DSA Machine Go BRRR
Years of labor unionizing, tenant organizing, Palestine liberation, electoralism, "celebrity" politicians, and the DSA ground machine stuck a dagger in the heart of the Democratic Establishment.
On June 24th, 2025, long-shot mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani defeated political titan Andrew Cuomo in the New York City Democratic primary. Three hundred and sixty-four days later, Mayor Mamdani was still celebrating. His personal endorsements for federal office went three for three, a cherry on top of the tidal wave of election victories for the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). While the media and critics reluctantly attribute this week’s political earthquake to the celebrity power of America’s favorite charismatic mayor, this convenient narrative overlooks the true engine of progressive politics in the United States — the Democratic Socialists of America.
June 23rd, 2026, was a great night for DSA. Eleven of the twelve candidates endorsed by the New York City chapter won their race — Claire Valdez for NY-7, Darializa Avila Chevalier for D-13, Alexandria Occasio Cortez for NY-14, Aber Kawas for State Senate District 12, Christian Celeste Tate for Assembly District 54, David Orkin for Assembly District 38, Diana Morena for Assembly District 36, Eon Huntley for Assembly District 56, Illapa Sairitupac for Assembly District 65, Phara Souffrant Forrest for Assembly District 57, and Samanth Kattan for Assembly District 37. Endorsed by DSA national, Adam Bojak and Jo Bennett were elected to the New York State Assembly District 149 (Buffalo, NY) and the Onondaga County Legislature (Syracuse, NY), respectively. As of the time of publishing, the Democratic Socialists of America went 19-10 on June 23rd, with one candidate’s race still outstanding.
Having been a card-carrying DSA member for the better part of a decade, I’m confident in saying June 23rd was the best night in our organization’s history. Not just because of our election results, and not just because the vibes are higher than Don Jr. on a private jet. Instead, New York’s tantalizing election night is a testament to the successful theory, strategy, and execution of the Democratic Socialists of America. This was not just a “progressive wave,” nor did DSA-endorsed and recommended candidates catch incumbents off guard. These were hard-fought, high-visibility elections that proved DSA’s decades of multi-channel organizing have nurtured a healthy, growing, powerful political movement capable of defeating the Democratic establishment on its home turf.
But not everyone saw it this way. The haters and losers, of which there are many, are running through excuses to attribute this success to anything except the well-oiled DSA machine. The Wall Street Journal said the elections will put distance between Jews and Democrats, ignoring that the Mamdani ally with the largest margin of victory was a Jew. There was also a strong tendency to ignore DSA’s efforts and lay the victory solely on Mamdani’s shoulders. Many outlets anointed the mayor as “Kingmaker,” a convenient narrative that fits the post-Obama liberal belief that politics is driven by charismatic leaders rather than the effective organization of the masses. Meanwhile, my centrist friends in independent media fell back on their usual excuse that blue-district primaries have no effect on the direction of the Democratic Party. Though I’m ecstatic about socialist victories, this brings me no joy. First, the opium crisis devastated working-class towns across America. Now, the copium crisis is ravaging the Upper West Side, Forest Hills, and other enclaves of the corporatist media elite. Please, check in on your Third Way friends. And remind them, it’s okay not to be okay.❤️
A more honest accounting of the New York elections paints a different picture. Yes, these are deep blue districts. And yes, Mamdani is a cultural star. But neither of these is why the Democratic Socialists of America just went belt to ass on the Democratic establishment. New York City is not just any liberal city. It is the DNC’s home turf. These elections were just a few subway stops from the homes of Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, who went all-out to defend their incumbents. Protecting Hispanic Caucus chair Adriano Espaillat was Hakeem Jeffries’s highest priority. And DSA ran right through him. If these results were in Minneanopolis or Seattle, perhaps the naysayers would have a point. But the fact that these victories occurred in New York City does not diminish DSA’s accomplishment — it enhances it.
Not to speak ill of Supreme Chairmand Zohran Maomdani, whose name strikes fear into the heart of landlords, but attributing these victories squarely to him misses (or rather, ignores) the strength and depth of the Democratic Socialists of America. Which, of course, is how Mamdani came to be mayor. From our highest elected officials down to our dedicated doorknockers and phonebankers, DSA’s New York Red Wave shows what our organization can accomplish when all avenues of our philosophy come together.
