Democratic socialists have won mayoral contests in three of the largest U.S. cities this year, a string of victories that supporters say demonstrates the electoral viability of left-wing governance at the municipal level. Zohran Mamdani took office in New York, Katie Wilson in Seattle, and Janeese Lewis George is set to become mayor of Washington, D.C., after winning the Democratic primary last week.
The results have turned attention to Los Angeles, where City Councilmember Nithya Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, faces incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in a November runoff. It is the first time in more than 20 years that an incumbent Los Angeles mayor has faced a runoff challenge, according to The Guardian. The DSA’s local chapter has not yet formally endorsed in the race.
The common criticism of democratic socialism — that its proponents prioritize ideology over effective governance — is being tested by the new mayors’ early records, supporters said. On Thursday, a New York City board voted to freeze rents for nearly one million apartments, delivering Mamdani a major victory on one of his central campaign promises.
Gustavo Gordillo, a Yale graduate and former union carpenter who co-chairs New York City’s DSA chapter, said Mamdani’s focus on basic services — what he called “pothole politics and sewer socialism” — has helped build support for the movement. “It was through trying to implement the affordability agenda that we made the case for electing more democratic socialists, because we need to tax the rich to fund the program, and the governor and the current power structure fought us all the way in this past session,” Gordillo told The Guardian.
Megan Romer, DSA national co-chair, said the organization is developing policy expertise to match its campaign infrastructure. “It’s not just the knocking of the doors and the phone banking and getting out the vote, but also, like, what does it look like once we’re in office?” Romer said. “We’ve got people who are turning themselves into experts on policy, who are hitting the ground trying to figure out what municipal garbage policy looks like.”
Lewis George, in her victory speech, emphasized practical governance. “From the start of this campaign, we championed the principle that DC residents deserve a government that works,” she said. “Over time, failing public services eroded people’s faith in government as a force of good in their lives. As mayor, I will be relentlessly focused on delivering reliable public services to every DC neighborhood.”
Corbin Trent, a former campaign aide to Sen. Bernie Sanders and a veteran of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 insurgent House campaign, said the socialist wins reflect a broader voter dissatisfaction that establishment Democrats have failed to recognize. Many incumbent Democrats argued “hey, things are mostly good — we gotta tweak some edges, but this is the greatest country ever,” Trent told The Guardian. “And then they got beat by the guy who said that this was a shithole. And they didn’t get it.”