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Justice Democrats

Justice Democrats (JD) is an American progressive political action committee and caucus[4][5][1] founded on January 23, 2017, by two leaders of Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign, Saikat Chakrabarti and Zack Exley, as well as political commentators Kyle Kulinski and Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks.[6] The organization formed as a result of the 2016 United States presidential election[7][8] and aspires "to elect a new type of Democratic majority in Congress" that will "create a thriving economy and democracy that works for the people, not big money interests".[6] The group advocates for campaign finance reform (reducing the role of money in politics) and endorses only candidates who pledge to refuse donations from corporate PACs and lobbyists.

Kulinski and Uygur are no longer part of the group, later criticizing it for falling short in cultivating a unified cohort of legislators able to champion priority bills.[9] Alexandra Rojas became the organization's executive director in May 2018.[10]

During the 2018 elections, Justice Democrats ran 79 progressive candidates against Democrats, Republicans and Independents in local, state, and federal elections.[11] The seven Justice Democrats candidates who won their electoral congressional races in 2018 were Raúl Grijalva, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib.

The group endorsed considerably fewer candidates in 2020 than in 2018, a move its communications director defended as a strategy to focus its resources on the most promising candidates.[12][13] Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, and Marie Newman were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020.

In 2022, Greg Casar and Summer Lee were elected to the House, while Newman lost her reelection in the Democratic primary after facing an investigation by the House Ethics Committee.[14] In 2024, Delia Ramirez was endorsed by and joined Justice Democrats.[15]

History

After the 2016 presidential election resulted in a victory for Donald Trump, many progressives pointed to the perceived loyalty of politicians to large donors as a major contributing factor to Hillary Clinton's loss to Trump. These critics contend that a campaign finance model similar to that of Bernie Sanders, whose 2016 presidential campaign was funded by small individual donations, will increase public trust in politicians through increased accountability to their constituents.[citation needed]

On January 23, 2017, Cenk Uygur and Kyle Kulinski founded Justice Democrats with ten others, including former staffers from the Sanders campaign such as its Director of Organizing Technology, Saikat Chakrabarti, and MoveOn.org fundraiser Zack Exley.[16][17][18] According to the organization, it seeks to create a left-wing populist movement to support alternative Democratic candidates beginning with the 2018 midterm elections, in order to either defeat the incumbent Democrats or make them more accountable to their constituents. It requires its candidates to take a pledge to refuse financial contributions from billionaires and corporations.[7] In addition, it hoped to rebuild the Democratic Party on a national level and defeat Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

The Democrats used to represent something wonderful – voters. We want you to represent just us, not your donors... [and stand for] justice for the people

— Cenk Uygur explaining the name of the group[6][19]

On March 20, 2017, Justice Democrats reported that they had received 8,300 nominations and raised $1 million (~$1.22 million in 2023).[20] Also in March 2017, it teamed up with Brand New Congress, a PAC established by former Sanders campaign supporters, to further their goals.[18] By November 1, 2017, they had merged with fellow progressive group AllOfUs.[21][22]

On May 9, 2017, Representative Ro Khanna of California's 17th congressional district announced that he had become a Justice Democrat, the first sitting member of Congress to join the organization.[23][6] Over the following year, Raúl Grijalva of Arizona's 3rd congressional district and Pramila Jayapal of Washington's 7th congressional district also joined, bringing the number of sitting representatives in Justice Democrats to three.[24] Khanna and Jayapal were first elected to the House in 2016 while Grijalva has been an incumbent since 2002.[citation needed]

During the 2018 elections, Justice Democrats ran 79 progressive candidates against Democrats, Republicans and Independents in local, state, and federal elections.[11] 26 of them advanced past the primary stage. All Justice Democrat candidates running for office were endorsed by The Young Turks, who provided them with a media platform on their interview show Rebel HQ.[25] The seven Justice Democrats candidates who won their electoral congressional races in 2018 were Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the three sitting members. All seven won districts already held by Democrats.[citation needed]

In 2020, Justice Democrat Marie Newman defeated incumbent Representative Dan Lipinski in the 2020 primary for Illinois's 3rd congressional district.[26] Jamaal Bowman defeated incumbent Representative Eliot Engel in New York's 16th congressional district's primary. Bowman was also endorsed by Justice Democrats. Another Justice Democrat-endorsed candidate won in Missouri's 1st congressional district, when Cori Bush defeated Representative Lacy Clay.[citation needed]

Summer for Progress

In July 2017, several progressive organizations, including Our Revolution, Democratic Socialists of America, National Nurses United, Working Families Party, and Brand New Congress, announced a push to encourage House Democrats to sign on to a #PeoplesPlatform, which meant supporting "eight bills currently in the House of Representatives that will address the concerns of everyday Americans".[27] These eight bills and the topics they address are:

