In an unprecedented shift in Denver city leadership, Democratic socialist Candi CdeBaca won a runoff for city counselor last week promising to implement communist policies “by any means necessary.”
CdeBaca was among three candidates that unseated incumbents in the Tuesday runoff. She did so by defeating former Denver city council president Albus Brooks by 52.4 percent to 47.6 percent.
Brooks is a trustee of Mayor Michael B. Hancock, and many expected Brooks would take over the mayor’s office after Hancock leaves, The Denver Channel reported.
But Candi CdeBaca was not the only winner who unseated other well-established incumbents; she did so alongside two other runner-ups: challenger Amanda Sawyer defeated District 5 incumbent Mary Beth Susan 58.2 percent to 41.9 percent. In District 10, Chris Hinds defeated incumbent Wayne New 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent.
CdeBaca has already drawn comparisons to socialist Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 29-year-old who unseated 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley in New York’s 14th congressional district in 2018.
“It’s historic,” crowed Carlos Valverde, state director for a radical activist group named Colorado Working Families and an ardent supporter CdeBaca. “It is in the vein of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. … a victory that really demonstrates people power over money power,” the Daily Caller reported. He believes they “began a movement” toward more liberal policies.
CdeBaca thanked her supporters on Facebook. She claimed the reason for her victory lied in keeping it “real.”
“The Eastside taught me really early what ‘real’ really means. Don’t talk about it, BE about it. I knew in my heart if community who knew this principle still existed in the Eastside, they would see me and recognize real,” she wrote. “If they didn’t, I was cool with it too because I wanted to serve those who understand this principle. They are here, they showed up, they recognized real.”
In April, CdeBaca joined a candidate’s panel at the “Denver Decides” forum, where she revealed to voters precisely what her agenda is, from the moment she will get sworn in, as can be seen on a video posted by Jonathan Woodley.
“I don’t believe our current economic system actually works. Um, capitalism by design is extractive, and in order to generate profit in a capitalist system, something has to be exploited, that’s land, labor or resources,” CdeBaca said.
“And I think that we’re in late phase capitalism and we know it doesn’t work, and we have to move into something new, and I believe in community ownership of land, labor, resources, and distribution of those resources,” she continued. “And whatever that morphs into is I think what will serve community the best and I’m excited to usher it in by any means necessary.”
“By Any Means Necessary” is also the name of a far left anti-fascist organization, The American Mirror noted, whose members were recently involved in anti-Trump protests and violent riots including the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017 that led to three deaths.
Communism is defined by The Cambridge Dictionary as “an economic system based on public ownership of property and control of the methods of production, and in which no person profits from the work of others.”
It is commonly believed that communism is an advanced stage of socialism, and it is becoming increasingly popular in American politics.