Labor 🤝 Palestine 🤝 Electoral
DSA’s most significant victory was the election of Darializa Avila Chevalier, who faced the longest odds to win the NY-13 district heading into election day. A former organizer of the Columbia Palestine Solidarity Encampment, Avila Chevalier (or “DAC” as she’s known), held her chin high in the face of racist, sexist, and Islamophobic attacks from her opponent. Days before the election, Adriano Espaillat’s senior advisor, Rusking Pimental, appeared on Spanish media and accused Avila Chevalier and Mamdani of doing the Great Replacement Theory against the district’s heavily Dominican population.
“Mamdani, who is also Muslim, his goal is to change the demography of Washington Heights, that Washington Heights no longer be a bastion of the Dominican community, that it rather become a bastion of the Haitian, Muslim community allied to him.” — Rusking Pimental
In another interview, Pimental said Avila Chevalier faked her Dominican ancestry to trick the electorate into voting for her. This hatred materialized in physical voter suppression and intimidation. Espaillat’s supporters blocked polling stations for “Dominicans only” (a civil rights violation), and Avila Chevalier had to flee several locations after hecklers turned violent. The New York media spent months digging through DAC’s deleted tweets, misrepresenting and decontextualizing them to accuse her of second- or third-order antisemitism, violence, or radicalism. But when Avila Chevalier was on the receiving end of vile bigotry and actual physical violence, the best the media could do was say “Ethnicity Becomes Instrument of Division.” Of course, they used the opportunity to talk about Avila Chevalier’s old tweets, not the Democratic establishment’s abhorrent racism against a young woman of color.
Fortunately, DSA’s energized ground game came up big. In addition to knocking tens of thousands of doors, DSA’s election-eve phonebank made over 90,000 calls for Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez. That very well may have been the deciding factor, as DAC and Valdez won by 2,000 votes and 14,000 votes, respectively. In the end, Espaillat’s pathetic racism fell flat. Avila Chevalier won NY-13’s majority Black districts by 10 points. It’s almost like New Yorkers care about affordability and abolishing ICE more than reiterating the racial dynamics of Hispanola. Who would’ve thought!
There is no single reason why Darializa Avila Chevalier won. But DSA’s continued leadership in the anti-Zionist struggle cannot be understated. DAC put her body, safety, and liberty on the line by organizing encampments for Palestine, often in the face of horrendous slanders and police violence. And those who either partook in or supported the encampment campaign took that energy into DAC’s election, knocking doors, making calls, and doing everything else necessary to send this anti-genocide organizer to Congress.
Since Donald Trump was elected, establishment media have smugly asked, “Where Are All the Campus Protestors?” While such articles appeared in The Atlantic to reassure the reactionary upper-class Americans that yes, they were right to dismiss those silly college kids, the commentariat was too busy chattering at cocktail parties to notice the Palestine Solidarity Movement was reorganizing. Protests have little impact on state policy. And they didn’t drive university divestments, either. So, the movement learned from its mistakes, shifted strategies, and directed the anti-genocide energy into the more effective channel of electoral politics. And it won.
“Where are the Columbia protestors?” the elite snicker. “On my way to Congress,” responds Darializa Avila Chevalier.
In New York’s 7th District, DSA-backed Claire Valdez defeated Antonio Reynoso in a race that shows DSA is second-to-none on the American left.
The chosen successor to retiring Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, Antonio Reynoso was supported by the Working Families Party (WFP), NY Attorney General Letitia James, Congressmen Jerry Nadler and Pat Ryan, and the majority of unions that entered the race. A popular Brooklyn Borough President, Reynoso is a well-known, well-credentialed progressive. His platform calls for the abolition of ICE and the end of the Gaza genocide. In a most Democratic primary, Reynoso would have my support. But in New York City’s Commie Corridor, being a progressive simply isn’t enough. Just as American voters consistently choose Republicans over Democrats’ offering of Republican Lite, leftist voters prefer DSA’s socialism over WFP’s progressivism.
