In 2024, SURJ organized tens of thousands of white voters to support members of the Squad—the majority women of color cohort made up of the most progressive Congressional representatives—in their primary races as a “build” part of our Block, Build, Grow 2024 strategy, recognizing that we need to BUILD progressive governing power while be block far right extremism and grow our movements.
The Squad has consistently worked alongside movements for justice in Congress—from AOC coordinating with youth at the Sunrise Movement on the Green New Deal to Cori Bush sleeping outside the Capitol with activists for housing justice. Protecting and growing this kind of legislative power is a necessary part of blocking authoritarianism and advancing laws that work for all of us.
We worked to defend Rep. Summer Lee’s seat in Pittsburgh with the same organizations that powered her win in 2022. Rep. Lee is a former labor organizer and attorney who, prior to her historic election, led community fights for a living wage and public schools. In Congress, she has championed racial justice bills for police accountability and reparations, like HR2904, which proposes structural racism and police violence be included in public health research and investment.
Lee’s opponent attacked her for being “too extreme” on issues like police reform and supporting a ceasefire in Gaza. This is where SURJ’s members shine: holding successful persuasion conversations about race and other “controversial” topics with white people. The conservative MAGA-aligned group AIPAC recruited Lee’s Democratic challenger and pledged a historic $100 million against Squad members like Summer Lee in an attempt to silence their leadership on a ceasefire and other progressive issues like police reform.
400+ SURJ members knocked on more than 6,000 doors, called more than 150,000 voters, and held 12,000 one-on-one conversations with white voters in Rep. Lee’s district to mobilize support for her justice-aligned agenda. Her victory is a testament to the fact that multiracial grassroots organizing for movement-aligned candidates can overcome billionaire’s efforts to buy election results.
