The Ideological Split in The Democratic Party
Democratic socialism is having a moment in Democratic Party primaries in 2026.
Zohran Mamdani was elected last fall to be mayor of New York City. He joins the more than 250 elected officials who have been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Recently, five DSA endorsees have won Democratic primaries for House races in New York City, Denver and Michigan. However, three DSA-supported candidates lost in primary contests in Missouri and Virginia. And Abdul El-Sayad, a progressive who describes himself as a capitalist but who spoke to DSA events up to five years ago, narrowly won a highly contested primary for the Senate seat for Michigan.
It’s important to keep three things in mind. First, the Stand Up for Workers PAC generally does not contribute money in contested primary elections. We contribute to candidates who support workers’ rights, including the PRO Act, the Living Wage for All Act, the Equal Remedies Act and the Arbitration Fairness Act. Our support for candidates focuses less on their ideological leanings, and more on how they plan to support the rights and protections of workers.
Second, the Democratic Party is a coalition of different tendencies on the political left. (The same is for Republicans and the political right.) Democratic office holders include people who adhere to disparate strands of socialism and social democracy. Those office holders represent constituencies in progressive and not-so-progressive parts of the country.
Third, the divide between the democratic socialist and moderate wings of the Democratic Party is less than the divide among elected Democrats in earlier decades. In 1968, Democrats represented both urban working-class communities and Southern states. The divide between Hubert Humphrey and Strom Thurmond was profound. The divide today is more about tactics than about basic values.
Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old political newcomer endorsed by DSA and the Working Families Party, recently won the Democratic primary for the congressional seat for Denver, against Diana DeGette, a 15-term congresswoman. Kiros won because her campaign reached more voters by doing more canvassing, phone calls and text messages than DeGette’s campaign. Also, it appears that Denver voters preferred a younger, more outspoken opponent to Trump.
Graham Platner, a progressive candidate, won the Democratic nomination for U.S. senator for Maine before he withdrew his candidacy because of his troubled past behavior. But Josh Turek, a more moderate candidate, won the Democratic primary for Senate in Iowa, and James Talarico, who appeals to more religious voters, won in Texas. There is no national DSA wave, because individual races are won and lost on issues of concern to local voters.
Democratic and many unaffiliated voters prefer candidates who are not part of the establishment. Trump’s recent approval ratings are a negative 19.7% and a negative 37.2% on inflation. Since congressional Republicans overwhelmingly have voted for Trump, a voter who disapproves of Trump will probably favor a Democrat. Democrats want fighters in office, and many voters believe that DSA-endorsed candidates fit that bill.
Ironically, DSA has flourished during Trump’s two terms in office. There were 8,500 members in DSA on Election Day in 2016. Today, DSA has 120,000 members. The median age of DSA members in 2013 was 68; in 2017, it was 33.
Trump has attacked DSA as being a “communist” organization. That is deeply ironic, since DSA was founded as an alternative to Marxism-Leninism, to the belief that the communist party is the vanguard of the working class and is taking power on their behalf. Trump’s criticism ignores the word “democratic” in “democratic socialism.”
Democratic socialists and moderate Democrats differ in the specific policies they want to enact to deal with problems that both groups feel need addressing. The 2024 Democratic Party platform proposed, among other things, Medicaid expansion and investing in mobile and community health clinics; expanding rental assistance and funding to build new housing; and investing in community colleges and trade schools. DSA proposes Medicare for All, universal rent control, public investment in building multi-income social housing, and making all higher education tuition-free.
The major objection to democratic socialism in the United States is electability. On its face, electability is a prediction which political programs are likely to win voters’ approval. That prediction will vary among different congressional districts and states, and it will depend on the political moment. Democratic socialism is more popular today than it was two years ago, and it might be more, or less, popular in 2028.
Some moderate Democrats have claimed that democratic socialism will cause some candidates to be defeated because they are viewed as being too far to the left. Some democratic socialists believe that the politicians they’ve elected should deliver on their promises. Both sides need to realize that each member of the House gets one vote and that it takes 218 votes to produce a majority, and that it takes 51 votes to win a majority in the Senate. No election will produce the apocalypse or deliver the socialist paradise.
Written By Barry Roseman, SU4W Board Member
