Progressive candidates navigate DSA ties as membership reaches 120,000

House Republicans, eight Democrats back resolution condemning socialism

The Democratic Socialists of America has expanded to 120,000 members, and a recent poll found that roughly one-third of Democrats now openly identify as “socialist” — a term The Guardian described as recently viewed as a slur. The growth has positioned the organization as a new center of gravity inside the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, and individual candidates are sorting out what that means for their own political identities as they head toward November.

Days before winning the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed told CBS News anchor Ed O’Keefe that he preferred to be seen as “a capitalist who has actually read about capitalism.” El-Sayed added, “I’m not a socialist,” and stressed, “I’m not DSA,” while making clear there is room for the organization in the “big tent” he said he is seeking to build. The Guardian reported that El-Sayed has been linked to the Democratic Socialists of America despite his public distancing from the label.

In Florida, Angie Nixon — who recently won the Democratic Senate primary in one of the biggest upsets of the primary season — joined the DSA in June but has not been endorsed by the group. When asked whether she identified as a democratic socialist, she equivocated. “I don’t agree with everything that they agree with, but they’re fighting hard to ensure we have access to universal healthcare, access to free college and fully funded public schools,” Nixon told The Guardian. “I’ve always been a lifelong Democrat but I’m more of [a] social democrat who believes in strong safety nets.”

Other candidates occupy different points on the spectrum. New York’s Claire Valdez has been organizing with the DSA for years; Colorado’s Melat Kiros and Pennsylvania’s Chris Rabb have long identified as socialists and recently joined the organization; all three are DSA-endorsed. Brad Lander was once a member but left the group over its response to the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — the national figure most often associated with the DSA — rejoined the New York City chapter last month after letting her membership lapse for seven years, as speculation mounts about a possible presidential run.

In Los Angeles, the local DSA chapter voted this week to endorse mayoral candidate Nithya Raman after weeks of internal discussion about whether she was too centrist to earn backing. The Guardian reported that intense debates have “roiled the organization in recent months about which candidates to endorse and how to best ride the current momentum.”

DSA’s organizing capacity has produced tangible electoral results. After DSA candidates won nine out of 10 races in which the group had fielded candidates in New York City in June, party establishment figures issued a string of hostile statements. Third Way, a centrist Democratic group, announced a $15 million effort to go to “war” against them. DSA leaders and members have become tabloid fodder, and this week House Republicans — joined by eight Democrats — adopted a resolution condemning “socialism” and specifically naming the DSA.

The DSA’s New York City chapter says its 50,000 volunteers knocked on doors 1.6 million times in support of Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy. Mamdani himself has broken with the group over policing, illustrating the internal disagreements that the organization is working through. The Guardian noted that the group’s leadership is also debating how to respond to a possible presidential run by Ocasio-Cortez, with some factions openly encouraging it and others suspicious of what they view as her willingness to compromise on DSA priorities.

Peter Sterne, an editor at City & State New York and a former DSA member who has extensively covered the group, told The Guardian that the DSA has become a “shorthand for this rebellion against Democratic party leadership.” Sterne said endorsements can power a campaign with an “army” of canvassers and phone bank volunteers, but added that “the DSA doesn’t just want to help get people into office and then let them do whatever they want,” pointing to internal concern that candidates may hitch their wagon to the group but not work with it after winning. Sterne described the tension between the organization’s pragmatists and purists as healthy and a sign of its strength.

Bill Galston, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said the centrist wing of the party will need to respond. “You can’t beat something with nothing,” Galston told The Guardian. “The more moderate wing of the Democratic party is going to have to raise its game substantially.”

The Guardian reported that critics point to some of the organization’s more radical stances — eliminating the Senate, abolishing borders, and defunding the police — as a sign of its unseriousness, while many DSA members view those positions as aspirational and consistent with the group’s fundamental values. DSA members told The Guardian the decision on endorsements and candidates is ultimately made democratically and described the deliberative processes as excruciating but fundamental to the organization’s identity.