Justice Democrats

Not to be confused with Justice Party (United States).

Justice Democrats
AbbreviationJD
FormationJanuary 23, 2017; 7 years ago (2017-01-23)
FoundersSaikat Chakrabarti
Zack Exley
Kyle Kulinski
Cenk Uygur
TypePolitical action committee, caucus[1]
Registration no.C00630665
HeadquartersKnoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Key people
Saikat Chakrabarti
Zack Exley
Tara Reilly[2]
Alexandra Rojas, Executive Director
AffiliationsBrand New Congress
National Nurses United
Former affiliation:
The Young Turks
Revenue (2017)
$1.46 million
Disbursements$1.32 million[3]
WebsiteJusticeDemocrats.com
Justice Democrats
Founded2017
Ideology
Members in the House of Representatives
12 / 435
[Note 1]

Justice Democrats (JD) is an American progressive political action committee and caucus[4][5][1] founded on January 23, 2017, by two leaders of Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign, Saikat Chakrabarti and Zack Exley, as well as political commentators Kyle Kulinski and Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks.[6] The organization formed as a result of the 2016 United States presidential election[7][8] and aspires "to elect a new type of Democratic majority in Congress" that will "create a thriving economy and democracy that works for the people, not big money interests".[6] The group advocates for campaign finance reform (reducing the role of money in politics) and endorses only candidates who pledge to refuse donations from corporate PACs and lobbyists.

Kulinski and Uygur are no longer part of the group, later criticizing it for falling short in cultivating a unified cohort of legislators able to champion priority bills.[9] Alexandra Rojas became the organization's executive director in May 2018.[10]

During the 2018 elections, Justice Democrats ran 79 progressive candidates against Democrats, Republicans and Independents in local, state, and federal elections.[11] The seven Justice Democrats candidates who won their electoral congressional races in 2018 were Raúl Grijalva, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib.

The group endorsed considerably fewer candidates in 2020 than in 2018, a move its communications director defended as a strategy to focus its resources on the most promising candidates.[12][13] Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, and Marie Newman were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020.

In 2022, Greg Casar and Summer Lee were elected to the House, while Newman lost her reelection in the Democratic primary after facing an investigation by the House Ethics Committee.[14] In 2024, Delia Ramirez was endorsed by and joined Justice Democrats.[15]

  1. ^ a b "Justice Democrats - Let's Elect the Next Generation". Justice Democrats.
  2. ^ "FILING FEC-1195264". Justice Democrats. Federal Election Commission. December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  3. ^ "FEC, Form 3X, Justice Democrats", p. 2, accessed January 17, 2019
  4. ^ "Justice Democrats - committee overview". Campaign Finance Data. Federal Election Commission.
  5. ^ "Justice Democrats: Frequently Asked Questions". Justice Democrats. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference GrigoryanSuetzl190 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Platform". Justice Democrats. Archived from the original on January 28, 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  8. ^ McKay, Tom (January 23, 2017). "Cenk Uygur, Bernie Sanders staffers team up to take over the Democratic Party". Mic. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  9. ^ "A Progressive Powerhouse's Surprise Layoffs Fuel Concerns About The Left's Future". HuffPost. August 3, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  10. ^ Felsenthal, Julia (November 25, 2019). "Alexandra Rojas Is Taking on the Democratic Establishment, One Race at a Time". Vogue. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference GrigoryanSuetzl191 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Lipsitz, Raina (August 13, 2019). "Meet the Bronx middle school principal challenging a 16-term congressional incumbent". Gothamist. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  13. ^ Darby, Luke (August 30, 2019). "Why the progressive group behind AOC thinks Democrats have it backwards". GQ. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  14. ^ Sweet, Lynn (February 11, 2022). "Rep. Marie Newman keeps on political payroll man who is key witness in House ethics panel probe". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  15. ^ Lacey, Akela (January 10, 2024). "Justice Democrats endorse Chicago progressive among first to call for Gaza ceasefire". The Intercept.


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