Democratic socialists ride wave of momentum in primaries from New York to Colorado

‘In recent months, a production line of victorious DSA candidates has cranked into gear – in New York, and beyond.’ Photograph: Faraz Ansari/Courtesy of DSA View image in fullscreen ‘In recent months, a production line of victorious DSA candidates has cranked into gear – in New York, and beyond.’ Photograph: Faraz Ansari/Courtesy of DSA Democratic socialists ride wave of momentum in primaries from New York to Colorado Surging membership and pro-Palestinian activism reshape debate on how campaigning movement governs in office I nside a Brooklyn industrial garage turned underground event venue, local leaders of the Democratic Socialists of America urged hundreds of mostly young people last month to avoid complacency. Sure, New York City had a socialist representative in the US Congress , and just elected a socialist mayor. But they had so much more to do. “If we only elect Zohran, we only elect AOC, our project will have been a failure,” Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the city’s DSA chapter, told the assembled crowd. “Our ambitions are so much higher than just a position in government. We want to transform the world.” “To do that,” he continued, “we have to transform DSA into a factory.” In recent months, a production line of victorious DSA candidates has cranked into gear – in New York, and beyond. Pennsylvania Democrats picked Chris Rabb , an unflinching progressive state representative, as the party’s candidate for its third congressional district. Janeese Lewis George is slated to be the next mayor of Washington DC. View image in fullscreen Then mayoral candidate, Janeese Lewis George, addresses a group of potential voters at a candidate forum in DC’s McKinley Technological High School on 18 April 2026. Photograph: Leah Millis/The Washington Post/Getty Images And on Tuesday in Colorado, Melat Kiros, a democratic socialist, unseated Diana DeGette, the long-serving US representative, in the state’s deep-blue first congressional district, centered on Denver. The momentum for democratic socialists is unlike anything the US left has seen before. The morning after nine of the 10 New York City candidates backed by DSA seized a stunning sweep of victories in the state’s Democratic primary elections last week, the city’s chapter wrote in an an email: “For the second year in a row we SHOCKED the political establishment and the millionaires who tried to stop our movement.” Progressives are winning in American cities. Can they win rural voters too? | Bhaskar Sunkara Read more But some of the organization’s veterans seemed just as surprised as the establishment they had stunned. “We always want to set out to organize to win, but with an understanding that it’s going to be a long shot,” Ashik Siddique, national co-chair of DSA, told the Guardian. Hours earlier, the NY-13 congressional race had been called for Darializa Avila Chevalier , a pro-Palestinian political newcomer who defeated a veteran incumbent who outspent her by millions in the most astonishing u