Jacksonville, FL – With 58% of the vote, Republican Mayor Lenny Curry outright won re-election as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida on March 19. Sheriff Mike Williams, also a Republican, garnered about 62% of the vote, easily trouncing Democrat challenger Tony Cummings. Republicans also won Property Appraiser and Tax Collector by sizable margins.

Chicago, IL – This week, Chicago saw elections for mayor and city council in which almost all the candidates ran on platforms opposing outgoing Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Progressive victories were won in a number of wards across the city, including by Maria Hadden, a young, Black, queer woman who unseated Joe Moore in the far Northside Rogers Park neighborhood. Moore had been a progressive 25 years ago but is now a staunch ally of the mayor and a defender of big money developers. Hadden was recently a board member of Black Youth Project 100, and hers was a major win for progressives in the first round of elections.

Chicago, IL – Rev. David Thornton, pastor of the Sixth Grace Presbyterian Church, welcomed the crowd, February 10. Referring to the program for the event, sponsored by Freedom Road Socialist Organiza-tion (FRSO), he said, “I think that the Freedom Road Socialist Organization has a strategy of building a united front against monopoly capitalism.” Recalling his sermon that morning, he added, “This reminds me, this morning, when I shared with the congregation the importance, if you really want to make a difference, to leave the safety of the shore and go into the deep waters. This is certainly an organiza-tion that is engaged in deep waters.”

The following was written in response to the Dave Schneider’s commentary, “A socialist look at the Florida 2018 midterm results.” View part one of the article here. View part two here.

Part two of two

This is part two of a two-part series. View part one here. The specter of socialism in South Florida

Part one of two

This is part one of a two-part series. See part two here.

Minneapolis MN – More than 50 people packed Mayday book store, Nov. 11, for an event hosted by Freedom Road Socialist Organization on the outcome of the midterm elections. Speakers at the event included leaders of the movements for immigrant rights, labor, and against police terror.

The 2018 midterm elections are mostly, but not entirely over (with races still too close to call in Arizona, Georgia, Florida and other states). These elections were a referendum on Donald Trump and his policies. Voters provided an important setback to him and reduced the number of friends he has in the House and among state governors.

Saint Paul, MN – On November 6, Minnesotans will head to the polls along with the rest of the country for the midterm elections. With copycats and enablers of Trump’s bigoted and reactionary agenda up and down the ballot, there’s a lot riding on the outcome for working and oppressed people in Minnesota.

Jacksonville, FL – On November 6, Floridians will vote on 12 amendments to the state constitution. Some of these amendments would have a far greater impact on the working-class and oppressed communities of this state than others. Several reached the ballot by citizens’ petition, while others were added by Governor Rick Scott’s majority-appointed Florida Constitutional Revision Commission, which met in 2017.

The cause of peace and justice suffered a blow in 2016 with the election of Donald Trump. Trade unions, Black community groups, immigrant right organizations, student activists and others joined a surge of protest designed to make sure that ‘business as usual’ would be impossible for Republican bigots taking office, while criticizing disappointing corporate Democratic Party politicians for their shortcomings. With the 2018 midterm elections quickly approaching, it is important for everyone to have a good analysis and plan of action.

Los Angeles, CA – On Nov. 6, millions of Californians will be headed to the polls for the midterm elections. Many contested seats are up for election, including the governor, house, and senate seats. On top of that, are 12 state propositions up for voting. We encourage you to register and vote.

Jacksonville, FL – It didn’t take long for the Florida gubernatorial campaign to get extremely racist.

Washington DC – A June 16 article in Rodong Sinmun, the leading daily newspaper in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) stated, “capitalism is a gloomy society as it has no future.”

Milwaukee, WI – On May 12, the people of Iraq will be casting ballots for the Council of Representatives, their national legislature, for the third time since the 2003 U.S. invasion. Recent events have further proved that the U.S. failed to establish a new, pro-American order, and instead have emboldened the Iraqi masses to drive imperialism from their land.

The Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) is the second-largest party supporting Nicolás Maduro for president in the May 20 elections. In this piece published in their party newspaper Tribuna Popular, the PCV Central Committee lays out their position of the electoral process, the need for communist agitation, and the future of the country. It is provided below in English, translated by Fight Back! News staff.

Chicago, IL – Carlos Ramirez-Rosa is a member of the Chicago City Council who is well known to every progressive activist in Chicago. Brought to office in a 2015 wave of insurgent candidates opposing Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s pro-business agenda, the 28-year-old Rosa has become a fixture at labor rallies, protests against Trump’s attack on the undocumented Dreamers, as well as community meetings fighting gentrification.

On Feb. 9, during the swearing-in ceremony for new Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump signed three executive orders concerning policing. The orders were said to be directed at public safety but in fact could have a devastating impact on Black and brown communities.

More than 500 people marched on a warm night, Feb. 20, in downtown Milwaukee to mark the one-month anniversary of Trump’s inauguration. The action was organized by the Milwaukee Coalition Against Trump (MCAT), a grassroots effort that has united much of the city’s progressive movement into a united fightback against the Trump agenda.

Another legal defeat was handed to Donald Trump, Feb. 9, as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his administration's request for the reinstatement of the executive order banning immigrants from seven Arab, African, or Muslim-majority countries. Late last week, a Seattle judge had instituted a nationwide restraining order against the Muslim ban, which halted its implementation across the entire U.S.