The Quiet Rise of Democratic Socialism: How DSA Built Power Across America

How did the Democratic Socialists of America grow from a small group of elderly activists to a political juggernaut, seemingly on the cusp of taking power in the Democrat Party?

A new report emphasizes that the real strength of the DSA isn’t a few flashy political leaders like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The group’s real strength lies in its organizing power at the state and local levels, which provides the ability to raise up national leaders.

“This is a homegrown or local-from-the-ground-up sort of organizational strategy,” Brooke Medina, vice president of communications at the State Policy Network, told the Daily Signal in an interview Thursday. “That’s why you see them in more competitive races at even the local and state levels.”

SPN published a special report Monday chronicling the DSA’s growth over the years. While an early DSA chapter listing from 2013 shows just 21 chapters, mostly in metropolitan areas, the DSA network now includes 204 distinct chapters and 45 organizing committees. The chapters appear even in redder states like Texas and Florida, but also in less populous states, such as Alabama, Idaho, and West Virginia. The only two states without a DSA chapter are Alaska and Wyoming.

The DSA grew from 21 chapters in 2013 to 204 chapters today, with much of the expansion occurring after Trump’s first election.

While DSA-aligned candidates such as Abdul El-Sayed and Angie Nixon received national coverage for winning the Senate primaries in Michigan and Florida, most of the DSA’s political victories this year occurred in less-covered races, SPN found.

“Nearly 90% of the reported wins this year for the DSA, whether it was ballot initiatives or their candidates passing primaries, were at the state and local level,” Medina told the Daily Signal.

She emphasized that the Democratic Socialists of America aren’t just building momentum: “they’re building their bench” of candidates in elections to come. When a movement gets politicians elected at the local level, those leaders can go on to run for higher office.

“I don’t think we should just look at it through the lens of, ‘Is this a setup for an AOC presidential run in 2028?’ It’s much more local- and state-focused than that,” Medina warned.

Medina argued that the DSA is increasingly influencing the Democrat Party from within.

“I don’t think they’re building the infrastructure,” she said. “I think they’re co-opting the existing infrastructure, which is the Democratic Party.”

The state and local infrastructure matters because DSA leaders hope to advance an ambitious political program through elected office, labor organizing, and influence within the broader Democratic coalition.

What does the movement aim to achieve? The DSA webpage on “working-class democracy” calls for extending “full voting rights” to “noncitizens.” It calls for expanding the number of seats in the House of Representatives, ending the Senate filibuster, abolishing the Electoral College, and “reducing the power of the Supreme Court.”

The platform calls for establishing a “Green New Deal” in the name of combatting climate change, implementing socialized medicine, making higher education “free,” and reducing the work week to 32 hours—”with no reduction in pay or benefits.” It would allow “workers to freely migrate between countries to seek employment” and extend “immediate amnesty for all immigrants.”

While most Democrats do not openly embrace the entire platform, Medina argued that the DSA is making its radical demands more mainstream in the party.

“The DSA is moving the Overton window within the Democratic Party,” she warned.

The DSA did not respond to the Daily Signal’s request for comment by publication time.

More from this network:
Domains for Sale · GOTPeople.org · TheDSAPlatform · The Truth About Socialism

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