Wearing a flowing sundress on a sunny summer afternoon, Caitlin McDonald walked into Jardin de Los Sueños cafe, a favorite meeting spot for Richmond political movers and shakers.
While she might not be immediately recognizable as a typical City Hall insider, the soft-spoken McDonald, an Atchison Village resident and member of the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) and the East Bay Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), is in the thick of local politics as mayoral candidate Claudia Jimenez’s campaign manager. And it’s clear she has a passion for energizing the community’s political consciousness.
“People have a lot of awareness of their lives and their conditions and the politics that are around them,” McDonald told Richmondside at the cafe. “Maybe they don’t articulate it in a way that makes you sound like you went to graduate school, but that isn’t important.”
Some see the DSA’s increased popularity and involvement in elections locally and nationally as representing a major shift — one that some academics are calling a major political realignment on the left.
DSA has seen waves of growth in its national membership ranks over the past decade. According to the group, there were fewer than 10,000 members in 2016, growing to about 45,000 by 2020. Another growth spike came after the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd, nearly doubling to about 80,000. Currently, there are about 120,000 members nationally with the East Bay chapter being the fifth largest chapter in the country with “hundreds” of active members, according to the group.
For the more conservative crowd, which is venting its opinions on social media forums like Nextdoor, parts of the DSA’s national platform, like calling for an end to militarized police departments, prisons and supporting universal healthcare, elicits a McCarthyistic reaction, reminiscent of a Cold War-era where American patriots perceived themselves to be fighting threats to the country’s capitalistic values.
“My take on these Democrat Socialists in one form or another is that they want government control of property and corporations, defund the police, government welfare state for everyone, open borders and punish entrepreneurs and business owners,” Nextdoor user Scott Chapes of El Sobrante wrote. “Don’t fall for it. The Middle-class will pay the price for their power grab.”
Across the country, the DSA has endorsed candidates who might not otherwise have achieved political success. Earlier this year, DSA-backed Abdul El-Sayed defeated U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens in a highly contested Democratic primary to represent Michigan in the Senate. Last year, in New York City, DSA candidate Zohran Mamdani defeated longtime politician and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to become the mayor of the country’s biggest city.
The DSA has also seen a rise in pop culture figures like Hasan Piker, whose support for the organization and political commentary on livestreams have amounted to millions of followers online.
But in Richmond, the DSA’s presence has had residents in the city’s political microclimate asking: Is Richmond ready for a socialist mayor?
A TikTok video posted by East Bay DSA’s account asks that very question before announcing its endorsement of Jimenez for Richmond mayor.
Jimenez, a Richmond City Council member, is in a run-off against perennial political candidate Ahmad Anderson, a longtime Democrat and president of the West County Democratic Club and son of former mayors Booker T. Anderson and Irma Anderson.
Both candidates’ platforms and their respective supporters reveal a larger split among the political left that could impact what the Democratic party looks like in the future.
The candidates have raised almost equal amounts in individual donations, but independent PACs supporting Anderson, backed by the police and trades unions, raised vastly more than PACs supporting Jimenez.
DSA has historically endorsed RPA candidates
It isn’t a secret that RPA candidates have been endorsed by the DSA over the last decade.
The DSA’s East Bay chapter has endorsed RPA candidates dating back to the mid- to- late-2010s, including Gayle McLaughlin and Jovanka Beckles in their unsuccessful bids for state office as well as outgoing Mayor Eduardo Martinez, who lost to Anderson and Jimenez in the June primary. It also endorsed former council member Melvin Willis and Jimenez in their 2024 council bids.
Earlier this year, when the RPA dropped Martinez to endorse Jimenez, the DSA followed suit, walking back an earlier endorsement of the incumbent after Martinez was embroiled in controversy for sharing of Bondi Beach conspiracy theories.
For McDonald, the alignment between the organizations stems from a mutual respect the DSA has for the RPA’s record of winning elections in Richmond.
“I would say that we have a great deal of respect for the RPA and its orientation towards no corporate money in politics,” McDonald said.
And the relationship has grown more formal recently.