A State Assemblywoman and UAW union organizer, Claire Valdez is a natural product of DSA’s labor organizing efforts. From working at Taco Bell to organizing Columbia’s graduate assistants, Valdez embodies the socialist vision of a militant, organized working class. As Valdez says herself:
“I didn’t come to politics through party machines or electoral ambition. I learned how this system really works in low-wage customer service jobs and found my power in a union.”
A member of UAW Local 2110’s bargaining committee, Valdez and other academic workers were instrumental in democratizing the UAW after the 2020 corruption scandal. By pushing the One Member, One Vote referendum in 2022, academic workers laid the groundwork for the election of current president Shawn Fain, who has injected the UAW with much-needed radicalism. Fain’s push for a 2028 general strike and willingness to endorse candidates such as Valdez are the fruits of the academic organizing project, which has roots in DSA. While Shawn Fain and the UAW’s support for Claire Valdez is a testament to the snowball effect of DSA’s multi-avenue approach, this only scratches the surface of what our joint electoral and labor efforts can bring.
The union-versus-union dynamics of the New York 7 race teach us important lessons about the future of labor politics. Antonio Reynoso had the endorsement of most unions, but it didn’t seem to have made a difference. With Shawn Fain's support and her roots in militant union organizing, Claire Valdez won by over 21 points. Though Reynoso technically had more union support, those unions failed to mobilize enough members to volunteer and get their candidate over the hump. Comparatively, Valdez’s labor support looked weaker on paper. But the union energy, as seen by Shawn Fain’s willingness to stump for Valdez, energized his UAW base to combine forces with DSA and deliver a landslide victory. The older, conservative leadership of established unions might still shy away from DSA. But if NY-7 is any indication, activating and energizing union members towards their material interests can help us connect with America’s unionized workforce, which has been complacent and dormant for too long.
To Endorse Or Not To Endorse
While the unseen DSA’s rank-and-file went big for Darializa, Claire, and the rest of the endorsed candidates, the organization’s high-profile electeds also pulled their weight to deliver these historic results.
Endorsements have long been a point of friction between the DSA base and our elected officials. Justifiably, the rank and file wish our politicians would endorse every socialist challenger, and grow frustrated when they don’t. The problem facing politicians like Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani, who have both been criticized for being too conservative in their endorsements, is that opposing Democratic incumbents and allies can destroy the relationships they need to remain effective legislators. Showing the American working class that we can be responsible stewards of political will is crucial to DSA’s ambitions, both within and outside the electoral arena. Competent governance and legislative activity are the best ways to prove ourselves to those we wish to represent, and failing to do so will weaken our project. This puts DSA’s interests on a knife-edge. If our elected officials overreach, they risk being shunned and prevented from doing their jobs, giving critics ammunition to undermine DSA’s future projects. But if they are too reluctant to endorse, DSA risks losing winnable elections, depriving existing elected officials of much-needed allies who could give new and veteran DSA electeds alike more endorsement power and breathing room. This is a difficult balance for DSA, and an even more difficult balance for the politicians themselves. Which is why I’m greatly impressed by AOC and Mamdani’s planned strategy to maximize candidates’ chance of success while avoiding destructive blowback.
Working together, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez coordinated their support to ensure each DSA candidate had at least one ‘star’ endorsement while avoiding enraging the Democrats they still begrudgingly rely on. To do this, Ocasio-Cortez endorsed New York Assembly candidates David Orkin, Celeste Tate, and Eon Huntley. Mamdani sat out these endorsements to avoid upsetting New York state and local Democrats, giving himself the space to continue his spectacular governance of New York City, such as yesterday’s announcement that the rent is officially frozen. Mamdanistan’s city on a hill is of priceless value to both the American and international socialist movement, and should be protected. Mamdani returned the favor, endorsing Congressional candidates Claire Valdez and Darializia Avila Chevalier, boosting these candidates while helping Occasio-Cortez avoid angering federal-level allies. With Valdez running against the hand-picked successor of AOC’s mentor, Nydia Velázquez, and DAC running against the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, an AOC endorsement would have blown up many of the Congresswoman’s relationships, creating headaches for DSA’s electoral ambitions down the road. By coordinating their endorsements, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani maximized DSA’s chance of success at the federal, state, and local levels, while avoiding provoking enemies that will come back to bite DSA later on. For example, Hakeem Jeffries, who was furious at AOC and Mamdani for endorsing against incumbent Democrats, said the New York Mayor would have “work to do in terms of the conversations that he’s going to have with members of Congress moving forward.” This is the classic Democratic Machine trying to punish insurgent leftists. But this time, it won’t work! Mamdani doesn’t have to repair relationships with Congressional Democrats for the same reason as Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t have to repair relationships with Albany Democrats — they don’t need them!
