[2] In November 1970,[1] James E. Harris announced he would run for Delegate to the United States House of Representatives as the Socialist Workers Party candidate.
[8] Rep. Richard Ichord of Missouri criticized Harris' campaign while on the floor of the House of Representatives, claiming that the media had not explained the purpose of the Socialist Workers Party and that it had ties with an "international Communist organization".
[10] Harris' responded to Ichord's accusations, saying that the Socialist Workers Party does not advocate the violent overthrow of the government.
[11] While in the United States Army, Jones had founded and edited an antiwar publication called Open Sights.
[11] As a student at Howard University, Jones was active in the Third World Task Force, a group that had organized an antiwar demonstration in the District.
[11] Jones said that the public school system's problems were linked to education funding being siphoned off to pay for the Vietnam War, residents' lack of control over their own neighborhoods, lack of free daycare and free contraceptives,[12] and the government's low priority to educating students of color.
Herman Fagg was the Socialist Workers Party candidate for Delegate to the United States House of Representatives.
[17] Omari Musa was the Socialist Workers Party candidates for at-large seat on the District of Columbia Board of Education.
[19] Musa opposed the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, calling it "a fraud and a sellout".
[19] Born in Fort Monroe, Virginia, Bailey was raised in many different places around the world as her father was transferred to different Army bases.
[4] At the time of her candidacy, Singer was a graduate student at the University of Maryland studying library science, and she had lived in the District for three years.
[24] Singer said that the Metropolitan Police Department should cease to exist because it does not prevent crime; it should be replaced with civilian review boards.
[2] Bailey proposed free public transportation and limiting rent to ten percent of a tenant's income.
[4] Originally from Lorain, Ohio, Budka had attended Case Western University where he was a part of the Young Socialist Alliance.
[34] Constantinidis said that the goal of the incumbent members of the Board of Education was to please white business owners rather than help their constituents.
[41] Grillo's campaign focused on exposing political corruption, collecting delinquent business property taxes, and reforming rent laws.
[42] With no candidate receiving more than 7,500 votes in the 1978 general election, the Socialist Workers Party returned to minor-party status.
[53] He had helped the National Organization for Women secure access to abortion clinics, had co-founded the Washington Area Labor Committee on Central America and the Caribbean, and was the incumbent chair of the District of Columbia Socialist Workers Party at the time of his candidacy.
[53] Nahem said that Democratic and Republican politicians both used budget crises to harm education, housing, health care, job training, and drug treatment.
[53] Manuel equated it to strikes and picket lines that had led to legislation granting workers the right to join labor unions.
[58] When asked about what should be done to reduce violent crime in the District, Fitzsimmons said that the capitalist system is the source of violence in the community because it forces workers to compete against each other for wages.
[59] She said that the solution to violence is to change the economic system to one where human needs are put ahead of corporate profits.
[65] He claimed that incumbent Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton had voted in favor of a $140 million decrease in the District's budget.
[65] Downs said that federal troops needed to be deployed to protect women and doctors from violent attacks caused by the politics of the Democratic and Republican parties.
[64] Prior to his candidacy, Ruby had been a member of the Young Socialist Alliance, with whom he had protested the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
Manuel had run for shadow senator in 1990[53] and for delegate to the House of Representatives as a Socialist Workers Party candidate in 1992.
[73] Martin believed the only way to truly improve people's lives was to fight for dramatic economic change, not passing government legislation.
[79] Manuel was opposed to the District government paying for the public or private school tuition of a parent's choice.
[83] Manuel said that capitalism caused a crisis for working people including unemployment, police brutality, social service cuts, and union busting.
[88] Musa called for a revolutionary movement where the workers would take the power from billionaires and create a society based on equality and human solidarity.