Senate socialist says she’ll vote for any Democrat who takes on Trump in November

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State Sen. Julia Salazar said she’ll vote for Joe Biden for president in November. AP Photo/Hans Pennink

State Sen. Julia Salazar said she’ll vote for Joe Biden for president in November. AP Photo/Hans Pennink

By David Brand

The only socialist in the New York state legislature says she will vote for the Democratic candidate for president in November, despite the Democratic Socialists of America’s decision not to endorse former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive nominee. 

State Sen. Julia Salazar said the DSA, the largest socialist political party in the United States, rarely endorses candidates who are not active members of the party, but that doesn’t mean she and other members will sit out the November election when Democrats have a chance to take down President Donald Trump.

“I know I will be voting for whoever the Democratic nominee is for president and I think a lot of DSA members will too,” said Salazar, a first-term senator who represents much of northern Brooklyn. “But it’s unlikely that — unless Biden decides to court democratic socialists — it’s unlikely that they’ll be putting resources behind him.” 

DSA-backed U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the running earlier this month, leaving a clear path to victory for Biden, a moderate who faces resistance from the leftwing of the party.

Salazar said DSA members, who vote on party endorsement decisions, specifically disagree with Biden’s “lukewarm” support for universal health insurance and his opposition to student loan forgiveness. 

She discussed her decision during an interview on WBAI’s “City Watch” Sunday night. She joined U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the nation’s most prominent DSA-endorsed lawmaker, in pledging to vote Democrat in November.

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Nevertheless, Ocasio-Cortez has not yet formally endorsed Biden and has pushed him to take more progressive positions on climate change and healthcare.

She told the New York Times that there are real policy differences among progressives and moderate Democrats, which means unifying the party will be an “uncomfortable” process as party members debate positions across the ideological spectrum.

“There’s this talk about unity as this kind of vague, kumbaya, kind of term,” she said. “Unity and unifying isn’t a feeling, it’s a process.”

Editor’s Note: Eagle Managing Editor David Brand is a co-host of City Watch on WBAI.