Shahid Buttar is an advocate who has fought for the future for over 20 years. When defending communities, challenging corruption, and establishing new rights, he has taken many positions unpopular at the time:

• When he fought for LGBTQ marriage equality in 2004, it wasn’t popular.
• When he organized direct action to stop Bush’s wars, it wasn’t always popular.
• When he challenged Obama’s administration as a non-profit leader defending civil liberties from a bipartisan assault, it was not popular among many Democrats.
• And when he challenged the most powerful Democrat in Congress in 2018 and 2020, it was certainly not popular among supporters of her party.

In 2020, we won more votes to replace Nancy Pelosi than any challenge she has faced since going to Congress in 1987. We overcame a global pandemic, a corporate media whiteout, a 15:1 fundraising deficit, and an attempted character assassination by Democratic Party operatives wielding disinformation and amplifying racist & Islamophobic dogwhistles.

The 81,000 votes we won were not enough to liberate Pelosi’s seat—but our momentum helped move half a dozen policies through the House over Pelosi’s initial objections, by forcing changes in her positions on issues from worker rights to civil rights, funding the U.S. Postal Service, and impeaching Trump.

The climate crisis, emergent authoritarianism, and white supremacy are all the results of indefensible policy choices by a Congress composed of insider trading, self-serving millionaires. The class war they have waged on working families across the United States—and on people in other countries around the world—demands long overdue accountability.

Shahid’s work defending the future from the failures of the past began long before he ever ran for office, and continues well after his congressional campaigns.

• His lawsuit against the Hearst Corporation and San Francisco Chronicle continues to proceed, aiming to defend election integrity from clickbait journalism, preserve opportunities for candidates of color who challenge capital, and hold accountable a corporate news media outlet for publishing racist election disinformation fabricated in the service of Nancy Pelosi’s continuing corruption.
• He continues to organize creative non-violent resistance to militarism and authoritarianism, particularly among artists.
• His music and public performances continue to critique bipartisan fascism in America. His next creative project is an EP likely including NSA vs USA, as well as Ferguson to Jerusalem, and a new song crafted to educate listeners about the CIA’s continuing criminal history.
• We’re also working on launching a Political Action Committee to support other voices continuing the work that we started together. Stay tuned!

Thank you for supporting a voice challenging corruption from Washington, DC to San Francisco, CA! We have our work cut out for us, but find tremendous inspiration in knowing that we are each far from alone.