Socialist U.S. Senate Candidate Greg Levy speaks at the Ohio State University in Denney Hall on Monday. Credit: Josephine Pajemola | Lantern Reporter
Independent U.S. Senate candidate Greg Levy spoke Monday at Ohio State in Denney Hall, campaigning on a socialist platform that he said prioritizes the working-class needs over billionaires.
Levy, who said he is affiliated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, focused his speech largely on shifting away from a capitalist economy and creating a society where the working people are protected.?
Running against Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown and Republican candidate Jon Husted, Levy is currently polling at 2%, according to Quantum Insight’s recent survey.
“We have to create a movement that is worthy of the loyalty of working people,” Levy said, addressing the audience of approximately 30 people.
According to his website, Levy’s campaign plans to move beyond a singular election, but to create a movement that will “end the rule of the billionaires once and for all.”
Levy’s speech to the classroom of students included calls to abolish ICE, to free Palestine and to cut the U.S.’s military budget by 90%.
“You’ll talk to your friends and they’ll be like, ‘God, that sounds nuts,’” Levy said. “What we build now is murder and terror. That is the U.S. primary export. That’s not crazy, but cutting the military budget and using that money to build dignified lives for Americans is crazy?”
Nia Beulah, a campaign volunteer and an Ohio State alumnus, introduced Levy at the event. She said this campaign is offering a path forward for young people that mainstream parties do not.
“This campaign is an invitation to build a better world and create a fighting, socialist movement where we, the students, the young people, the working class have political power and where we plan the economy to meet our needs and the needs of the planet,” Beulah said.
Throughout the speech, Levy emphasized the importance of working together as a collective to create meaningful change.?
“You learn history as if it comes from singular people who change everything,” Levy said. “That’s a lie. That’s absurd. Any great person that you’ve ever met was built up by a whole collective of people.”
Ohio volunteers collectively garnered 15,000 signatures in three weeks to get Levy on the ballot, Beulah said.
“One thing is extremely clear,” Beulah said. “Ohio is hungry for change.”
Beulah said she is involved with this campaign because she is tired of the Democratic party failing to deliver on their promises.
“They offer no real solutions to the crisis we’re facing,” Beulah said. “No solutions to make higher education more affordable. No solutions for raising our wages. No solutions to better our environment. No solutions to stop police killings. No solutions for healthcare. No solutions to abolish ICE.”
For Beulah, Levy and the Party for Socialism and Liberation offer a solution.
“We have to show people, through action, what it means to make meaningful interventions that save people’s lives, that can save a class of people, that can actually stop a genocide, that can end ICE terror,” Levy said. “It’s not good enough for us to sit on the sideline being like, I was on the right side saying that’s wrong. We need to stop it.”
Levy ended his speech with the beginning of a chant: “Ohio for the workers.”
The audience of applauding students finished with the sentiment: “Not the billionaires.”
