FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Metro D.C. DSA Endorses Zachary Parker for Ward 5 Councilmember in the 2022 D.C. Primaries
DATE: Monday, December 20, 2021
PRESS CONTACT: For all press inquiries, please contact media@mdcdsa.org.
WASHINGTON, D.C.: After an extensive democratic endorsement process, the members of the metro D.C. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) voted overwhelmingly to endorse Zachary Parker for Ward 5 Councilmember in the Democratic primary, which will be held on June 21, 2022.
Parker is running on an explicitly people-first platform that includes expanding and strengthening rent control, affordable housing, and other tenant protections; addressing the legacy of environmental racism and committing to climate justice across the district; and supporting violence prevention and community safety efforts, not by increasing funding to the police but by meaningfully addressing people’s needs. He was elected to the D.C. State Board of Education (SBOE) in 2018 to represent Ward 5 and was unanimously chosen by the other board members to serve as SBOE president in January 2021. Parker’s campaign for the D.C. Council presents a massive opportunity for the progressive left to elect an uncompromising champion for our values and to shift the balance of power on the council to a veto-proof progressive majority.
Metro D.C. DSA’s endorsements are not just a recommendation to DSA members to vote for a particular candidate, but rather a commitment to fight to get that candidate elected. Since 2017, DSA members have knocked on an average of 25,000 doors each cycle. In 2020, Metro D.C. DSA was well on pace to knock on more than 20,000 doors for Ward 4 D.C. Council candidate Janeese Lewis George before the pandemic necessitated the shift to phone banking; our members made more than 5,000 phone calls for her campaign and, later that year, made more than 36,000 phone calls for chapter-endorsed at-large candidate Ed Lazere.
Our chapter is excited to support Parker’s campaign, and we look forward to canvassing, fundraising, and organizing for a candidate who truly represents and will fight for working people in our district.