PFP Candidates La Riva/Banks Conclude Historic Campaign

An earlier version of this article appeared at glorialariva4president.com on December 8.

Thank you to everyone who supported the Gloria La Riva for President 2016 Campaign! The 2016 Presidential and VP candidates of the Peace and Freedom Party, Gloria La Riva and Dennis Banks waged a dynamic campaign for the socialist movement. They received 66,101 votes in California, the second most of any presidential ticket in the PFP’s nearly 50 year history.

The campaign, under the banner “For the Earth and people to live, capitalism must end,” reached millions of people across the country with the message that we need a new, socialist system.

Speaking about the campaign, La Riva said: “We met thousands of people who responded positively to our platform and campaign. It’s so inspiring to see the growing popularity of socialism and its principles, which include the right to housing, education, healthcare and full rights for immigrants and for all people, and rejection of war, racism, misogyny, mass incarceration or police brutality.”

La Riva was also the only candidate nominated by three independent ballot qualified socialist parties. In Vermont, La Riva was the candidate of the Liberty Union Party. In other states across the country she was the candidate of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a young organization formed in 2004 which is steadily spreading across the country.

Nationally, La Riva received more than 74,000 votes, the most for any socialist presidential candidate since 1976.

While the corporate-funded campaigns were shutting down their offices the day the day after the election, Gloria and her campaign organizers were leading mass marches protesting the elevation of racist, misogynist, xenophobe Donald Trump to the office of president. We will continue this struggle and will join the Inauguration Day protest in Washington, D.C., on January 20, and parallel marches in San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities.

If you live in California, the La Riva/Banks campaign strongly urges you register Peace and Freedom Party and help keep PFP on the ballot. If you are already a PFP registrant, get involved in organizing and building the only ballot-qualified socialist party in California!