Two Democratic Socialists of America members won mayoral elections Tuesday, in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Their victories mean that four of the country’s 20 largest cities will now have socialist mayors.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman defeated incumbent Karen Bass. She is expected to take office in December, leading a city of about 4 million people.
In Washington, D.C., DSA member Janeese Lewis George won comfortably and will become mayor of the nation’s capital, which has roughly 700,000 residents.
Raman and Lewis George join Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, bringing the number of socialist mayors among the nation’s 20 largest cities to four.
Together, the four cities have about 14 million residents. The impact of city policies may reach beyond their borders, too, through effects on crime, housing values and the business climate. People who live in nearby suburbs but work in the cities could also feel the consequences.
Across the four metropolitan areas, the number of people potentially affected by the mayors’ policies is about 44 million, though the effects could be positive or negative.
Heritage Foundation fellow Mike Gonzalez commented on the results in a post on X on Thursday, saying Los Angeles had become the fourth large U.S. city with a socialist mayor, alongside New York, Washington and Seattle. He also criticized Chicago’s mayor, while noting that the mayor does not identify as a DSA member.
The election gains extended beyond mayoral races. Voters chose seven DSA-backed or affiliated candidates for the House: Claire Valdez, Brand Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York; Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania; Melat Kiros in Colorado; Donavan McKinney in Michigan; and Angela Gonzales-Torres in California.
Other candidates associated with socialist policies also won seats or were re-elected Tuesday.
Public views of socialism remain divided. A recent national poll found that 32% of voters viewed it favorably, while 64% had an unfavorable opinion. Still, the favorable figure matched a record high first reached five years ago, and was the highest since polling on the question began in 2019.
A September Gallup poll found that 43% of Americans had a positive view of socialism, the highest level since the organization began tracking the question in 2010. In the national poll, 51% of voters viewed capitalism favorably, compared with 32% for socialism; 46% viewed capitalism unfavorably.
