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Democrats built NY democratic socialist moment. Now they must face it.

18 0
26.06.2026

Three Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates beat establishment Democrats in New York City's June 23 primary, winning with the backing from the city's democratic socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani.

Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier won in the 7th and 13th Congressional Districts for the U.S. House. Aber Kawas won in the New York State Senate District 12.

Brad Lander, a former DSA member, also won his Democratic primary for the 10th Congressional District, defeating U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman.

These candidates are so extreme that even members of their own party are denouncing them.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, posted on X: "Anti-Israel. Anti-America. Anti-Western Civilization. Why am I the only Democrat in the U.S. Senate that refuses to excuse this or defend any of those self-identified communists?"

New York Attorney General Letitia James blamed Mamdani for blowing up the Democratic Party with these results. "Some of the candidates that he has supported are individuals who do not understand the politics of New York City, the cultural differences from district to district, who have not been part of the history and the struggle of some of these districts, and are relatively new to the body politic," James told CNN. 

James is right that electing socialists is damning for a party that still claims to represent center-left voters. But I'd go further: What happened in New York isn't an aberration ‒ it's evidence of a larger trend, with Democrats drifting further left than at any point in recent memory. Conservatives have warned about this for........

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