DSA Boasts—on July 4—That It Has More Members Than Any Socialist Organization in US History

While America was celebrating the 250^th anniversary of its Founding, the Democratic Socialists of America celebrated becoming what it calls the “largest socialist organization in United States history.”

Their declaration was made on X:

On July 4, 2026, Democratic Socialists of America passed 120,000 members, making us the largest socialist organization in United States history and surpassing the Socialist Party of America under Eugene Debs, which reached its peak dues-paying membership in 1912.

Membership in Debs’ organization totaled 113,000, according to party records. The Communist Party USA topped out at 75,000 members in 1947.

Founded in 1982 with the merging of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee and the New American Movement, DSA has seen a meteoric rise, having grown from roughly 5,000 members a decade ago to its current total.

The presidential candidacy of socialist Bernie Sanders in 2016 spurred the party’s membership growth to around 80,000, primarily young people. Seeing that opening, the DSA shifted its focus toward issues impacting younger generations like student debt, the Green New Deal, and, more lately, affordability.

As the Daily Caller News Foundation reported, Sanders’ presidential bid “opened the door for democratic socialist candidates to enter mainstream Democratic politics.” DSA then took to aggressively building up and promoting such candidates as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Over the past 18 months, membership has doubled, spurred by the rise of Zohran Mamdani from rich immigrant and failed rapper to mayor of New York City, and with that growth has come election victories.

Last month saw radical DSA candidates sweep away Democrat incumbents, including hardcore progressives in New York and Colorado. A DSA candidate is poised to become mayor of Washington, D.C., while a DSA candidate is squaring off against the incumbent Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass.

Why the Attraction?

Wisconsin Democratic strategist Joe Zepecki argues that the rise in support may be less about DSA itself than the desire for change.

“It is very easy to see the American public is not satisfied with what it is getting from its elected representatives,” Zepecki told The Hill. “And so if somebody emerges who is able to effectively communicate the role that government can play to make … a shot at the American dream just a little bit more within reach, of course that’s going to resonate.”

But do those 120,000 members really know what they’ve signed up for?

“Our Goal is Communism”

The symbolism of announcing it’s become the largest socialist organization in U.S. history on the 250^th anniversary of the United States is not to be lost, for the stated aim of the Democratic Socialists of America is the downfall of its system of government.

David Jenkins, of DSA’s National Political Committee and a figure involved in Mamdani’s rise, put it simply: “Our goal is communism.”

The sentiment is echoed publicly by several key DSA figures.

The DSA’s new manifesto makes clear the group’s radical aims.

As Michael Freund, a former deputy communications director for Benjamin Netanyahu and current visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, explained in an analysis for the Daily Signal, “The Democratic Socialists Are at War With America.”

Freund breaks down the DSA platform released in June called “Workers Deserve More!”

The document calls for scrapping the U.S. Senate, replacing the president and Supreme Court with bodies chosen by and subordinate to Congress, drafting a new constitution, and creating a “democratic socialist republic.” It goes far beyond higher taxes or regulation: it seeks to abolish the separation of powers crafted by the Founders.

The platform calls for abolishing the “carceral forces of the capitalist state,” sharply cutting military power, granting amnesty to all illegal immigrants, ending sanctions on rogue regimes, and placing key industries under public ownership.

It would effectively erase America’s borders by allowing free migration, demilitarizing the frontier, ending detention and deportations, and granting full voting rights to noncitizens.

“The DSA is not demanding different policies,” Freund declares. “It is demanding a different country.”

Is the Threat Overblown?

The question remains whether the Democratic Socialists of America can extend their reach beyond the bluest of blue districts and cities. Democrat insiders and neutral observers have their suspicions.

“Races in some of the most liberal districts in the country don’t tell us very much about the strength of the left in the competitive races Democrats have to win to seize back control of Congress,” the nonpartisan Cook Political Report argued in an assessment of the DSA’s Big Apple wins.

Zepecki also called the fervor over the New York wins “pretty overblown,” citing how DSA candidates lost primary races as well. “I think we need a lot more races and a lot more data to determine whether this is anything more than a moment in time inspired by a generational political talent like Zohran Mamdani.”

Veteran Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut dismissed the DSA’s national impact, telling ABC News’ “This Week,” “The effort to nationalize New York is going to fail. What’s happening in New York will be really irrelevant by the time of the elections in November.”

Still, Freund writes that it would be a “grave error” to dismiss the threat of the DSA. “The DSA wants power, and it is learning how to seize it,” he wrote.

Daily Signal senior contributor Victor Davis Hanson said, “We’re watching a modern-day French Revolutionary-like takeover of the Democratic Party.”