Communists elected to office would use their position to raise the confidence and self-organization of the masses. We would never collaborate with the capitalists and their political establishment to pull the wool over the eyes of workers.

What would elected communists do?

To start, communist candidates for office would run on a class-independent basis, as members of a working-class party. This means running against the bitter enemies of the working class, the Democrats and Republicans.

A genuine communist campaign would face constant attacks from the capitalist media. Rather than bow to the pressure of bourgeois public opinion, we would boldly put forward an anti-billionaire, pro-worker message directed against the whole system. This could gain more support from the millions who already reject the political establishment—whether they currently identify as Democrats, MAGA, or independents.

Both ruling-class parties are already reviled by most workers. In April of this year, Americans’ disapproval of Congress hit a record high of 86%. Communists elected to office would connect with this mood of distrust, further exposing the system in the eyes of the masses. We would explain that workers are right to hate the Epstein class’s institutions. It is their “democracy,” not ours. We fight for genuine freedom and a workers’ democracy.

Above all, communists in office would always say the truth, putting forward the working-class line in any policy debate, hearing, or vote. For example, communists would always vote against arming Israel, and consistently oppose military intervention in Iran.

Recently, when grilled by a reactionary podcast host asking him if Cuba and Venezuela’s leaders were “dictators,” Zohran Mamdani deflected by saying that he is only concerned with New York and “New Yorkers.” A communist in his position would’ve used the opportunity to call out the criminal imperialist blockade and sanctions on those countries, connecting the struggle of working-class New Yorkers with that of the workers of the world. This could be very well received by the majority of American workers who already oppose foreign intervention.

Communists also reject horse-trading with bourgeois officials behind the backs of the working class. When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez voted against rail workers’ right to strike in 2022, she came out openly as an enemy of our class, on the capitalist side of the barricades. Rather than resorting to backroom deals in the hopes of receiving crumbs from our class enemy, we would have rejected the legislation, used the opportunity to openly criticize the bosses, and supported the striking workers in words—and in deeds.

We would use our position to fight for reforms in law, while also organizing workers in strikes to put real pressure on the ruling class, and linking up those struggles with other mass movements like the anti-ICE protests. Any and all communist electoral work would always be connected to the class struggle outside government institutions.

How the Bolsheviks used the Duma

We can take inspiration from how the Bolshevik Party under Lenin’s leadership used the Duma. This was a sham electoral body created by the tsar after the 1905 Revolution to let off steam and divert the mass struggle.

With the defeat of the revolution, heavy government repression forced the Bolsheviks to work underground. With newspapers and open meetings suppressed, Lenin advocated for using any small legal opening to the maximum extent possible. Tsarism had been forced to concede this tribune to the people, however phony. Why not use it to reach broader layers of the masses and expose the rotten system?

The Bolsheviks elected to the Duma presented bills expressing demands from the party’s program, and made agitational speeches during debates which were then printed and distributed publicly. The party’s positions on issues like the land question, workers’ conditions and wages, and Church subsidies constantly exposed the autocracy, the capitalists, and the Duma itself in the eyes of the masses, and won over workers and peasants to revolutionary ideas.

The Bolshevik deputies also maintained regular contact with the workers through factory visits and written correspondence, advancing their demands as much as possible in the parliamentary sphere. They understood the importance of achieving gains in living conditions which would strengthen the working class, while not tying themselves to the landlords and capitalists. When pressured toward compromise with ruling-class parties, the Bolshevik deputies stood firm. They would only vote for the parts of a bill that meant genuine improvements for workers, and voted against the rest.

These tactics were paired with the advancement of the class struggle outside of the halls of parliament. Lenin explains that, at the outbreak of World War I, the Bolshevik group in the Duma “carried into the very depths of the working class a protest against the war; it conducted anti-imperialist propaganda among the broad masses of the Russian proletarians.” They held underground meetings in which they agitated against the war. For this, the Bolshevik deputies were arrested and sentenced to lifelong exile in Siberia. 

The Bolsheviks didn’t see their goal as winning and retaining seats, but rather used the Duma as a platform to advance communist ideas and the class struggle. Thanks to these efforts, they came to be seen as the most principled fighters for the workers and oppressed, and eventually succeeded in winning a majority of the population in October 1917.

Winning the masses to revolution

Far too often, “well-meaning socialists” use electoral politics in a way that sows illusions in their individual ability to deliver reforms within the capitalist system. Once elected, they become indistinguishable from other politicians who walk back all their promises. 

A communist in Congress would not act as an individual. Rather, the individual would be putting forward the positions and opinions democratically decided on by the party, acting under the party’s guidance and control. A strong communist party with roots in the working class is the only corrective against the alien class pressures of bourgeois government. 

As Lenin explained, “All elections in a bourgeois country are accompanied by rampant phrase-mongering and licentious promises. The main principle of Marxists is not to trust words, but to go to the heart of the matter.”