De la Cruz attended and later served as pastor of Santo Romero de Las Américas church, a UCC congregation in New York City.[1][5] She saw that church as important to her "social and political formation"; she "wanted to do community organizing from a faith-based perspective".[1]
De la Cruz served as co-executive director of The People's Forum, an activist organization in New York City which she co-founded.[3][4][6][7] With the People's Forum, she has participated in numerous pro-Palestinian protests, including a "Shut Down Wall Street" event during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.[2][6][8][9]
De la Cruz announced her presidential campaign on September 7, 2023. She and running mate Karina Garcia are the presidential ticket for the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a Marxist–Leninist party, in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.[2][4] Their socialist policy program includes a pledge to support reparations for Black Americans, institute a single-payer healthcare system, end all U.S aid to Israel, forgive all student loan debt, fully recognize Native American sovereignty and honor treaty rights, cut the U.S. military budget by 90%, seize the 100 largest corporations, expand public transportation, and use taxation to eliminate billionaires.[10]
In March 2024, the South Carolina Workers Party voted to place De la Cruz and Garcia on the state ballot for President and Vice President.[14] In June 2024, De la Cruz gave a speech at a pro-Palestine protest that surrounded the White House.[15]
In 2024, Democrats have been working to keep PSL candidate Claudia De la Cruz along with some other third-party candidates like Cornel West off of ballots,[16] while Republicans have intervened to keep De la Cruz and West on ballots.[16]
^ abAmy, Jeff (2024-08-29). "Georgia puts Cornel West, Jill Stein and Claudia De la Cruz on the state's presidential ballots". AP News. Retrieved 2024-08-30. Democrats legally challenged West, De la Cruz, Kennedy and Stein, seeking to block candidates who could siphon votes from Harris after Joe Biden won Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020...Georgia is one of several states where Democrats and allied groups have filed challenges to third-party and independent candidates. Republicans in Georgia intervened, seeking to keep all the candidates on the ballot.