By: Tefa Galvis

Editor’s Note: Working Mass has published two opposing viewpoints on Boston DSA’s current endorsement debate. Read the counterpoint, “The Myth of Limited Capacity in DSA,” here.

Boston DSA Co-Chair Tefa Galvis weighs in on the 2026 endorsement debate, advocating for a No vote on endorsement of DSA member and State Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven for State Senate, 2nd Middlesex District

“Jane McAlevey is a deeply experienced, uncommonly reflective organizer. In No Shortcuts, McAlevey stresses the distinction between mobilizing and organizing and examines how systematic conflation of the two has reflected and reinforced the labor movement’s decline over recent decades. More than a how-to manual for organizers, No Shortcuts is a serious, grounded rumination on building working-class power. It is a must-read for everyone concerned with social justice in the US.”
— Adolph Reed Jr., Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania

The time is now for Boston DSA to defeat the establishment, elect Evan MacKay to the State House, rebuild our base across neighborhoods, and reposition ourselves clearly within the progressive and socialist left fighting fascism, through organizing, relationship-building, and disciplined strategy, as we confront ICE, the war at home, and the war abroad.

This statement outlines a vision of how Boston DSA can build power, grounded in lessons from the NYC electoral project and from over a decade of organizing. As socialists, it is our responsibility to assess the political terrain honestly and act intentionally and strategically. Opportunities are opening for Boston DSA right now, and leadership demands that we meet them with a clear, serious power-building strategy.

None of DSA’s biggest wins have come from reactive or ad-hoc decisions. Even our losses have been meaningful when they emerged from organizing-driven electoral strategies that materially impacted working-class people, regardless of party affiliation or identity. In the moment when big, shiny, exciting opportunities arise, it is important to take a breath and consider the way that potential “low-hanging fruit” will shape the implementation of our larger, long-term strategy.

I invite you to read this with curiosity and seriousness, to learn from someone who has made real sacrifices over the last 13 years, and to engage this project with the love, care, and responsibility it deserves.

Why Comparing NYC and Boston is Not Accurate

Boston DSA elected Erika as its first state-level Socialist In Office (SIO) in 2020, the year after Julia Salazar was elected as NYC-DSA’s first state-level SIO. These races, however, are not comparable, and the outcomes over the last six years make that clear.

NYC-DSA has since built:

• 3 Socialist-in-Office Committees (SIOC)
  • Federal
  • State
  • City 
• A Candidate Recruitment Committee
• Over 25 races run
• 13+ electeds in state office
• 7 codified geographic branches
• 3 interconnected, DSA-led legislative campaigns (Tax the Rich, Housing Justice, Affordable Childcare), with multiple legislative wins
• A chapter of 14,000 members

Boston DSA, by contrast:

• Has no currently DSA-endorsed elected officials in office at the state level (except for Rep. Uyterhoeven, who was endorsed in 2020 and 2022, but not in 2024).
• Has no DSA-led legislative campaigns
• Has no consistent SIOC
• Has no candidate recruitment committee
• Has not built durable electoral power since the 2019–2020 cycle

Whatever occurred in 2021 did not leave Boston DSA stronger, more strategic, or more powerful. We now have a real opportunity to reshape how we build power — with agency, discipline, and scale — but only if we confront reality honestly.

Snapshot Comparison

*[Editor’s Note: Uyterhoeven was endorsed by Boston DSA in 2020 and again for re-election in 2022, but not in 2024.]

What This Means for Boston DSA

I hold deep respect for comrades in NYC, not only for celebrating wins, but for rigorously analyzing losses and rebuilding from them. If Boston DSA wants to reach a similar level of power and coherence, we must stop organizing reactively and commit to serious base-building, internal development, and political clarity.

The fascist threat has forced uneasy coalitions under liberal democracy, adding urgency and gravity to our work. But long-term success requires that we be explicit about our goals. I propose that Boston DSA aim to run three to six State House races over the next two cycles, grounded in neighborhood-level base building.

Zohran Mamdani’s election was not reactive. It was a risk assessed and built toward through a decade of organizing. For Boston DSA, the analogous step is winning Evan MacKay’s race with a mandate, while simultaneously building durable neighborhood organizations and movement relationships.

Confronting uncomfortable truths is not optional if we want to win.

1. Boston DSA Electoral Program Current Results 

Our first electoral cycle in the State House was in 2020. If we are honest, we now have zero endorsed electeds in the State House. The original goal was to have a bench by now. We do not.

We also lack:

• DSA-written or DSA-led legislation
• A coherent electoral pipeline
• A clear lane within the broader progressive ecosystem

Supporting others’ legislation is not the same as building our own power. The only way forward is to talk to working-class people across our state, build real relationships with organizations, and define our role clearly.

