DSA is Democrat base, co-chair says

Campaign DSA is Democrat base, co-chair says Comments: by Ryan Mancini - 08/04/26 8:40 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Ryan Mancini - 08/04/26 8:40 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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Megan Romer, the co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), said Monday that the organization’s members make up the base of the Democratic Party.

Romer was pressed by NewsNation’s “Cuomo” on DSA’s role in the Michigan Senate race. Progressive Abdul El-Sayed is set to face off against moderate Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), who Democrats on the far-left have criticized for her staunch support for Israel, on Tuesday evening.

“I don’t mean it as an insult: the energy is all the party is about. The only reason we tolerate their existence is because they organize and they win elections,” host Chris Cuomo told her, referring to DSA. “That’s what you’re doing.”

The party co-chair agreed, replying that Democratic voters are its base.

“It’s the voters. That’s who the party is and that’s where we are,” Romer added.

Cuomo then asked what it means for Democratic candidates who are “not afraid” to declare themselves as socialists.

“I think people are seeing that capitalism is not working for them, that this unchecked, unfettered big businesses –– the oil companies getting richer during a war, like they see that they see it over and over and over again,” Romer answered. “People my age I’m about to turn 43 my whole adult life has been this just less and less you know the wages just basically the same and cost of everything going up.”

She added, “Everybody sees it, everybody’s hurting.”

Candidates with DSA affiliation run on their own platforms, as the organization is not an official political party, Romer said. The interest in their candidates, she added, is because “people are curious.”

“People want to know, ‘What does it mean to rethink these systems that are failing them?'” she said.

A handful of recent primary election victories by democratic socialists running as Democrats have received growing attention as the country nears the fall midterms. It has also opened up debate about the “big tent” of the Democratic Party and whether or not democratic socialists have a voice within the party.

The wave of democratic socialism within the party is credited with having begun with Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) campaigns for president, followed by a wave of progressive victories that brought Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) into Congress in the years since. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s (D) electoral win last November has been seen as one of the more recent examples of wins for the Democrats’ far-left voters.

A CNN poll conducted by SSRS released last week found that one-third of Democrats identify as democratic socialists. The respondents said they back substantial changes within the party, including with its leadership and the party’s direction.

Among those who are registered voters, 66 percent of democratic socialists said they are extremely motivated to vote, compared with 57 percent of other Democrats, according to the survey.

The rise of far-left candidates has also shown a growing rift between the establishment and more progressive factions of the party. Republicans, including President Trump, have also grown uneasy, many criticizing DSA candidates as supporting communism.