If there’s one takeaway Americans should have in 2025, it’s that establishment Democrats are incapable – and, evidently, unwilling – to meet the moment. This year, in particular, has been rough.
As fascism seeps deeper into the country’s foundation, leading Democrats have responded by embarking on Sorry I Lost book tours, snapping plastic crowns, and putting on rhetorical performances. At the same time, they’re posing with war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu, short-circuiting when asked about AIPAC donations, and acquiescing to the same policies they’re decrying.
Fortunately, while the rot is clear, so too is the path forward.
A year ago, Zohran Mamdani was an unknown figure, polling at 1%. This past week, he was elected mayor of New York City and has become one of the most recognizable faces of a movement determined to resist the pervasive hatred, greed, and ignorance of our times. His victory confirmed what many on the Left already knew – that the path forward isn’t through theater masquerading as politics, but through a relentless, grassroots fight for the betterment of the working-class. A movement grounded in material benefits – not symbolic gestures – is one built to win.
And while Mamdani is an inspiring figure, his success isn’t the only victory worth celebrating from this past week. In Atlanta, Kelsea Bond’s campaign for District 2’s City Council seat similarly built up enough grassroots energy to win a commanding victory.
The Fight for The City in a Forest
Bond’s platform shares much in common with Mamdani’s, with both centering the building of a liveable city through affordable housing, sustainable infrastructure, and an expansion of workers’ rights. Like Mamdani’s, Bond’s campaign knocked on thousands of doors and received endorsements from the Working Families Party, local unions, and numerous other organizations and figures.
Bond’s platform is also rooted in urgency, as the past several years have been difficult for Atlanta. Despite fierce resistance from organizers and over 100,000 residents calling for a referendum, city leaders approved Cop City (officially the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center), and the facility opened this past April. On top of such blatantly undemocratic decision-making, citizens have also been dealing with an affordability crisis as local rent prices soar and wages stagnate. This has forced long-term residents out of areas like Bond’s District 2, while Atlanta’s fractured transportation network and abhorrent traffic – the fifth worst in the country – have made their exodus permanent.
Community Building Through Resistance
On the Wednesday before their victory, Bond’s vision came into focus during a panel with Daniel Aldana Cohen, coauthor of A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal, and Elise Joshi, a fellow activist and organizer. Throughout the hour-long conversation, Bond spoke on their motivations and articulated how their platform seeks to connect climate action to housing, public transit, and civic power.
“For so many young people in Atlanta, [Cop City] really demonstrated the lack of democratic processes that exist in Atlanta politics,” they said. “People can see the contradictions that exist in the Atlanta government, and that’s contributed to the energy around our campaign.”
While city councilors fight for local change, the issues they combat often mirror national dynamics. Bond spoke to this, highlighting how establishment politicians often work together to protect capital, regardless of party.
“In an ideal situation, we would form a Big Tent alliance against fascism in the Trump regime,” Bond said. “Instead, we’re seeing the Atlanta establishment – traditionally centrist Democrats – aligning themselves with Republican City Council members and throwing progressives under the bus.”
In the face of such collusion, grassroots movements provide hope, but they also offer a less-discussed benefit. As the loneliness epidemic worsens and society, at large, fractures, organizing can help alleviate atomization. Bond addressed this, emphasizing that community-building was foundational to their campaign.
“I learned very early on in organizing that people will not stick around if they’re not having fun,” they said. “That’s why it’s been so crucial since the launch of our campaign to keep [our movement] fun and ensure that people are making friends and connecting with new people.”
Cohen agreed, quipping that phones are like tiny suburbs in our pockets – isolating, yet for many people, the only way they experience politics.
While extensive canvassing efforts helped propel Bond to victory, their campaign also hosted concerts and comedy shows to foster community. These helped break down social silos – which can often feel entrenched in Atlanta, due to its car-centric infrastructure – while working to tackle the city’s chronically low municipal turnout.
“I grew up in the DIY music scene in Atlanta, and I know they’re all left-wing. I know they’re all mad at our city government for Cop City. And so, we’ve really been trying to tap into those spaces to bring people in who otherwise wouldn’t see any reason to vote.”
Whether or not fed-up indie artists were the deciding factor, Bond’s campaign tactics proved more than just successful. 6,715 local residents voted for them, earning a 64% victory and avoiding a potential runoff.
And what did Bond’s supporters vote for? Density – not as a buzzword or a piece of urbanist jargon, but as scaffolding to help connect people to their communities.
“Every single person deserves to live close to where they work, not just to improve the quality of their life, but because it makes it easier to organize in your community,” Bond said. “It makes it easier to be civically engaged. It makes it easier to plan a meeting with your coworkers when you don’t have to drive an hour to meet at the same place.”
Beyond District 2
While Atlanta may not have a democratic socialist mayor (yet!), Kelsea Bond’s city council win is one the Left should celebrate. Like Zohran Mamdani, Bond ran an inspiring grassroots campaign, and their victory serves as a much-needed reminder that progressive forces can win when they fight for commonsense policies, work to repair fractured communities, and offer voters genuine hope.
At a time when national politics have rarely felt more hollow – when centrists pose and flounder against cartoonishly evil forces – Bond’s blueprint to success is one worth emulating.
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