U.S. Solidarity Economy Politicians
This catalog tracks U.S. elected officials and serious candidates who explicitly support solidarity economy mechanisms in public policy. It is organized by state, then by level of office.
The working cache lives in research/us-solidarity-politicians/. A state should
not be marked complete until federal, statewide, state legislative, and major
municipal offices have been searched.
Inclusion Standard
Section titled “Inclusion Standard”Include a politician when sources show explicit support for at least one of these mechanisms:
- Solidarity economy by name.
- Cooperatives, worker ownership, worker-owned conversions, or democratic employee ownership.
- Community land trusts, social housing, limited-equity housing cooperatives, or tenant/community ownership.
- Participatory budgeting.
- Public banking or community-controlled finance.
- Community wealth building, community benefits agreements, mutual aid, local procurement, or similar democratic local-economy policy.
Do not include a politician only because they use generic language about small business, affordability, labor rights, sustainability, or economic justice.
Confidence
Section titled “Confidence”| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| High | Direct support in the politician’s own words, official platform, bill sponsorship, or enacted policy. |
| Medium | Reputable third-party documentation of support, endorsement, or a quoted position. |
| Low | Lead only; not ready for this public catalog. |
Catalog
Section titled “Catalog”New York
Section titled “New York”Status: partial first pass. The cache has federal, statewide, state legislative, and major New York City findings, but this is not yet district-by-district exhaustive.
| Politician | Office | Mechanisms | Confidence | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez | U.S. Rep., NY-14 | Public banking; social/public housing; worker co-ops | High | Co-introduced federal public banking legislation; public housing legislation includes tenant participation and worker-cooperative workforce development. |
| Nydia Velazquez | U.S. Rep., NY-7 | Worker co-ops; employee ownership | High | Introduced or co-led bills expanding SBA access and technical assistance for cooperatives and employee-owned firms. |
| Kirsten Gillibrand | U.S. Senator | Employee ownership; worker co-ops | High | Co-led the WORK Act and employee ownership legislation, including support for an employee ownership bank. |
| James Sanders Jr. | NY Senate, SD-10 | Public banking; worker co-ops; CLTs | High | Sponsors S1992, the New York Public Banking Act, which prioritizes worker cooperatives, community land trusts, affordable housing, and local development. |
| Cordell Cleare | NY Senate, SD-30 | Social housing | High | Sponsors S5674 to establish a New York State Social Housing Development Authority. |
| Sarahana Shrestha | NY Assembly, AD-103 | Public power; energy democracy | High | Public Power NY organizer and sponsor of publicly owned, democratically controlled power legislation. |
| Michelle Hinchey | NY Senate, SD-41 | Public power | High | Co-introduced the Hudson Valley Power Authority Act. |
| Julia Salazar | NY Senate, SD-18 | Public banking; social housing | Medium | Co-sponsors public banking and social housing authority legislation. |
| Jabari Brisport | NY Senate, SD-25 | Public banking; social housing | Medium | Co-sponsors public banking and social housing authority legislation. |
| Jessica Ramos | NY Senate, SD-13 | Public banking | Medium | Co-sponsors state public banking legislation. |
| Kristen Gonzalez | NY Senate, SD-59 | Public banking; social housing | Medium | Co-sponsors public banking and social housing authority legislation. |
| Marcela Mitaynes | NY Assembly, AD-51 | TOPA; tenant co-ops; CLTs | High | Housing platform supports tenant purchase and democratic control through cooperatives and community land trusts. |
| Zohran Mamdani | NYC Mayor | Municipal grocery stores; public-sector housing | High | Mayor’s Office announced a city-owned public grocery store program; campaign housing plan centered public-sector affordable housing production. |
| Brad Lander | NYC Comptroller | Public banking; social housing; CLTs; participatory budgeting | High | Public bank and social housing platforms name community land trusts, shared-equity ownership, and community-controlled housing. |
| Jumaane Williams | NYC Public Advocate | Social housing; participatory budgeting | Medium | Sponsors NYC social housing agency feasibility legislation and participated in early NYC participatory budgeting. |
| Sandy Nurse | NYC Council, District 37 | Social housing; CLTs; participatory budgeting | High | Lead sponsor of social housing agency feasibility legislation; runs participatory budgeting in her district. |
| Tiffany Caban | NYC Council, District 22 | Social housing; CLTs; limited-equity co-ops | High | Defines social housing as permanently affordable, democratically owned or controlled homes, including limited-equity co-ops and CLTs. |
| Carlina Rivera | NYC Council, District 2 | COPA; CLTs; social housing | High | Advocates for Community Opportunity to Purchase and Community Land Act policies. |
| Lincoln Restler | NYC Council, District 33 | Public land for CLTs/nonprofits; social housing | High | Sponsored Public Land for Public Good priorities for nonprofit and community land trust development. |
| Shahana Hanif | NYC Council, District 39 | Participatory budgeting; social housing; public banking | Medium | Runs participatory budgeting and sponsors social housing and public banking task force legislation. |
| Howie Hawkins | Former candidate | Worker and consumer co-ops; public bank; public energy; social wealth fund | High | Candidate platform explicitly names democratic ownership mechanisms. |
| Antonio Delgado | Lieutenant Governor and gubernatorial candidate | Public renewables | Medium | Campaign priorities include investing in public renewables. |
Status: partial first pass. The cache has federal, state legislative, and major municipal findings across Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, and El Paso, but this is not yet district-by-district exhaustive.