Earlier this year, the RPA voted to give the DSA a seat on its steering committee, the group that prioritizes the RPA’s strategy and decision-making. Other members of the steering committee represent organizations such as Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Action (ACCE) and United Teachers of Richmond and environmental organizations such as Communities for a Better Environment and APEN.
In this election cycle, East Bay DSA members living in Richmond, like McDonald, have lended their energy to the RPA’s campaigning by door knocking.
But as the relationship grows, so have the criticisms from the more moderate, liberal Democrats.
The criticisms even birthed an unlikely synergy between Fox’s National News outlet, which often supports conservative viewpoints and Republican President Donald Trump, and former Mayor Tom Butt, a traditional liberal Democrat who is a vocal critic of the RPA.
The outlet this summer published four segments looking at the DSA, the RPA and what could be described as a broader attack from the political right on the rising popularity of democratic socialism.
In the mini series featuring headlines such as “Inside the California city where democratic socialists are testing their ‘anti-business’ agenda” and “Socialist-run California city takes on Chevron while residents worry about long-term consequences,” the videos and articles took aim at the RPA’s relationships with local businesses such as Tacos El Rulas and the shuttered Riggers Loft, Chevron and the Richmond Police Department, with guests alongside Butt including perennial council candidate and self-proclaimed MAGA supporter Mark Wassberg.
In the video package, Fox even posted the word “socialism” in the same font and colors that Mamdani used for his successful campaign in New York City.
An alliance that at one time saw Butt join forces with the RPA candidates to oppose Chevron-backed candidates in the 2014 election cycle, alongside longtime progressive Bernie Sanders, has now transformed, with Butt questioning the future of a “factionalized” Democratic party.
Part of the fallout, according to McLaughlin in 2024, was tied to Butt’s reneging on a promise to appoint a “progressive” to his vacant seat after he was elected mayor during that 2014 election cycle. (If Jimenez becomes mayor the council will similarly have to decide how to fill her open seat for District 6.)
Butt, and his sons Andrew Butt and Daniel Butt, are some of the more critical voices online against Richmond’s progressives and have said that the RPA’s majority is pushing for “communism,” “socialism” and “marxism.”
In a recent post on Nextdoor, Andrew Butt warned about what might happen with Jimenez’s vacant council seat.
“Everyone should understand that a vote for Claudia means not only is she going to be our Mayor for the next four years … that means her and (council members) Sue Wilson and Doria (Robinson) and the rest of the RPA will most likely appoint someone who is equally obsessed with creating their twisted version of a communist/socialist utopia in Richmond,” Andrew Butt wrote. “I realize to some that may sound good, and to a handful of people, and for the insider acolytes of the Richmond Progressive Alliance that is exactly what they want, but please trust me that this will not be good for Richmond.”
Currently a majority of the city’s seven-member council are either RPA members (Jimenez, Wilson and Martinez) or have been endorsed by the organization (Robinson). Council members Cesar Zepeda, Jamelia Brown and Soheila Bana are not RPA members though Bana recently endorsed Jimenez after endorsing Anderson earlier this year prior to the primary. Both candidates have publicly said that Bana supports them.
James Martel, professor of political science at San Francisco State University, said that historically the political left has always been considered a big tent, often making it “messy” by nature.
For example, Martel said, there are different shades of those who would consider themselves part of the political left vying for influence in local DSA chapters. Previously in the East Bay DSA chapter, he said, a group of those who called themselves the “Commie Caucus” tried to assert their influence.
Ultimately, Martel said, the DSA’s rise in popularity can be attributed to dissatisfaction, especially among younger voters, with the Democratic Party establishment, with topics such as Gaza playing a role in how voters are choosing who they support in local elections.
“I think it’s been super important and a historic sea change, in that, I think there’s been a lot of resentment brewing for years,” Martel said. “(The perception is) Democrats talk like they’re fighting for the working class, for people of color, blah, blah, but they’re not. They’re none of those things so they come across as total hypocrites, and I think part of Trump’s appeal is like, he’s not a hypocrite. I think the issue somehow has managed to sort of serve as a kind of a real break in the wall of liberal bullshit.”
McDonald’s political awakening came in 2020 during Sanders’ presidential campaign and hearing his stance on Medicare for all.
