NYPAN, the New York Progressive Action Network, was founded in December of 2016, following the 2016 elections. The founding chapters were all grassroots organizations that had formed during the Bernie Sanders campaign in New York. Volunteers in these organizations, many of them entirely new to politics, became heavily involved in their communities, built networks, and made lasting friendships. At the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia, representatives from these grassroots organizations met up and decided that, even though the primary was over, the movement was too important to abandon. They chose a time and location to meet again, back in New York, where they voted to incorporate and set up a 501(c)4 organization.
NYPAN began with 16 chapters, and has grown in the past four years to include over 30 chapters and affiliates. Although the founding chapters came from the Bernie Sanders campaign, NYPAN has welcomed progressive chapters and affiliates of all stripes, including Black Lives Matter of Greater New York. Other affiliates include a number of unions, the Jim Owles Democratic Club (an LGBTQ organization), the 504 Democrats (a disability rights organization), and Life of Hope (a support organization for Haitian immigrants).
Many progressive organizations have come into existence since the 2016 elections. NYPAN is unique among these in a number of ways. First of all, it is state-focused, and strives to include all regions of New York state, from Potsdam to Buffalo to Westchester to Long Island to the Bronx. Not many organizations are able to balance the very diverse character of New York’s metro area, suburban area and rural/upstate areas. Secondly, it aims to provide structure and support (especially legal and accounting support) to its chapters while leaving the chapters a very large degree of autonomy. Chapters can choose their own priorities, set their own membership requirements, endorse their own candidates, and so forth. Thirdly, at the state level, NYPAN is more interested in electoral politics than in marches and rallies. They are happy to support and join rallies that other groups organize, but when they organize something themselves, it tends to be a lobby day in Albany, a debate between candidates for local office, a training session for constituent lobby teams, or something similar.
NYPAN has organized a number of very successful statewide conferences (pre pandemic!), where attendees heard from Zephyr Teachout, Tom DiNapoli, Bill de Blasio, Nina Turner, and others, and where panels of experts discussed single payer healthcare, environmental priorities, green technology, campaign media innovation, racial justice, the Constitutional Convention, and other topics. Their October 2017 conference featured three speakers who were exploring the possibility of challenging Governor Cuomo in 2018: Stephanie Miner, mayor of Syracuse, Terry Gipson, former state senator, and Jumaane Williams, NYC councilman. Williams went on to announce his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor, running along side Cynthia Nixon, and with NYPAN’s help, he very nearly won that race. Shortly afterwards, he ran for New York City Public Advocate and won! NYPAN hopes to see Jumaane run for statewide office again in the future.
Many of NYPAN’s efforts focus on local elections. On town boards and county legislatures all across New York, former Berniecrats are running for office, or supporting the campaigns of others who are doing so. Many others have come forward to fill vacancies on county Democratic Committees, to mixed reactions from those who are already members. Some welcome new energy and enthusiasm, while others are reluctant to share power. NYPAN works cooperatively with those who are open to their input, but are pushing for reform wherever that is needed, especially at the level of the State Democratic Committee.
One of NYPAN’s early victories was the election of one of their own, Christine Pellegrino, to the NYS Assembly to represent her Long Island district, in 2017. Christine was a Bernie delegate, school teacher, union activist and a NYPAN founder. She ran on the Dem/WFP lines against a Republican/Conservative in a district that no Democrat had ever won and where Trump won by 22 points. NYPAN as an organization was less than 5 months old and had no financial resources, but they combined efforts with the WFP and with Christine’s union, NYSUT, to launch a massive volunteer effort which included members and activists from all over the state. Christine shocked the political establishment, including the reactionary leadership of the Suffolk County Democrats (who sided with Christine’s opponent), by winning in a landslide by over 16%. NYPAN demonstrated very clearly the political power of a candidate who actually stands for principles and populist solutions. Voters resonate with NYPAN’s values, optimism and fighting spirit.
In 2018, NYPAN was proud to join again with the WFP and help them to remove almost all of the members of the IDC. The members of this group of “independent Democrats” were actually Republicans in all but name. They ran as Democrats, and then voted in Albany to make the Republican leader the NY Senate majority leader. They gave all power to the Republican party, in a state with twice as many registered Democrats as registered Republicans! The net effect was that all good progressive bills that passed the Assembly were certain to die in the Senate. Now that the IDC has been voted out, New York has a real Democratic majority in both chambers, and finally progress is happening. New York has new voting laws to allow for early voting, for example. However, as if often the case, many legislators who were “definitely supportive” of various progressive bills, like single payer health care, suddenly got cold feet once it looked like those bills might actually pass. Their stated support had only been for show.
In 2020, Bernie Sanders ran again for President, in a wide field. NYPAN members carefully evaluated all the candidates. Some chose to get behind Elizabeth Warren, but the organization as a whole remained convinced that Sanders offered the best platform and the strongest possibility of beating Trump and putting the country back on track. Sadly, by the time the primary race arrived in New York, Bernie had already declared that he would support Biden as nominee. He also stated that he wished to remain on all ballots, in order to gain delegates to use for negotiating a strong Democratic platform. When the New York State Board of Elections attempted to remove Bernie from New York’s primary ballot against his wishes, NYPAN stepped forward. NYPAN’s lawyers joined with lawyers representing Andrew Yang and filed suit. They won; New York appealed; NYPAN won again in federal court. Voters in New York were able to vote for Bernie — and because Bernie was on the ballot, many progressives turned out who might have otherwise stayed home, and down-ballot progressives also won important races. Jamaal Bowman and Mondaire Jones were two NYPAN-endorsees who will now join AOC in Washington!
During November’s election, because the winner of the Presidential election in New York was a foregone conclusion, NYPAN focused on down-ballot races. They also rallied around their old allies, the Working Families Party, to help the WFP retain their ballot line. The New York State Senate maintained its Democratic majority and even increased it to a super-majority, meaning it now has the ability to override a veto from Governor Cuomo. NYPAN hopes that this additional strength and several new Albany progressives will help us achieve single payer health care in New York at last, long a priority among NYPAN members.
NYPAN invites you to learn more about the organization on this website, and it encourages you to join a chapter (or start a chapter) and get involved. We welcome progressives of all backgrounds and experience levels, including you!
New York has an image around the world of being a progressive and forward-thinking state. Let’s help New York live up to that reputation!
Vision
We are a progressive organization. As progressives, we hold that all people have the right to live in a safe, just, and sustainable world.
To be safe, we must strive for peace—globally, nationally, and within our own communities and homes.
To be just, we must strive for not only legal justice but also racial, social, economic, and environmental justice.
To be sustainable, we must create long-term solutions that take into account how issues connect with each other, and we must work to solve problems by addressing underlying causes.
Mission
NYPAN is a community-based, mass organization that is run democratically by the grassroots chapters and affiliates that compose it. NYPAN draws representation and leadership from the communities it serves.
NYPAN mobilizes citizens and advocates for, and defends, the well-being of the people within its communities.
NYPAN welcomes affiliation with like-minded organizations, and seeks to create both formal and informal coalitions, in order to effect progressive change.
Where appropriate, NYPAN will endorse candidates for local, state, and federal offices who advocate for and support a progressive agenda as defined by its Vision.
NYPAN seeks to facilitate constructive dialogue in order to promote progressive unity.
NYPAN centralizes communication and provides organizational, financial, and legal infrastructure for its affiliated chapters.