| Politician | Office | Mechanisms | Confidence | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Casar | U.S. Rep., TX-35 | Social housing; CLTs; resident-owned co-ops; TOPA | High | Original cosponsor of the 2024 Homes Act, which defines social housing around social ownership, permanent affordability, community control, CLTs, resident-owned cooperatives, and tenant/community purchase rights. |
| Sylvia Garcia | U.S. Rep., TX-29 | Social housing; CLTs; resident-owned co-ops; TOPA | High | Named Texas original cosponsor of the 2024 Homes Act. |
| Jasmine Crockett | U.S. Rep., TX-30 | Social housing; CLTs; resident-owned co-ops; TOPA | High | Named original cosponsor of the 2024 Homes Act. |
| Al Green | U.S. Rep., TX-9 | Public banking | High | Original cosponsor of H.R. 8721, the Public Banking Act of 2020. |
| Hugh Shine | Former Texas Rep., HD-55 | Employee ownership; ESOPs | High | Authored HB 2389, adding employee ownership assistance website provisions and ESOP-related business-law changes. |
| Peter Flores | Texas Senate, SD-24 | Employee ownership; ESOPs | Medium | Authored SB 1233, the Senate companion bill relating to employee ownership through ESOPs. |
| Zohaib “Zo” Qadri | Austin Council, District 9 | Public banking; social housing finance; worker/tenant ownership finance | High | Lead sponsor of Austin’s public bank feasibility resolution. |
| Ryan Alter | Austin Council, District 5 | Public banking | High | Co-sponsor of Austin’s public bank feasibility resolution. |
| Vanessa Fuentes | Austin Council, District 2 | Public banking | High | Co-sponsor of Austin’s public bank feasibility resolution. |
| Jose “Chito” Vela | Austin Council, District 4 | Public banking; public power | High | Co-sponsor of Austin’s public bank feasibility resolution and public defender of city-owned Austin Energy. |
| Delia Garza | Travis County Attorney; former Austin Council member | Worker co-ops | High | Sponsored an Austin resolution directing city support for cooperatively owned businesses and worker cooperatives. |
| Teri Castillo | San Antonio Council, District 5 | CLTs; public/social housing | High | Introduced CLT Tiered Affordability policy and Stay SA. |
| Ron Nirenberg | Former San Antonio Mayor | CLTs; affordable/social housing | Medium | Publicly backed Castillo’s CLT and housing proposals. |
| Ivalis Meza Gonzalez | San Antonio Council, District 8 | CLTs | Medium | Praised city-recognized CLT designation as a tool for neighborhood stability, wealth building, and equitable development. |
| John Courage | Former San Antonio Council member, District 9 | Participatory budgeting | High | Set aside District 9 funds for a resident voting process over projects. |
| Sylvester Turner | Former Houston Mayor | CLTs | Medium | Championed creation and major funding of Houston Community Land Trust, though later supported funding reductions. |
| Chris Canales | El Paso City Rep., District 8 | CLTs; limited-equity co-ops; TOPA/ROFR; CDCs | High | Advanced an anti-displacement framework evaluating community ownership models including CLTs, limited-equity housing cooperatives, tenant purchase rights, and CDCs. |