Senate Democrat on DSA rise: ‘We should make room for people with lots of different voices’

Senate Senate Democrat on DSA rise: ‘We should make room for people with lots of different voices’ Comments: by Ryan Mancini - 08/04/26 12:23 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Ryan Mancini - 08/04/26 12:23 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on Monday said the Democratic Party should “make room for people with lots of different voices” following the winning streak of candidates on the left who call themselves democratic socialists.

Van Hollen, who has taken a more progressive stance on issues in recent years and has become a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, told CNN’s Kasey Hunt that the party is a “big tent party.”

“Maybe we should make room for people with lots of different voices,” he continued. “I mean, people within the party can decide to agree or disagree with particular proposals.”

He then compared the ideological difference between centrist former Rep. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D), a democratic socialist.

“We all encouraged our colleagues to support Joe Manchin, he was the Democrat that could win in West Virginia, and I certainly supported Joe,” Van Hollen said. “And when Mamdani becomes the Democratic nominee in New York City, we should be supporting Mamdani.

“And I think the Democratic Party is big enough to be able to take both voices,” he added. We need to have a lot of churning. I actually think at this point in time, that’s very helpful for all of us.”

Van Hollen’s remarks are in line with similar comments from some Democratic lawmakers who have welcomed the notion of more left-wing candidates joining their ranks in the fight against Republicans.

Some, however, have pushed back against Democrats aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which does not align with the Democratic Party on most issues, particularly on support for Israel before and since the country’s war in Gaza.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Democratic strategist James Carville have been vocal opponents of the leftward shift within the party.

Fetterman has warned of the rise of the “dirtbag left,” a term associated with some democratic socialists, and said he would leave the party if it became the “the anti-Israel party.”

Carville, who rose to fame after working on former President Clinton’s successful 1992 campaign, has warned he will leave the party if left-wing Twitch streamer Hasan Piker becomes a Democratic Party fixture, having campaigned with Mamdani last year and now campaigning with progressive Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s Senate Democratic primary election against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.).

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), someone democratic socialists generally oppose, said in June that he is hopeful Democrats of all stripes remain united after the midterms and “that everybody recognizes once we get through this primary season, that the enemy is Donald Trump and MAGA extremism.”