Carville, the veteran Democratic strategist and former Bill Clinton adviser, went the furthest, calling openly for a schism on his podcast. “I actually do think it’s time for Democrats to talk the S-word: schism,” Carville said, according to The Guardian. He added that some DSA-aligned candidates “have no place in the Democratic party” and, in reference to the broader coalition, said: “I’m not in that fucking political party.”
Jaime Harrison, the former Democratic National Committee chair, also weighed in. “I say this with no ill will or animosity: if you hate the Democratic Party, then please don’t run for our nomination,” Harrison posted on social media. “Don’t use our resources. Don’t rely on our volunteers. Don’t use our infrastructure. Focus on building the party you actually support.”
The comments followed a string of DSA-aligned primary victories in New York City that toppled two sitting incumbents last week. Those wins were the latest in a series this cycle that also included progressive victories in Maine, New Jersey, California and Philadelphia, where state representative Chris Rabb won a congressional primary in May, The Guardian reported.
Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and White House chief of staff, told CNN that the socialist wing has decided to “turn blue districts, dark blue” and argued that Democrats had “lost the plot” by focusing on niche concerns rather than mainstream priorities. Former New York governor David Paterson warned on 77 WABC radio that the party risked more than an electoral setback. “We’d better get that message and turn it around before we become extinct,” he said.
A group of House Democrats aligned with a new centrist initiative, launched after the New York primary results, said the socialist victors “should not be the face of our party,” according to The Guardian.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat whom the DSA has openly targeted, took a different approach. When asked on CNBC about DSA supporters chanting “you’re next” at a screen showing his face, Jeffries said the party’s focus should be on ending the “national nightmare” of the Trump administration. By Saturday, Jeffries had congratulated the nominees on social media. “From public servants to union organizers to community activists, the path is different but the work is the same,” he wrote. “We must decisively address the affordability crisis and crush far-right extremism.”
The Guardian reported that a Fox News poll conducted in March found 49% of all registered voters, including 72% of Democrats and 60% of independents, described capitalism as working “not very” or “not at all” well. The newspaper also noted CNN data analyst Harry Enten’s citation of a Marquette Law School poll showing the DSA holds higher favorability than sitting congressional Democrats among Democratic voters and leaners. “Simply put, they’re more popular than the Democrats currently in charge,” Enten said.
The DSA has endorsed roughly 150 candidates this cycle, according to an analysis by the Washington Examiner that The Guardian cited. Of those, 35 have either won primaries or advanced without opposition, in races across Oregon, California, Georgia, Pennsylvania and New York.
DSA’s national co-chair, Megan Romer, told Politico that the group is preparing for the 2028 presidential cycle by dispatching surveys to all 250 of its chapters this summer, asking members which candidate should carry the democratic socialist banner, with responses due to national leadership by Sept. 15. “What DSA represents is a real contrast to Democrats who have run the last couple of elections on fear,” Romer said. “You can’t run on that. You have to offer an alternative.”