Inspired by Mamdani’s win in New York, Northwest Michigan Democratic Socialists organize
Photo, clockwise: Zohran Mamdani; NWMI DSA; Taylor Moore, and Jen Kruch
From staff reports
The Glen Arbor Sun interviewed Jen Kruch and Taylor Moore, co-chairs of the Northwest Michigan Democratic Socialists of America (NWMI DSA) chapter in mid-October—several weeks before Zohran Mamdani won the mayoral election in New York City on Nov. 4. Mamdani’s candidacy and swift rise to power has been a shot in the arm for Democratic Socialists nationwide, at a moment when many feel alienated by the two country’s two main political parties.
Kruch lives in Honor with her husband, son, two dogs, and a rotating cast of chickens. She is a graphic designer and illustrator with extensive service industry roots. She also works in administration and creative direction, and is currently on the DSA National Comms Committee.
Moore lives in Maple City and is the director of Food Rescue, a program from Goodwill Northern Michigan. He is currently a graduate student at the University of Edinburgh studying social welfare policy, a member of the National Right to Food Campaign, volunteers with the Leelanau Conservancy and Big Brothers Big Sisters, and curls in the winter at Broomstack.
Glen Arbor Sun: What was the inspiration for launching the local DSA group? Why here, and why now?
Kruch: I’ve been following DSA since I, like many others, first heard Bernie Sanders declare himself a democratic socialist during his 2016 campaign. Motherhood, work, a cross-country move, and then the pandemic prevented me from getting involved sooner. There was actually a DSA group up here from 2017-2021, but they disbanded (unfortunately like many DSA chapters) during COVID. The pandemic helped usher in a new wave of class consciousness. We’ve gotten a more complete perspective, and it’s changed how we see our neighbors and how we talk with them about politics. No matter their political leanings, we all agree that the system is rigged for the 1% and is not working for the majority of us. I think if there was ever a time to forge a new path outside the confines of the two major parties, it’s now. Most of us aren’t billionaires, and we are feeling let down, abused, and ignored. We need a new political home in which we can band together, and I think DSA can be that home.
Moore: Creating NWMI DSA is a part of building a future that is more just, safe, and peaceful. I grew up in a family that is part of the 1%. I have seen how wealth is hoarded, and how money and nepotism create unfair and undemocratic privileges that consolidate power in the hands of a few. At the same time, I have personally experienced the safety, stability, and transformative opportunities that come from having access to abundant resources. Because I know what that security can provide, and how stark the absence of it can be, I feel a responsibility to fight alongside those who do not. I think of Dr. Martin Luther King saying, “Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all of God’s children.” Locally, addressing our housing and homelessness crisis, protecting clean water, providing our teachers, farm workers, and social service providers thriving wages, and ensuring access to childcare and mental healthcare for young people means confronting the injustice and exploitation embedded in the systems that create these conditions. Launching NWMI DSA is about collective self-determination, about building community and solidarity around the work needed to reimagine and reconfigure a more democratic system that works for the people and allows us all to flourish.
Sun: Does this represent frustration with, or a break with, the Democratic Party?
Kruch: Many lifelong Democrats have shown interest in our DSA chapter, especially since Zohran won the Democratic primary. There is no litmus test you must pass to join NWMI DSA. You can simply like what we’re doing, and show up for an event. Since we’re an activist organization and not a political party, we currently run most candidates as Democrats. That said, part of addressing income inequality and class consciousness from a socialist perspective means addressing the shortcomings of both major parties. We have to acknowledge their inability to advocate for the working class when they’re controlled by a minority of extremely wealthy people whose main goal is to hoard and grow their wealth at the expense of the majority.
Moore: My work with NWMI DSA is fueled by my frustration with broken political systems and institutions, the Democratic Party included, and many of our members have said the same. I’ve knocked on many hundreds of doors for Democratic candidates, but not for the Democratic Party. My experience has been, and data shows, that there is a lot more that Americans agree on than we disagree on. We are tired of the status quo, corruption, and a lack of accountability and representation from political parties. Multinational corporations will give money to Republicans or Democrats—to anyone who will do their bidding. Too much of the political system is designed to maintain wealth and power, as well as the injustices and violence required to perpetuate this system. NWMI DSA is a place to claim agency in the struggle against this.