  1. Medicare for All: H.R. 676, the Medicare For All Act[28]
  2. Free College Tuition: H.R. 1880, the College for All Act of 2017[29]
  3. Worker Rights: H.R. 15, the Raise the Wage Act[30]
  4. Women's Rights: H.R. 771, the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act of 2017[31]
  5. Voting Rights: H.R. 2840, the Automatic Voter Registration Act[32]
  6. Environmental Justice: H.R. 4114, the Environmental Justice Act of 2017[33]
  7. Criminal Justice and Immigrant Rights: H.R. 3227, the Justice Is Not for Sale Act of 2017[34]
  8. Taxing Wall Street: H.R. 1144, the Inclusive Prosperity Act[35]

Uygur's resignation

On December 22, 2017, it was announced that Uygur had resigned from the organization, after the revelation of previously deleted but archived controversial blog posts he had written.[36] The next day, Kulinski announced that he had stepped down from the organization as he disagreed with staff members who pressed for Uygur's dismissal. He said his decision came as a result of a personal dilemma as he saw the posts in question upon rereading them as satirical. Kulinski noted that the decision to ask for Uygur's resignation came from Justice Democrat staff, not the candidates, and asked his supporters to continue backing the organization's candidates.[37]

In mid-November 2019, Uygur filed to run for Congress in California's 25th district, a seat recently vacated by the resignation of Katie Hill.[38][39][40] Uygur stated he would not run as a member of the Justice Democrats.

Ideology and political issues

A central priority of Justice Democrats is to effectively eliminate the role of money and conflicts of interests in politics. As such, any candidate running with Justice Democrats must pledge to refuse donations from corporate PACs and lobbyists.[41] Declining money from corporate PACs and supporting Medicare for All have both been described as litmus tests for the organization.[42] Justice Democrats supports publicly funded elections, banning Super PACs, and banning private donations to politicians and campaigns. It also advocates for the reinstatement of provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and a ban on gerrymandering for partisan gain. Several members have voiced support for a constitutional amendment to remove money from American politics.[43]

To accompany its launch, Kulinski and Uygur published the following set of progressive founding principles for the coalition.[44] Adjustments have been made since 2017, resulting in a slightly different platform appearing on the Justice Democrats webpage at a given time.[45]

Members

Justice Democrats in the 118th United States Congress

All Congressional Justice Democrats members are House of Representatives members from the Democratic Party. As of the 118th Congress, there are 12 declared Justice Democrats, all of whom are House members.[47]

United States House of Representatives

Current (12)

Former (1)

[47]

Announcements

Political activity

2018

Justice Democrats officially endorsed 79 candidates in the 2018 election cycle, seven of whom won general elections (three were incumbents).[50] The four first-time officeholders in the U.S. House make up "The Squad".

Governor

Lieutenant governor

U.S. Senate

U.S. House

2020

Justice Democrats endorsed 17 candidates in the Democratic primaries for president, Senate and House. Twelve House candidates made it to the general election (7 incumbents, 5 newcomers). All the incumbents and three newcomers won.

U.S. President

U.S. Senate

U.S. House

2021

U.S. House

2022

Justice Democrats endorsed 10 incumbents and 6 newcomers. All but one incumbent won, as did two newcomers.

U.S. House

2024

Justice Democrats has endorsed 12 incumbents.

