Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates have achieved a string of primary victories across the United States, marking what analysts describe as an unprecedented surge for the left-wing movement. In New York City, nine of ten DSA-backed candidates won their Democratic primaries last week, including a stunning upset in the 13th congressional district where political newcomer Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated a well-funded incumbent. The victories come months after Zohran Mamdani was elected as the city's first immigrant, Muslim and DSA member mayor in November 2024.
In Colorado, Melat Kiros unseated long-serving US Representative Diana DeGette in the state's first congressional district, while in Pennsylvania, progressive state representative Chris Rabb won the Democratic nomination for the third congressional district. Janeese Lewis George is also poised to become the next mayor of Washington DC. The DSA's New York City chapter, which has seen membership surge from 5,900 in autumn 2024 to 14,000 before the primaries, added at least 900 new members in the day after the results.
Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the city's DSA chapter, told a recent gathering: 'If we only elect Zohran, we only elect AOC, our project will have been a failure. Our ambitions are so much higher than just a position in government. We want to transform the world.' He added that the goal is to 'transform DSA into a factory' for political change. National co-chair Ashik Siddique noted that the organization now has over 200 local chapters and more than 100,000 members nationwide, with significant growth in the South and Midwest.
The DSA was founded in 1982 by writer and activist Michael Harrington, who described its goal as 'the left wing of the possible'. Historian and co-founder Maurice Isserman, who left the DSA after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks due to disagreements over the organization's response, noted that the group combined radical leftwing aspirations with a pragmatic approach. The recent electoral successes have energized the movement, though leaders caution against complacency and emphasize the need for continued organizing.
