Olivia Merrill

Hey comrades! My name is Olivia Merrill (pronouns she/her), and I am running to be a delegate from our chapter for DSA’s 2025 National Convention! 

I joined Democratic Socialists of America in November 2016, after having seen both the promise of Bernie Sanders returning socialism to US political discourse, as well as the ultimate victory of Donald Trump in the presidential race. As a new member of DSA, I was one of the five co-founders of the original Organizing Committee for DSA Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, and have been organizing here ever since.

I have served in elected leadership in the chapter virtually every year since its founding, putting my energy wherever the chapter needed it. My campaign experience is equally spread across that time, with some examples below:

• I coordinated the chapter’s first neighborhood canvassing operation in January 2018, knocking on the doors of the entire west end of Newport to get public support for a needle exchange operation opening in the city.

• I organized mass turnouts at public meetings to support unionizing workers in Clermont County. I also successfully conducted structural organizing training for those workers, who ultimately went on to win their elections.

• I was a leader of the chapter’s successful 100K recruitment drive in 2020, leading to us being the fourth best DSA chapter in percentage growth across the country.

• I organized successful bowl-a-thon fundraisers in 2019 for abortion funds and in 2021 for workers on strike, raising over $6,000 in a month’s time in both instances.

• In 2023, I stepped in chapter electoral leadership and committed to strengthening our chapter’s electoral program. Since I became an electoral co-chair, we successfully doubled the number of doors knocked between 2023 and 2024, and our chapter successfully contributed to winning abortion rights in Ohio and protecting public school funding in Kentucky. We’ve also established an increasingly developed bench of electoral leaders and organizers in the chapter in that time!

• I reinvigorated the communications committee in 2024 and successfully organized new members who have done incredible work with graphic design, new member onboarding, website design, and a whole host of other tasks. This also led to a successful flurry of new member organizing following our election bump in November 2024, with over 25 new members one-on-one conversations successfully coming together within a single month.

• As chapter secretary in 2025, successfully oversaw a membership drive push that saw over 110 members in good standing join the chapter, a 33% total growth in chapter membership overall.

As a leader in DSA, I have consistently seen the value of a democratic organization where the mass membership of DSA participates in the decisions of the organization. I served from 2023 to 2025 on the national DSA Democracy Commission precisely for the purpose of building a stronger democratic organization in DSA. As someone who has devoted years to the topic of democracy in DSA, I believe our organization is only strengthened by mass participation in DSA by our membership. 

That’s why I am excited to go to Convention this year to support the One Member One Vote Resolutions, to ensure that when I come back to Cincinnati, all members of our chapter, not just those of us with the time and resources to attend national convention every two years, have the right to vote on who leads our national organization, and what politicians our national organization endorses.

These are some of the resolutions I am excited to support at Convention this year:

🌹 National Leadership 1M1V – I believe the every member of our organization, not just those who have the time and resources to travel to Convention, should have a say in who leads our national organization. We should pursue the same democratizing reforms that left wing organizers have pursued in unions and parties across the globe.

🌹 Seize the Moment! Defeat Corporate Democrats and Elect More Socialists – In order to push back the right wing fascist movement, we must pursue an aggressive strategy to defeat corporate Democrats (who are not up to the challenge of defeating the Right) and win more seats for socialist electeds across the country

🌹 Democracy Commission Structural Reforms Proposal – I am proud of the work I engaged in with 20 other commissioners from across DSA’s geographic regions and political tendencies to propose these consensus reforms to make DSA a more democratic organization. This proposal will not only make DSA stronger-the process by which we reached it is a model of organizational cooperation and good faith.

🌹 2025 Green New Deal Campaign Commission Resolution – Our socialist future is dependent on us fighting climate change and winning a Green New Deal that guarantees a just transition for workers here in the US and across the globe. That work begins here and now, with our efforts to win green energy and transit across the country.

🌹 From Palestine to Mexico: Fighting Fascist Attacks on Immigrants – DSA must fight for immigrant workers across this country, fight tooth and nail to prevent mass deportations continuing unchallenged, and work toward the complete abolition of ICE as a federal department.

As a member of the DSA For All slate, I’m excited to push for a more democratic organization alongside multiple members of our steering committee this year-fellow slate members Sarah C(one of our current co-chairs), Katy E (our second co-chair), and Henry M (one of our at-larges). I am equally thrilled to see William W, and Jack C running for delegate as well! You can learn more about Groundwork, a Marxist caucus organizing for One Member One Vote, class alignment, and mass politics in DSA, at its website https://www.groundworkdsa.com/