While many DSA members have raised concerns about the conservative nature of endorsements from socialists in office (myself included), none can deny that the strategy coordinated between Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani worked perfectly. Every candidate endorsed by one of the two won their election. In fact, the only NYC-DSA-endorsed candidate who wasn’t endorsed by either AOC or Mamdani was Conrad Blackburn, NYC-DSA’s sole loss on Tuesday. Blackburn is a dedicated union organizer, public defender, and socialist. But his uphill battle against the son of the Manhattan Democratic Party leader was too steep for either AOC or Zohran to stick their neck out for. Blackburn lost by eight points and is sure to return stronger. But compiled with DSA’s incredible victories, Blackburn’s disappointing loss shows DSA’s highest-profile elected officials know when to go all-in and when to keep their power dry. With two more New York socialists headed to Congress, DSA’s political power will grow, the demand for establishment appeasement will diminish, and more DSA members will be elected. Here’s Mamdani’s top strategist, Morris Katz, explaining how figures such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani coordinate and build on each other’s victories to empower other DSA candidates to win.
While Katz is correct to say Tuesday’s victories couldn’t have happened without Mamdani’s victory, and Mamdani’s victory couldn’t have happened without Ocasio-Cortez’s (which couldn’t have happened without Bernie 2016), we should remember these politicians are the most visible forms of DSA’s dedicated organizing. Without taking anything away from either politician, both rose to household-name status by running through DSA. A DSA endorsement does not mean we stamp our logo on your campaign literature. It is a promise to drive your campaign at every level, from doorknockers to fundraisers to campaign strategy. Both Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 defeat of Joe Crowley and Mamdani’s 2025 destruction of Andrew Cuomo came from the unwavering dedication of on-the-ground organizers. Both are gifted communicators and skilled political maneuverers, but neither would be where they are without the direct assistance of the New York chapter, the influx of financial, phone-banking, and digital support from DSA’s national network, and the continuous push for democratic socialism. By working hard for AOC, Zohran, and many other socialist candidates in years past, the DSA rank-and-file secured important beachheads in the electoral arena. Now, those strongholds have empowered us to launch further attacks against the Democratic establishment and fascist Republicans.
The DSA Difference
Another sign of DSA’s increasing political might can be seen not just in who won on Tuesday night, but in who lost.
As expected, Mamdani ally Brad Lander trounced incumbent Dan Goldman by thirty points. Lander is a former DSA member who exited the organization over our anti-Zionism. Still, Lander ran as a stern anti-genocide critic who opposed weapons shipments to Israel, while Goldman tried to placate the progressive base with #Thoughts&Prayers for the Palestinians and #Missles&Bombs for the Israelis. It didn’t work. The race centered on Israel, and the more critical candidate won. In what the psychotic Zionists are calling a horror show of anti-semitism, Jewish voters in the most Jewish district in the country elected an anti-genocide Jew to represent them. Cue the “This is just like 1930s Germany” freakout. But sober observers can see the real lesson here. Democratic voters have disapproved of Israel for some time. And the results of NY-10 show they’re willing to translate that disapproval into electoral results, even if it means bucking the party establishment.
The 12th congressional district saw a showdown between Resistance icon George Conway, Kennedy heir Jack Schlossberg, Assemblyman Micah Lasher, and Assemblyman Alex Bores. While Bores was by far the most progressive candidate, his obsession with Israel kept him from receiving the grassroots energy that propelled other progressives to victory. Unlike Lander, Bores rejects any conditioning of aid to Israel and recently marched in the Israel Day Parade alongside genocidal finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich. The progressive surge driven by DSA passed Bores by, causing him to lose to Micah Lasher by less than four points in a four-way race. It’s unlikely Bores would ever receive a DSA endorsement. But we have a wide wake, and moving closer to DSA’s foreign policy position might have been enough to give Bores enough juice to send him to Congress.