U.S. House

Notes

  1. ^ Grijalva joined the Justice Democrats in December 2017.
  2. ^ Jayapal joined the Justice Democrats in April 2018.
  3. ^ Ramirez joined the Justice Democrats in January 2024.
  4. ^ Despite losing the primary, Nixon had a slot in the general election as the nominee of the Working Families Party. On October 3, the Working Families Party offered their party's ballot line to the incumbent governor (and winner of the Democratic primary), Andrew Cuomo, and he accepted on October 5.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Ran unopposed
  6. ^ Special election to replace Trent Franks, who resigned on December 8, 2017
  7. ^ Running for the Arizona Senate in the 22nd district
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r California and Washington use a nonpartisan blanket primary system, where all candidates run on one primary ballot, regardless of party affiliation, and the top two finishers advance to the general election.
  9. ^ Due to a logistical error in his campaign filing, Morgan was unable to appear on the primary ballot. As he was the only Democrat to file to run in this district, he was able to win the primary with write-in votes.
  10. ^ Special election to replace John Conyers, who resigned on December 5, 2017
  11. ^ Special election to replace Pat Tiberi, who resigned on January 15, 2018
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Texas uses a two-round primary system. If a candidate receives above 50% of the vote in the first round, they become the party's nominee; otherwise, the top two finishers advance to a second round.
  13. ^ In Utah, a state convention was held on April 21; of the 381 delegates present from the 4th district, McDonald won 25% of the votes and Salt Lake County mayor Ben McAdams won 72%. Since McAdams cleared the 60% threshold, he became the party's nominee, with no primary election taking place on June 26.[51][52]
  14. ^ Special election to replace Marcia Fudge, who resigned on March 10, 2021
  15. ^ Grijalva ran in the new 7th district, which was renumbered from the 3rd district in redistricting.
  16. ^ Newman ran in the new 6th district after moving from the 4th district and previously representing the 3rd district prior to redistricting.
  17. ^ Talib is running in the new 12th district after moving from the 13th district due to redistricting.
  18. ^ Lee ran in the new 12th district, which was renumbered from the 18th district in redistricting.
  19. ^ Kelly ran in the new 7th district after moving from the 5th district due to redistricting.
  1. ^ Serving as members of the Democratic Party.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Justice Democrats - Let's Elect the Next Generation". Justice Democrats.
  2. ^ "FILING FEC-1195264". Justice Democrats. Federal Election Commission. December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  3. ^ "FEC, Form 3X, Justice Democrats", p. 2, accessed January 17, 2019
  4. ^ "Justice Democrats - committee overview". Campaign Finance Data. Federal Election Commission.
  5. ^ "Justice Democrats: Frequently Asked Questions". Justice Democrats. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Grigoryan & Suetzl 2019, p. 190.
  7. ^ a b "Platform". Justice Democrats. Archived from the original on January 28, 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  8. ^ McKay, Tom (January 23, 2017). "Cenk Uygur, Bernie Sanders staffers team up to take over the Democratic Party". Mic. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  9. ^ "A Progressive Powerhouse's Surprise Layoffs Fuel Concerns About The Left's Future". HuffPost. August 3, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  10. ^ Felsenthal, Julia (November 25, 2019). "Alexandra Rojas Is Taking on the Democratic Establishment, One Race at a Time". Vogue. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c Grigoryan & Suetzl 2019, p. 191.
  12. ^ Lipsitz, Raina (August 13, 2019). "Meet the Bronx middle school principal challenging a 16-term congressional incumbent". Gothamist. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  13. ^ Darby, Luke (August 30, 2019). "Why the progressive group behind AOC thinks Democrats have it backwards". GQ. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  14. ^ Sweet, Lynn (February 11, 2022). "Rep. Marie Newman keeps on political payroll man who is key witness in House ethics panel probe". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  15. ^ Lacey, Akela (January 10, 2024). "Justice Democrats endorse Chicago progressive among first to call for Gaza ceasefire". The Intercept.
  16. ^ Weigel, David (January 23, 2017). "Progressives launch 'Justice Democrats' to counter party's 'corporate' legislators". The Washington Post.
  17. ^ Hough, Scott (January 23, 2017). "Justice Democrats: Cenk Uygur, The Young Turks, Progressives Launch Party Takeover". Inquisitr.
  18. ^ a b McKay, Tom (January 23, 2017). "Cenk Uygur, Bernie Sanders staffers team up to take over the Democratic Party". Mic.com. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  19. ^ Haines, Tim (January 24, 2017). "Cenk Uygur Launches A "New Wing" Of Democratic Party: Justice Democrats". The Young Turks. RealClearPolitics.com. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  20. ^ Seitz-Wald, Alex (March 20, 2017). "Democrats Beware: Sanders 'Movement' Turns to Midterms". NBCNews.
  21. ^ "Justice Democrats candidates". Twitter. November 1, 2017.
  22. ^ "Justice Democrats Merge With AllOfUs.org". YouTube. November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  23. ^ a b Wire, Sarah (May 12, 2017). "California politics updates: Gov. Brown's adds cash to budget; McClintock calls for independent prosecutor for Russia investigation". Los Angeles Times. Khanna's decision to join Justice Democrats, along with his pledge not to take PAC or lobbyist money, are unexpected establishment-flouting moves for a man who just started his political career and hopes for a long term role in the party.