2. Erika’s Race Is Not Comparable to NYC Campaigns

Julia Salazar ran as part of a Housing Justice for All campaign built by NYC-DSA’s Housing Working Group. She was asked to run by the membership to defeat an incumbent.

Zohran Mamdani was a DSA organizer long before running. He was recruited by the chapter, won legislation with DSA, spent years one-on-one organizing members, and ran strategically, not reactively. His first state legislature race was against a progressive incumbent, the first race of its kind in NYC-DSA, and contested progressive power to illustrate the differences between a socialist and progressive.

Somerville is not Queens. Cambridge is not Flatbush. Before Zohran ran for mayor, every level of governance in Queens already had DSA representation. That scale took ten years.

Losses matter. There is no shame in losing; only in losing without learning.

If we’re honest about Boston, the multiracial working-class base we need is not in Cambridge or Somerville. It is in Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Roxbury and beyond.

So we must ask:

• Where is the “Queens of Boston”?
• Where should we be base building now?
• How do we scale up citywide, then statewide?

I think these are answers to find as a chapter, and my strategist’s political instinct right now tells me Camberville is not the answer. 

Vision: Sustained Strategic Escalation

Our goal must be power in the State House, where harm is concentrated and decisions are made.

That means:

• Targeting three House seats in two to three years
• Challenging entrenched power, not just adding friendly faces
• Building a multiracial, multigenerational base
• Organizing outside Cambridge and Somerville

This is about being proactive.

What do we gain if we win the House? What do we lose if we lose?

If we win Evan’s race, we will gain a seat in the state House, getting us closer to our goal of building a bench in the House. We will show we can take on entrenched power and win. We will prove to labor unions, like IBEW 103, Mass. AFL-CIO, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, and many others backing the incumbent, that DSA won this race with DSA. They will have to recognize that DSA is a serious organizing project.

Losing Evan’s race would be devastating, not only electorally, but relationally. A second consecutive loss will make Evan look like an unserious candidate. The Democrat establishment would tear into us for losing, saying our movement is not viable outside of NYC. It will be hard to build credibility with other orgs if we keep losing. Groups like IBEW Local 2222 have taken real risks to support Evan’s campaign and all of us. If we fail to deliver, we will lose those new allies because we cannot be counted on. Evan’s race is about DSA taking on the neoliberal establishment. It is a campaign that has ramifications not only for Boston DSA, but for our movement nationwide. In this moment, we cannot afford to lose.

Meeting the Moment

We are at a political moment when the contradictions have heightened, where the political context, compared to last year or years prior, has changed. This is a moment where more people than ever are turning to DSA to find out how to take action. People are ready to take on fascism. There’s an appetite to expand into different neighborhoods and deepen relationships. 

Electoralism is an important tool in our toolbox, but electoralism, and our lack of long-term built electoral infrastructure in particular, also has its limits in accomplishing what we need to meet the current political moment. To meet this moment, we must organize with all on-the-ground orgs, such as LUCE, to defend our communities and build towards a better future together through our neighborhood and working groups. 

This isn’t to discount electoralism as a whole. Electoralism may be limited in its ability to meet the current political moment, but it would be a mistake to believe that our project could never grow. We should be thinking long-term about how electoralism can help us meet future political moments. To build the infrastructure we need, to build the future organizing we want, to meet the future moments we want, it’s imperative for the Electoral Working Group (EWG) of Boston DSA to: 

1. Win Evan MacKay’s race and strengthen the EWG through that campaign by building an intentional pipeline that both turns new and paper members into effective organizers and develops internal leaders to take on bigger campaigns and win.
2. Build an enduring and intentional SIOC and candidate recruitment process, and
3. Use ballot questions, especially around housing and maintaining the Fair Share Amendment, to organize around building working-class power and taxing the rich as a means through which we can strengthen relationships in communities.

Final Take 

Boston DSA has enormous organizing opportunities, but only if we are serious, if we are intentional, and if we are thinking ahead. Instead of reacting to opportunities as they come up, Boston DSA must instead:

• Strengthen our electoral work through Evan’s race
• Build a solid SIOC and candidate recruitment committee
• Expand neighborhood groups through immigrant defense and antifascist organizing
• Deepen relationships with labor, the left, and progressives
• Develop members into organizers and organizers into leaders so we can scale as we grow.

There are no shortcuts. If we want power, we have to build it.

Tefa Galvis is co-chair of Boston DSA and a labor and political organizer. They are a member of the Campaign Workers Guild, IATSE, and AFT-PSU, a former member of DSA’s National Political Committee and NYC-DSA, and an ecosocialist strategist and field organizer. Galvis previously worked on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s field staff and was part of the team that helped pass the first socialist-written Green New Deal legislation in New York State.