“Hearing a politician articulate the idea of Medicare for all was really like life shattering for me,” she said.
Her father, who has a degenerative disease, couldn’t get health insurance before the Affordable Care Act. The haunting feeling of not being able to afford care was one she empathized with and “planted the seed” for her to be more politically active.
After Sanders lost, she looked up organizations associated with his campaign. She found the DSA and, after moving from rural Northern California to Walnut Creek, she met her now husband who was also a member. He encouraged her to go to the East Bay chapter meetings.
“(The perception is) Democrats talk like they’re fighting for the working class, for people of color, blah, blah, but they’re not.”
— Political scientist James Martel on rising voter dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party (Photo courtesy of SFSU)
After they married, she moved to Atchison Village where her husband, also an RPA member, owned a home. She joined the RPA after learning the history of the organization and being encouraged to join.
McDonald told Richmondside that the DSA has, within its membership, those who consider themselves democrats, those who identify as democratic socialists and others who might call themselves communists.
“The democratic part is very important,” she said. “If you disagree with how DSA is doing things then you organize within DSA to win people over to your political perspective. If you win votes, then you are able to put what you believe in into practice.”
Part of the DSA’s success, Martel told Richmondside, can be attributed to how the organization has utilized, much like the RPA, a “ground game” that emphasizes door-to-door canvassing to engage with voters.
But given that the DSA is perceived as heavily ”white” and academic, it’s important to step back and let locals, especially in a community with a high percentage of Black and Brown people, organize themselves, Martel said.
“I think that’s where the danger lies,” Martel said. “You need local people to organize themselves.”
DSA is aware it needs to engage younger people of color
When asked about that perception, McDonald, who is white, said the group takes it seriously.
“We just started a ‘Socialists of Color’ working group in the East Bay chapter to try and address some of those issues,” she said, adding that she’s been impressed with the racial solidarity she’s encountered while canvassing in Richmond. “The one unifying factor we have is class. When you speak to people about issues of class, you can kind of overcome a lot of those obstacles by talking about the struggles we all are facing.”
Those conversations, she admits, can be too “graduate schooly.”
“I’m not even going to pretend that it’s not. You can’t just approach someone and be like, ‘Would you like to hear about the tenancy of Marxism and Leninism?’ Like, that’s very off-putting,” she said.
McDonald said that, of the dozen or so canvassers for Jimenez’s campaign, about half are dual DSA and RPA members.
Sources with knowledge of how the RPA organizes campaigns told Richmondside that DSA’s involvement in campaigns has fluctuated with every cycle over the last decade.
Sometimes, however, being unfamiliar with Richmond can lead to campaign mistakes.
Earlier this summer, screenshots were posted on social media of a text sent by a DSA organizer to rally Jimenez supporters that said that Anderson was the recipient of “hella” Chevron money. Anderson’s campaign filings have not reported any such donations from the refinery.
Immediately after, Wilson, who has helped organize for Jimenez’s mayoral bid, issued an apology, denouncing the claim.
Behind the scenes, sources close to the RPA have told Richmondside that the growing relationship between the two organizations is due to an aging RPA leadership whose role has become to financially support the organization while it attempts to grow its base of younger members, many of whom are people of color struggling to study and live, to take over the day-to-day organizing and campaign efforts.
Late longtime strategist and RPA leader Mike Parker, who many consider the brains behind the group’s successes over the past two decades, noted in 2020 how the demographics of the organization were shifting and described the group as “fragile.” Parker died in 2022.
“Young people who need to work two jobs to survive or older people who must keep working are unable to commit the time necessary to keep an organization like RPA going,” Parker wrote. “Nonetheless, RPA is making the transition to a younger and people-of-color leadership … our electoral base has shifted considerably in the last 10 years from white, professional homeowners to lower-income, working-class people of color.”
Parker even discussed what he saw at the time as a distant relationship between the DSA and RPA.
“In part, this has to do with geography,” Parker wrote. “Richmond is at the end of the train line and is barely in the consciousness of DSA activists in Oakland.”
Parker believed that the DSA’s prior distancing from Richmond’s elections was purely “political.”
