New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, left, laughs with US Senator Bernie Sanders, right, during an address marking Mamdani's first 100 days in office on Sunday, April 12, 2026 [File: Andres Kudacki/AP]By Umar FarooqPublished On 4 Nov 20264 Nov 2026
A record number of candidates for federal offices who were backed by or affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) won in Tuesday’s US midterm elections, marking the most successful night the left-leaning movement has had in national politics so far.
“This is a record for the DSA; these are numbers we have not seen in over a hundred years in socialist electoral activity,” National Electoral Commission member Chanpreet Singh said on a livestream on Tuesday night after the elections. The stream, broadcast on Twitch to more than 200,000 viewers, was hosted by political commentator Hasan Piker.
The political group saw a surge in membership in 2016, when Vermont’s US Senator Bernie Sanders, a prominent DSA member, ran unsuccessfully for president, bringing the movement’s views on issues like universal healthcare and housing to a broader audience. The election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City in 2025 brought more attention, and more members, to the DSA.
Today the movement says it has more than 120,000 members, with chapters across all 50 states. Members vote to decide which candidates to back in elections, in federal contests like those for the US Congress, as well as state and local bodies. Many of the candidates that the DSA endorses share views on core issues, including the war in Gaza, healthcare, and immigration.
So where did DSA-affiliated candidates win federal offices on November 3?
In New York State, three candidates who were either officially endorsed by the chapter or were closely affiliated with the DSA were elected to office on Tuesday: Claire Valdez, Darializa Avila Chevalier, and Brad Lander were elected to the US House of Representatives for the first time, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was re-elected to her seat. Chevalier, who worked on Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, has helped organise pro-Palestinian protests and has been vocal about her opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza.
In Michigan, DSA member Rashida Tlaib was re-elected to her seat in the US House, member Donavan McKinney was elected to the body for the first time, and William Lawrence defeated a Republican candidate for a highly competitive US House seat.
Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old immigrant from Ethiopia who has also been outspoken on her views on issues like opposing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and abolishing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was elected to office with a wide margin to represent Colorado in the House.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, voters elected Chris Rabb, a former state lawmaker, to the US House for the first time.
On the West Coast in Los Angeles, California, Angela Gonzales-Torres defeated a Democratic incumbent for a seat in the US House.
Adam Hamawy, a former US Army medical doctor who has worked as a surgeon in Gaza, won a district in New Jersey. Although he is not a DSA member, he has aligned himself with the movement and campaigned alongside DSA-backed candidates.
