Chicago Democratic Socialists of America

Origins and pre-2016 development

In 1982, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) formed as a merger of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee and the New American Movement, which had been headquartered in Chicago.^[2][7]

Chicago DSA has hosted the DSA National Convention in 1991,^[8] 2009,^[9][10] 2017,^[11] 2023,^[12] and 2025.^[13]

Post-Bernie growth

Chicago DSA grew as part of DSA's post-2016 expansion following Bernie Sanders' first presidential campaign and the election of Donald Trump.^[14][2] The 2017 DSA national convention in Chicago reflected this shift, rising from 120 to over 800 delegates, who were several times younger than the pre-Bernie DSA.^[15][16][17]

City Council

In the 2015 Chicago aldermanic election, Chicago DSA participated in city-level socialist electoral organizing around Jorge Mújica's aldermanic campaign. Although Mújica lost, this campaign prefigured later chapter electoral strategy.^[18][19][20] Carlos Ramirez-Rosa won his city council election and later joined Chicago DSA in 2017.^[21][22] Ramirez-Rosa was the youngest Chicago city councilor yet elected and its first democratic socialist.^[23]

In 2017, Illinois state Senator Daniel Biss, candidate for the 2018 Illinois gubernatorial election, selected Ramirez-Rosa to run for lieutenant governor on his ticket. Less than one week later, Ramirez-Rosa left the Biss campaign, because Ramirez-Rosa would not denounce Chicago DSA's support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.^[24][25]

In the 2019 Chicago aldermanic election, six DSA members won or retained seats on the Chicago City Council, giving democratic socialists their largest bloc in the body in living memory.^[26][4][5] Chapter endorsements in 2019 also included Ugo Okere in the first round of the 40th Ward race; Okere was eliminated, and Chicago DSA endorsed Andre Vasquez in the runoff, which Vasquez won.^[27][28] These socialist alderpeople informally organized as a Socialist Caucus. On May 1, 2021, five members formally launched the Chicago City Council Democratic Socialist Caucus.^[29][30] The caucus has generally operated alongside the Chicago City Council Progressive Reform Caucus while pursuing a more explicitly socialist policy agenda.^[29]

In the 2023 Chicago aldermanic election, six Chicago DSA-endorsed candidates won election or re-election. Winners included incumbents Daniel La Spata, Jeanette Taylor, Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, and Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, along with challenger Angela Clay. Additional chapter-endorsed candidates, including Nick Ward and Ambria Taylor, were defeated.^[31][32]

In February 2025, Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson appointed Ramirez-Rosa as General Superintendent and CEO of the Chicago Park District.^[33] Johnson nominated Anthony Quezada, a DSA-endorsed member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and former staffer of Ramirez-Rosa, to fill Ramirez-Rosa's seat. He was subsequently confirmed by a vote of the city council.^[34]

U.S. House of Representatives

In the 2026 U.S. House of Representatives elections in Illinois, Chicago DSA has endorsed and supported alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez's independent campaign for the 4th district.

Labor organizing

During the 2019 Chicago Public Schools strike, Chicago DSA ran chapter-wide strike solidarity operations, including canvassing, picket-line support, and the "Bread for Ed" effort with Chicago Jobs with Justice to fund and distribute meals for students and strikers.^[35][36]

Tenant organizing

In 2018 and 2019, Chicago DSA participated in Lift the Ban's tenant campaign to repeal Illinois' rent-control preemption law through coalition work, precinct-level referenda, and neighborhood canvassing.^[37][38][39]