Sun: What are your thoughts on New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who identifies as a democratic Socialist? Does he represent something new, not just for NYC, but for American politics, political discourse, and policies?
Kruch and Moore: Zohran’s policies are focused on materially benefiting the majority of poor and working-class New Yorkers—programs like free universal childcare, rent freezes, and free buses—accomplished by taxing billionaires an additional 2%. Zohran Mamdani, like other democratic socialists including Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Rashida Tlaib, is providing a real strategy to make life better. The discourse around socialism has been changing with Zohran because people recognize that we do collectively have the resources needed, not just to meet our basic needs, but to flourish. Importantly, people know this top-down way of organizing our society cannot continue. Ongoing and mutually reinforcing crises—climate change, war, genocide, rising fascism, lack of healthcare, colonialism, and racism—demonstrate the terrible human cost of political systems designed to serve the interests of capital over people. The energy around Zohran’s campaign shows that we’re ready for a system that serves people over profit.
Sun: What does Mamdani’s win in New York’s mayoral election mean for DSA groups and organizations elsewhere in the United States?
Kruch and Moore: We’ve already seen a bump in membership since Zohran won the Democratic primary. We’ve also been contacted by political candidates, including congressional candidate Kyle Blomquist whose campaign is very aligned with our politics. I think one of the important takeaways for those involved in DSA, as well as those looking to get campaign support from DSA, is that boots-on-the-ground canvassing works. Zohran Mamdani is a stellar candidate and would not have gotten this far without being the exceptional speaker and master of public relations that he is. That said, the support of the NYC DSA chapter has been essential, as well as DSA members from other chapters who traveled to NYC to volunteer for his campaign (totaling around 50,000 individuals just in the lead-up to the primary—and 100,000 for the general election). DSA has the people power, the enthusiasm, and the experience necessary to mobilize the masses.
Sun: Will the local DSA group highlight or champion any particular issues or policy proposals in Northern Michigan? What in particular? What are your goals, both in the short term and the long term?
Kruch and Moore: Our members have prioritized healthcare, housing and basic needs, immigration, human rights, labor organizing, and political education. We are currently developing long-term goals aligned with those priorities. Our short-term goals have been to increase our membership, build relationships between our membership and community partners, participate in DSA National organizing efforts, provide mutual aid, and protest the fascist policies of the Trump Administration. NWMI DSA hosted a panel with MidEast Just Peace and Jewish Voice for Peace to raise awareness of the ongoing genocide in Palestine. And, most recently, NWMI DSA held a book discussion of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s The Serviceberry. We hold general body meetings every other month, and we welcome anyone interested in our work. Additionally, we’re planning more social events each month, including more reading groups, film screenings, and a dance party doubling as a mutual aid fundraiser.
Sun: At the book discussion of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s The Serviceberry, which was organized in part by the DSA group and held at the Traverse Area District Library, conversations about the need for mutual aid took center stage. What does mutual aid look like in a DSA context? What role can mutual aid work play in the Grand Traverse region and Leelanau County?
Kruch and Moore: Mutual aid is a way for us to get our needs met outside of the capitalist economy and is also a place for us to imagine the systems we want and need to create. Mutual aid rejects overconsumption and resource hoarding, which are the dominant features of our capitalist economy, and which maintain wealth and power within the 1%. There are many mutual aid networks in the region playing a critical role in supporting community building and human dignity, pushing back against the commodification of our labor and natural resources. We are working to form lasting connections with many of them. Currently, with SNAP cuts, mutual aid networks are beginning to facilitate food sharing. Mutual aid is powerful and the more of it we can create, the better.
Sun: What misconceptions about DSA do you perceive or hear—in our region, and elsewhere?
Kruch and Moore: There are many misconceptions about what democratic socialism is, and what it isn’t. It’s definitely not something threatening and ominous—unless perhaps you’re a billionaire unwilling to pay your fair share of taxes. As democratic socialists, we want a democracy powered by everyday people. A democracy in which we all benefit from the fruits of our labor. We think that if you live in America, your taxes should fund education, healthcare, and basic needs, not endless wars and corporate subsidies.
We are activists committed to democracy, not simply as one of our political values, but as our means of restructuring society. Our vision is of a world in which we have a real voice in the choices and relationships that affect our lives. We call this vision democratic socialism—a vision of a more free, egalitarian, and humane society.