“A significant part of DSA, if not the majority, believe that DSA should determine support for a candidate based on whether the candidate is a socialist rather than whether the campaign brings working-class people into independently organized struggle,” Parker wrote. “It is a fundamental difference in political approach that deserves more discussion.”
McDonald said that DSA members look at the elder RPA group as mentors who have had two decades of political victories in Richmond.
“We respect the RPA and find them to be very politically mentoring where they can teach us a lot about how to actually do politics,” she said.
Mayoral candidates weigh the stakes in their race
Present day, the stakes are as high as ever in Richmond’s mayoral race. The winner will lead a city council that’s figuring out how to use the $550 million, 10-year Chevron settlement and will enjoy an almost-guaranteed majority voting block on the council.
Anderson, who has been endorsed by California’s Democratic Party for mayor, told Richmondside earlier this summer that he agreed the DSA’s popularity is due to dissatisfaction.
“People are looking for change,” Anderson said. “Politics as usual is not working but politics as usual is the same.”
For Anderson, the RPA and its political inroads over the past decade have become the status quo and the council’s political dividing lines have bled enough to be noticeable to residents.
“I get along with Claudia. I get along with everybody on this council. I just believe that, between how you look to the left or right of the council, those who are and aren’t RPA candidates, we need to find a common goal,” Anderson said. “ Forget about your politics because there are politics behind the politics. We need to pave the way that people see that we’re working together because that’s not what they see.”
Jimenez told Richmondside that she doesn’t see the DSA’s endorsement any differently from the others, such as SEIU, APEN, the Richmond Firefighter’s Union or ACCE, who have also endorsed her for mayor.
“What is interesting about the narrative (that) democratic socialists are talking about — what the Democratic Party hasn’t talked about — is affordability and things that matter to people,” she said.
Jimenez dismissed concerns that her alignment with the DSA makes her beholden to its platform and said that, though they may share similar views, she can make her own decisions and will vote her mind.
“It’s funny because (the previous criticism was) it was the Richmond Progressive Alliance (who was telling me what to do) but now it’s DSA,” Jimenez said. “For me, what I’ve said is that I’m a candidate that has been endorsed by many, many organizations that work in many things.”
Jimenez added that she believes her critics are focusing on the relationship between herself and DSA because they “don’t have anything to attack.” She also added that one way that she differs from the DSA national platform is that she is not in favor of having no police. though she believes in increased law enforcement oversight and alternatives to traditional law enforcement responses.
“I’m not saying we don’t need police. We need police to investigate and catch bad guys,” Jimenez said. “But we need all of these things in place like mental health, access to education, access to jobs, access to recreation, to make a more healthier community with a holistic approach to make the community safer.”
The importance of this election and whoever leads the council isn’t lost on McDonald, who said that she and other canvassers have heard what the city’s residents want, from traffic calming in District 6 to fire protection in District 4. She said the DSA/RPA canvassers will continue knocking on doors multiple times a week until the election.
“We talk to a lot of people who have never had their doors knocked before and they’re really excited that someone wants to come and talk to them about what’s going on,” McDonald said. “People want to be included. They want to be able to share their opinions, especially in this political time.”
This story was updated to correct references to Haley Stevens and Zohran Mamdani and the spelling of Scott Chapes. It also corrects description of council member Soheila Bana’s mayoral endorsement. Bana is endorsing both candidates.
“Earlier this year, DSA-backed Abdul Al-Sayed defeated incumbent Haley Stevens in a highly contested Democratic primary for Michigan governor.”
This is incorrect…the primary was for a Senate seat, not the governorship. Further, Stevens was the “incumbent” – as a member of Congress. Lastly, “Scatt”, not “Scott” is the first name of the El Sobrante NextDoor poster.
Hey there, George. Thanks for reading and letting us know. The name of the poster was auto-corrected but it should reflect the correct name. Also I corrected the Haley Stevens title.
Candidate Jimenez refused to vote to censure Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez for the anti-Semitic posts Martinez made in response to the Bondi Beach murders in Australia. Because of this refusal, I believe Jimenez, the DSA and their supporters to be anti-Semitic by association.