronage politics and supporting progressive candidates. Nikil’s political vision is grounded in the expansion of human rights to include healthcare, housing, education and family care. 

Presidential

Reclaim Philadelphia was founded on the understanding that no one candidate can create the change we need alone. Deep systemic change can only be achieved through massive multi-racial and multi-generational movements organized in solidarity with clarity about the power we need to change our world for the better. In the presidential race, this is also true. 

Electing a progressive candidate to President of the United States is no small feat, yet it is essential for the future of our planet. The President could guarantee healthcare for millions, relieve crushing student debt and shift the national sense of what is politically possible. It will require ordinary people of all identities to rally behind the most progressive candidate who remains viable at the end of this primary season. We need this solidarity for the survival of our communities and our planet. While no one candidate can do this for us, the Steering Committee does believe one candidate’s election will do the most to further our movement and our political aims.

We recommend that membership vote now to endorse Bernie Sanders for President. For decades he has fought against income inequality, climate change, corporate influence over politics, discrimination of all kinds and endless wars.  His critique of capitalism and commitment to universal healthcare, housing as a human right, living wages, tuition debt relief and progressive taxes are founded in a principle we share - that government can and should work for all of us, not just the wealthy few. His candidacy in 2016 created a national shift in what was considered politically possible and he has shaped this year’s Democratic Primary bringing into the mainstream narrative bold proposals in all areas of his platform. The president’s ability to shape our foreign policy and use of military forces is unquestionably concentrated in one individual. Bernie’s awareness of US imperialism and commitment to ending endless wars is one of the reasons we see him as the candidate who aligns most with our values and vision for the world. 

We believe that we should vote on our presidential endorsement now because there is a clear best candidate with a track record of championing our political values and a full vision for drastically shifting the power dynamics in this country and ensuring that people and planet come before profit. 

Given that the Presidential Primary season is long and quite a lot can change between now and April 28th, we think it is important that Reclaim Philadelphia make a second choice acknowledgement* in the event that our first choice is not viable at the time of Pennsylvania voting. If that is the case, we would put a re-endorsement vote out to membership. 

We believe that this second choice candidate should be Elizabeth Warren. For 20 years, Elizabeth Warren has been a fierce champion for regulating financial markets and keeping the power of Wall Street in check. In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Barack Obama went to bat for Wall Street and the big banks, while Elizabeth Warren became one of their fiercest critics. Her crowning achievement, the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was an important victory for the progressive movement in this era. Warren isn’t a progressive who came late to the party when it started to appear politically viable -- she’s been core to the growth of the movement over the last decade. 

While we do believe that Sanders is both a stronger and bolder candidate, we know that both Warren and Sanders address injustice in their platforms in ways the other candidates do not and ending injustice is the root of our work. Endorsing Bernie now and naming Warren as our second choice is the fullest expression of our recommendation to membership - that we endorse the candidate who will do the most to reach our goals while acknowledging the progressive 2nd choice of Elizabeth Warren and the need for us, as an organization to move forward united, with clarity toward a future of organizing for the end of injustice - year round.  

*word edited for clarity