  24. ^ Whitehouse, Russell (October 6, 2018). "Book Review: 'The Next Republic'". International Policy Digest. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  25. ^ Grigoryan, Nune; Suetzl, Wolfgang (2019). "Hybridized political participation". In Atkinson, Joshua D.; Kenix, Linda (eds.). Alternative Media Meets Mainstream Politics: Activist Nation Rising. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 190–191. ISBN 9781498584357.
  26. ^ Blitzer, Ronn (March 18, 2020). "AOC's pick in Democratic Primary for House seat beats incumbent". Fox News. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  27. ^ "Summer for Progress Petition". Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  28. ^ 115th Congress (2017) (January 24, 2017). "H.R. 676 (115th)". Legislation. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 23, 2017. Expanded & Improved Medicare For All Act{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  29. ^ 115th Congress (2017) (April 4, 2017). "H.R. 1880 (115th)". Legislation. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 23, 2017. College for All Act of 2017{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ 115th Congress (2017) (May 25, 2017). "H.R. 15 (115th)". Legislation. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 23, 2017. Raise the Wage Act{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ 115th Congress (2017) (January 31, 2017). "H.R. 771 (115th)". Legislation. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 23, 2017. Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act of 2017{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  32. ^ 115th Congress (2017) (June 8, 2017). "H.R. 2840 (115th)". Legislation. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 23, 2017. Automatic Voter Registration Act{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ "H.R.4114 - Environmental Justice Act of 2017". Congress.gov. October 27, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  34. ^ 115th Congress (2017) (July 13, 2017). "H.R. 3227 (115th)". Legislation. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 23, 2017. To improve Federal sentencing and corrections practices, and for other purposes.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  35. ^ 115th Congress (2017) (February 16, 2017). "H.R. 1144 (115th)". Legislation. GovTrack.us. Retrieved July 23, 2017. Inclusive Prosperity Act of 2017{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  36. ^ "Justice Democrats". Facebook. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  37. ^ Secular Talk (December 23, 2017). "Statement On Cenk Uygur & Justice Democrats". YouTube. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  38. ^ "Cenk Uygur Files to Run For Congress in Katie Hill's District". Mediaite. November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  39. ^ Malaea, Marika (November 13, 2019). "Cenk Uygur of 'The Young Turks' files to run for Congresswoman Katie Hill's seat one day after endorsing Sanders". Newsweek. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  40. ^ Wulfsohn, Joseph (November 13, 2019). "Liberal host Cenk Uygur files for congressional run in Katie Hill's former district". Fox News. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  41. ^ Godfrey, Elaine (August 23, 2018). "Why so many Democratic candidates are dissing corporate PACs". The Atlantic. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  42. ^ Harding, Douglas (February 25, 2017). "Justice Democrats becoming the (actual) party of the people". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  43. ^ Eggerton, John (January 23, 2017). "Ex-Sanders Officials Launch Justice Democrats". Multi-channel news. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  44. ^ Uygur, Cenk (January 24, 2017). "Justice Democrats Platform". Medium. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  45. ^ "Platform for Justice". Justice Democrats. 2018. Archived from the original on March 11, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  46. ^ Stuart, Tessa (November 21, 2018). "Can Justice Democrats Pull Off a Progressive Coup in Congress?". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  47. ^ a b "Candidates". Justice Democrats.
  48. ^ Justice, Democrats (December 6, 2017). "BIG NEWS: Progressive populist @RepRaulGrijalva is joining the Justice Democrats! Grijalva has a career fighting for working families, immigrant rights, and taking on the billionaires who want to divide us. Unity!". Twitter. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  49. ^ Justice, Democrats (April 16, 2018). "We are excited to announce today, one of Congress' most fearless progressive has joined our Justice Democrats family. Please welcome @RepJayapal – a champion for women of color, immigration rights, and racial and economic justice". Twitter. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  50. ^ "Candidates". JusticeDemocrats.com. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  51. ^ Taylor, Anderson; Tanner, Courtney (April 28, 2018). "Utah Democratic front-runners Ben McAdams and Jenny Wilson defeat challengers to avoid primary elections". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  52. ^ Roche, Lisa Riley (April 28, 2018). "McAdams, Wilson, easily win nominations at Democratic state convention". KSL.com. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  53. ^ Krieg, Gregory (June 1, 2021). "Anti-gun-violence activist Kina Collins announces primary challenge to Illinois Democrat Danny Davis". CNN.
  54. ^ Glueck, Katie (April 14, 2021). "New Target for New York's Ascendant Left: Rep. Carolyn Maloney". New York Times.
  55. ^ Krieg, Gregory (October 19, 2021). "Progressive champion Summer Lee enters Pennsylvania primary to replace retiring Rep. Mike Doyle". CNN.
  56. ^ Elliott, Stephen (April 5, 2021). "Odessa Kelly Takes Aim at Cooper 'Dynasty' in Congressional Primary Bid". Nashville Scene. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  57. ^ Svitek, Patrick (August 5, 2021). "Jessica Cisneros will again challenge U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar in Democratic primary for congressional seat". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved August 5, 2021.

External links