The Democratic Socialists of America appeared poised to win roughly two-thirds of the races in which it endorsed candidates on Tuesday, a result that points to the group’s growing influence within the Democratic Party.
From Berkeley, California, to New York City, many DSA-backed candidates won or were leading. The organization made gains during the primaries, when its active local chapters benefited from low turnout in heavily Democratic districts and helped defeat more moderate candidates. Success in the general election suggests that its influence has carried beyond the primary season.
A review of 161 candidate races listed on the DSA’s election tracker found more than 50 victories, based on results available early Wednesday. The group also backed about 58 ballot measures, covering issues such as rent control, public banking, social housing, abortion and voting rights, and taxes. Many of those measures were passing.
Of the candidate contests tracked, 11 were federal races, 88 were local, 60 were state-level and two were municipal.
In Berkeley, five DSA-endorsed candidates ran for the Rent Stabilization Board. In the latest Alameda County returns, Ida Martinac, Vylma Ortiz, Nathan Mizell and Avery Arbaugh were leading for the board’s five seats. Derek Rodriguez, the group’s fifth candidate, was behind.
DSA-backed candidates also won or were leading in congressional races. Seven candidates in traditionally Democratic districts won their contests, including Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez in New York, Melat Kiros in Colorado, Donavan McKinney in Michigan and Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won New York’s 14th District, and Rashida Tlaib won Michigan’s 12th. Angela Gonzales-Torres was expected to win in California’s 34th District.
Two DSA-backed House candidates lost or appeared likely to lose: Mai Vang was trailing in California’s 7th District, while Lauren Jewett lost in Louisiana’s 1st District.
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, democratic socialist Yousef Rabhi defeated longtime Democratic Mayor Christopher Taylor in the general election. Rabhi had first beaten Taylor in the primary, an outcome that showed how DSA-backed candidates can challenge the party establishment from within.
Los Angeles offered another closely watched contest. DSA-backed City Councilmember Nithya Raman was in a surprisingly tight race against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, with early returns too close to call. The result could offer a test of whether the organization can move beyond legislative victories and win executive office in the nation’s second-largest city.
New York results drew particular attention after DSA-backed candidate Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City last year. Seventeen DSA-endorsed candidates in the state had won or were expected to win, including three members of Congress, a state senator, 12 state Assembly members and a county legislator.
California’s results were more mixed. Of the state’s 43 DSA-backed candidates, 23 were winning or leading, while 17 were trailing. The outcome suggested the group has meaningful support there, but not uniform success.
Founded in 1982 through the merger of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee and the New American Movement, the DSA grew out of socialist, labor, feminist and community organizing. Its national organization includes Marxist and communist factions.
The group uses a red rose as its emblem, a longstanding symbol associated with socialism, labor organizing and working-class solidarity. The rose also recalls the 1912 “Bread and Roses” textile strike, whose slogan joined the demand for basic needs with one for dignity. The DSA’s logo pairs the flower with two clasped hands, which the organization says represents multiracial solidarity against capitalism and efforts to divide workers.
The DSA is not a political party. Most of its candidates run as Democrats, in part because winner-take-all elections and state ballot-access rules make it difficult for independent parties to gain a foothold. The group instead works through Democratic primaries and nonpartisan local elections, then seeks to organize elected candidates into a broader socialist movement.
While it uses the Democratic ballot line to win elections, the DSA says its longer-term aim is to build an independent mass socialist party and end capitalism. Its endorsement rules require candidates to identify publicly as socialists and support the organization’s national platform. National endorsements also require candidates to meet the DSA’s anti-Zionist criteria.
The results suggest the group is most effective in safe Democratic districts, low-turnout primaries and places with well-organized local chapters able to canvass, raise money and mobilize volunteers.
Still, Tuesday’s outcomes do not show that the DSA controls the Democratic Party nationally. About one-third of the tracked candidate races were confirmed or expected losses, and the group’s strongest results were concentrated in urban, heavily Democratic areas and local offices.
The organization also backed candidates for school boards and education boards, with nine races in Baltimore, Minneapolis, Chicago, Ferndale, Michigan, Durham, North Carolina, and several California communities among those where its candidates were winning or expected to win.
That spread reflects a strategy reaching beyond Congress and major-city councils. The DSA is also contesting local offices that influence school curriculum, labor policy and education spending, from the East Coast through the Midwest to the West Coast.
