{"id":132,"date":"2026-05-28T09:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T09:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/?p=132"},"modified":"2026-05-28T09:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T09:06:13","slug":"sunrise-movement-backs-saikat-chakrabarti-progressive-firebrand-behind-the-green-new-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/?p=132","title":{"rendered":"Sunrise Movement Backs Saikat Chakrabarti, Progressive Firebrand Behind the Green New Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Sunrise Movement<\/span> is leaning into its roots in climate activism with a congressional endorsement of Saikat Chakrabarti, the former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and one of the architects of the landmark environmental legislation known as the Green New Deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The youth climate group shared its endorsement with The Intercept with early voting underway in California and less than a week to go before primary day. Chakrabarti will face off against State Sen. Scott Wiener and San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Connie Chan, both Democrats, in a heavily contested primary race to succeed Democratic former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in California\u2019s 11th Congressional District.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, the Sunrise Movement has shown us the power that people like all of us have when we organize strategically,\u201d Chakrabarti wrote in a statement to The Intercept. \u201cTogether with Sunrise, we pushed Washington to respond to the needs of working people when most Democrats (and of course Republicans) refused to do so. We were able to change political reality in Washington, and we\u2019ll do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chakrabarti rose to national prominence after co-founding Justice Democrats in 2017 alongside other former presidential campaign staffers for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.,\u00a0to support progressive primary challengers to establishment Democrats. He has been a thorn in the side of moderate Democrats ever since.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chakrabarti became Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s firstchief of staff after her upset victory over longtime incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in 2018, a win that helped put Justice Democrats on the map and ushered in the first members of the progressive Squad in Congress.\u00a0In Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s office, he worked with the Sunrise Movement and other stakeholders to draft the Green New Deal. Elements of the bill were later included in the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act, which invested $369 billion in fighting climate change but ultimately fell short of progressives\u2019 loftiest ambitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chakrabarti has long espoused progressive views and is expected to vote with Ocasio-Cortez and the rest of the Squad if elected to Congress. But despite his prominent role in Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s early rise, his former boss has not endorsed Chakrabarti. That has driven speculation of a rift, which the candidate has continuously denied. Progressive Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., have endorsed Chakrabarti, as has former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y. Justice Democrats, the group Chakrabarti helped found, is also backing his campaign.<\/p>\n

After leaving Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s office, Chakrabarti went on to lead New Consensus, a progressive environmental policy think tank that recently released the Mission for America, which he bills as a \u201csuccessor\u201d to the Green New Deal. The policy proposal seeks to \u201crapidly slash emissions\u201d and help \u201cbuild a new, clean economy\u201d to protect workers against the threat of job cuts driven by the rise of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proud to endorse Saikat Chakrabarti. Saikat has spent years fighting for the Green New Deal, taking on corporate power, and delivering for working people, not billionaires and special interests,\u201d Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, wrote in a statement to the Intercept.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The climate justice group pivoted this cycle to emphasize its explicit opposition to President Donald Trump and sees Chakrabarti as a candidate \u201cready to fight back with courage and vision,\u201d Shiney-Ajay added. \u201cWe know he\u2019ll be instrumental in helping build a Democratic Party that is unapologetically for working people, serious about confronting the climate crisis, and ready to take on authoritarianism head-on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chakrabarti has relished his role as an opponent of entrenched political power. He has long antagonized the 20-termcongresswoman he seeks to replace, slamming her in a series of 2019 tweets after then-House Speaker Pelosi penned an op-ed critical of AOC, who at the time was Chakrabarti\u2019s boss. (Pelosi and Ocasio-Cortez, who hold divergent ideologies but are both known for their political savvy, have built bridges in the years since.)<\/p>\n

While running for her seat, Chakrabarti has continued to provoke Pelosi, calling her out in a recent video after she endorsed Chan against him. He launched his campaign to challenge Pelosi before she announced her retirement in November, unlike his two opponents, who jumped in once it was clear they\u2019d be competing for an open seat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal, honestly, is to replace a huge part of the Democrat establishment,\u201d Chakrabarti said in November during an episode of the Intercept Briefing. \u201cI\u2019m calling for primaries all across the country. \u2026 I think we actually have to get in there and be in a position of power where we can do all that, so it\u2019s not going to be this constant compromising with the establishment, trying to figure out how we can push.\u201d<\/p>\n

Politics is Chakrabarti\u2019s second act. The tech entrepreneur made millions as a founding engineer of the payment process platform Stripe.<\/p>\n

But in the tech-dominated district where Pelosi won reelection with 81 percent of the vote last cycle, Chakrabarti faces an uphill battle. Wiener, a state senator who has the support of the California Democratic Party, has a clear lead over both Chan and Chakrabarti, who appear to be neck and neck for second place. The top two candidates next Tuesday will advance to the general election in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe we can improve the material lives of working people and build a future we all actually want to live in,\u201d Chakrabarti told The Intercept. \u201cI\u2019m grateful to the Sunrise Movement for joining our coalition, and I look forward to working with them again in Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The former AOC staffer is known for provoking the political establishment. 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