Members and supporters of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Albuquerque went to great lengths, and met thousands of people, to get Gloria La Riva on the New Mexico ballot for this presidential race. Gathering 6,300 signatures in their petition drive, PSL members were able to share the ideas of socialism to many sympathetic and open minded people.
Although the Secretary of State’s office only required 2,564 signatures, volunteers went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that Gloria could get on the ballot without incident. In only nine weeks they gathered nearly two and a half times the required amount.
Many volunteers were excited and had many great experiences while out petitioning. The youth have been very receptive to the message of socialism and the Gloria La Riva campaign in particular. Many volunteers noted that young people were largely the most interested in socialism. Rebecca Hampton said, “Some of my greatest memories included talking to young people, when a group a young people heard about the petition (They were ages 18 and under) they asked if it was against Trump. I said definitely. Young people are excited about resisting the face of white supremacy in the U.S. and it’s incredibly inspiring. They wished they could all sign it, but only one of them was 18. The youth want a new system.”
Many of the people that came into contact with the petitioners were impressed at the dedication of each volunteer and it was a common theme among all the stories that each volunteer shared. People were surprised that a group of mostly young people would volunteer their time without pay in order to petition for a cause they believed in.One PSL member, Michealin, shared a story about how she asked two young Native women to sign the petition but was ignored until she said “It’s for socialism,” at which point one of the women’s head snapped around and she told her “I’ll sign!”
Some volunteers even got Trump supporters to sign and to question their views about Trump by talking about socialism and socialist programs. Katie Bernhardt had a long conversation with a Trump supporter. “He was fascinated by my explanation of socialism and how it works in other countries, he enthusiastically signed my petition. I sent him away with a flier, and he thanked me for the discussion and said he would research socialism.”Another Trump supporter had a conversation with PSL member Paige Murphy in which he was surprised that he agreed with some socialist programs that she explained to him. “He laughed, took our campaign flyer, and continued walking. It made me wonder how many other people are out there just like him. The word socialism has been smeared by the ruling class, but more people are discovering they’ve had socialist values all along.”
The campaign has reached thousands of people in New Mexico alone and will continue to reach many others across the nation. All the volunteers were incredibly inspired by their experiences and will continue to work for a future where more and more people will see socialism as the system that fights for the interests of working class people everywhere.