The Anti-Tea Party
Given the sudden rise of DSA after the second election of Donald Trump, many commentators have drawn comparisons with the Tea Party. Though candidates from the far ends of the party defeating their centrist establishments appear like a funhouse mirror reflection, the rise of DSA and what is now called MAGA could not be more different.
The Tea Party succeeded because it was a top-down movement. Fearful of Obama’s domestic policies, the Koch Brothers and other wealthy capitalists used their wealth and pre-controlled media, namely Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck, to inject radical libertarianism, racism, and xenophobia into the Republican Party. Alternatively, DSA’s success does not come from the top. We have no pre-controlled media allies, wealthy donors, or established political connections. The socialist cause has grown from the ground up. Claire Valdez, the Taco Bell worker. Darializa Avila Chevalier, the campus organizer. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the bartender. Since reinventing itself after the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign, the Democratic Socialists of America has organized in every avenue of revolutionary struggle. DSA members unionize workers, organize tenants, lead street protests, raise funds, run for office as independents, and fight the Democratic establishment in contested primaries. The New York elections offer insight into how these organizing avenues reinforce one another, building momentum and power. Darializa’s Palestine solidarity work has lifted her to office, where she’ll vote for the PRO Act, empowering DSA’s labor organizers to make deeper inroads in the union movement. Claire Valdez’s support from the UAW has given us another vote against weapons shipments to Israel, furthering the goals of our internationalist ventures. Which will recruit more Americans disgusted by our complicity in mass slaughter to DSA, increasing our numbers and empowering our organization to achieve our lofty goals of Medicare for All and an arms embargo on Israel. And all of this is driven by the rank-and-file membership of the Democratic Socialists of America, who knocked doors, phone-banked, raised funds, and did everything else necessary to get these fantastic candidates elected to office. These activists are standing on the shoulders of those who did the same for Zohran in 2025, who did the same for Bernie in 2020, AOC in 2018, Bernie in 2016, and so on and so forth, all the way back to comrades Michael Harrington and Jose La Luz, who founded the Democratic Socialists of America and ingrained us with hard lessons learned from the failures of 20th century communist movements and the Cold War New Left.
The Democratic Socialists of America is no longer a group of Chapo Trap House listeners sitting on the political sidelines, complaining that the Democratic establishment cheated Bernie Sanders’ long-shot presidential campaigns. DSA is the strongest socialist party in modern American history. The New York showcase is only a fraction of what we can achieve.
Rosa Luxemburg once said we will have socialism, or we will have barbarism. For centuries, the political establishment of both parties has only offered Americans barbarism. Now that DSA is offering them socialism. And they’re starting to see that our path is the superior option.
Join us. A better world is being born.
If you want Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez to have even more support in Congress, then we need your help in electing Melat Kiros for Colorado’s 1st District. Melat is DSA-endorsed and decided to run for office after losing her job for supporting anti-genocide protestors. Like Darializa, Melat has faced astoundingly racist attacks from her opponent. So, we need all the help we can get.
The election is Tuesday, June 30th, so it’s crunch time. If you volunteer for any Melat Kiros phonebank between now and then, I’ll give you a free 6-month premium access. Honor system — just shoot me a DM to let me know you got involved!
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Thanks in advance!
In Solidarity — Joe
As a European, I am very happy to see that at long last there is a real alternative to the right (Democratic Party) and the extreme right (Republican Party) in the USA. Although the widespread and normalized racism I see in your country doesn't give me much hope, perhaps I will yet live to see the day that the USA will become a civilized country!
Great piece as always. But I disagree that the Columbia encampments represent some kind of failure. While the demands of the students were obviously not met, the encampments were the central force in catalyzing the global movement for palestine. They put the movement on the map, generated countless offshoots at campuses around the world, and forced the media and elites to reckon with it for months on end. I would argue it represented one of the most successful and meaningful acts of protest in decades.