Democratic Socialists of America celebrate record wins in US midterm elections

Candidates endorsed by or affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America secured a record number of federal offices in Tuesday's US midterm elections, giving the left-leaning movement its strongest showing in national politics to date.

Speaking on a livestream after the vote on Tuesday night, National Electoral Commission member Chanpreet Singh described the scale of the victory. "This is a record for the DSA; these are numbers we have not seen in over a hundred years in socialist electoral activity," he said. The stream, hosted by political commentator Hasan Piker, was broadcast on Twitch to more than 200,000 viewers.

The group experienced a sharp rise in membership in 2016, when Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a prominent DSA member, made an unsuccessful run for the presidency and pushed the movement's positions on universal healthcare and housing to a wider public. The 2025 election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City drew further attention and new members to the organization.

The movement now reports more than 120,000 members, with chapters in all 50 states. Members vote on which candidates the organization will endorse in federal races such as those for the US Congress, as well as in state and local contests. Many DSA-backed candidates share positions on core issues including the war in Gaza, healthcare, and immigration.

New York State delivered several of the night's most notable results. Claire Valdez, Darializa Avila Chevalier, and Brad Lander, all either officially endorsed by the chapter or closely tied to the DSA, won seats in the US House of Representatives for the first time, while Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was re-elected. Chevalier, who worked on Mamdani's mayoral campaign, has helped organize pro-Palestinian protests and has been vocal in opposing Israel's war on Gaza.

In Michigan, DSA member Rashida Tlaib held on to her US House seat, fellow member Donavan McKinney won election to the chamber for the first time, and William Lawrence defeated a Republican rival in a highly competitive House race.

Colorado voters sent Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old immigrant from Ethiopia, to the House by a wide margin. Kiros has been outspoken about opposing Israel's genocidal war on Gaza and about abolishing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, former state lawmaker Chris Rabb was elected to the US House for the first time. On the West Coast, Angela Gonzales-Torres unseated a Democratic incumbent to win a House seat in Los Angeles, California.

The movement's reach extended beyond its formal membership. Adam Hamawy, a former US Army medical doctor who has worked as a surgeon in Gaza, won a district in New Jersey. Although not a DSA member, he has aligned himself with the movement and campaigned alongside DSA-backed candidates.