On May 23, Frances Villar announced the start of her campaign to be mayor of New York City as a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.  She is 26 years old, a mother of two, and a student at a local university.

The announcement was made at an event called “Billionaires, your time is up – and we don’t just mean Bloomberg.”

Challenging Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the richest man in New York, Villar continued, “We need a new kind of politics! Not the politics where the billionaires and their loyal servants run the show in the interests of the rich, but where common people like you and me take part in making the system work in our interests.”

The conference attracted New Yorkers from all walks of life. They came to discuss what it will take to bring about real people’s power and change to this country. PSL members also attended from upstate New York, Boston, Connecticut and Washington, DC.

The conference covered a range of topics, from the ridiculous fare hikes to the oppressive budget cuts, police brutality, and the rising rate of foreclosures and evictions.

The Militant covered another socialist candidate for the mayor of New York this week, Socialist Workers Party candidate Dan Fein:

“I don’t claim to be ‘nonpartisan,’” Dan Fein said in an interview June 2. “The Socialist Workers campaign stands 100 percent on the side of the working class. We urge working people to unite in the fight for immediate demands that protect our interests as a class.”

These demands include guaranteed unemployment compensation for as long as a worker is jobless; a raise in the federal minimum wage to union scale; a massive, federally funded public works program to create jobs; and no cuts in medical benefits.

Fein said workers should also fight for immediate, unconditional legalization of all undocumented workers, a halt to farm and home foreclosures, and abolition of income taxes for workers.