Topic of the Week: The Growing Influence of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) on the Democratic Party

On June 16, Democratic primary voters in Washington, D.C., selected Janeese Lewis George, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), to be the Democratic Party nominee for the election to become the next mayor of our nation’s capital. Last Tuesday, three candidates running for election to the U.S. House of Representatives endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, also a member of the DSA, won their primary elections. Two of these candidates are also members of the DSA. Because of the Democratic leanings of New York City and Washington, D.C., all of these primary election winners are expected to win their general election races in November. In the leadup to the primary election on Tuesday, our analysts rated four news articles and two videos about the increasing influence of the DSA on the Democratic Party in our Topic of the Week. 

The highest reliability piece in our content set came from Common Dreams. The article highlighted Janeese Lewis George’s victory in the Democratic primary to become D.C.’s next mayor. The article noted that Lewis George’s victory served “as a further sign that the democratic socialism she represents is resonating deeply with voters within the [Democratic] party.” Lewis George stated her message to voters was “not a liberal, moderate, or socialist thing. We all want to be able to achieve the American Dream. We all want to be able to provide for our families and ourselves. And that’s what leaders should be focused on—delivering results for residents in this city and in this country.” Our analysts found this article to be a “mix of fact reporting and analysis” with “middle” bias that is slightly to the left.

Likewise, our analysts rated an article from UnHerd which they also found to also have “middle” bias that is slightly to the left. The article focused primarily on two Democratic primary elections: Graham Platner’s victory over Janet Mills, the current governor of Maine, to be Maine’s next U.S. senator and Nithya Raman’s decision to take on Karen Bass, the current mayor of Los Angeles, to replace Bass. Author Alicia Nieves believes that “[u]nlike previous iterations of the American hard Left, today’s movement has learned to build a durable political infrastructure capable of producing candidates, mobilizing volunteers, and influencing Democratic politics” and “the national Democratic leadership seems unwilling to publicly acknowledge the scale of the challenge emerging from the DSA and broader Left-wing movement” which risks “overtaking the liberal establishment entirely.” Our analysts found this article to mostly be “analysis.”

An op-ed from the Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal received an almost identical score to the UnHerd article with reliability in the “analysis” range, but it had a converse bias score of “middle” bias that is slightly to the right. The op-ed highlighted some of the past policy positions taken by Darializa Avila Chevalier, a “proud member” of the DSA and one of the candidates who won on Tuesday that was endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. According to the article, these positions include: “‘Abolish ICE,’ because ‘this agency exists to control our communities, not to keep us safe.’ ‘Create a four-day 32-hour work week with no loss in pay,’ plus ‘a universal basic income,’ as well as a ‘federal jobs guarantee.’ Free government childcare, free pre-K, and free college. Medicare for All, ‘including abortion.’ Federal rent control via a 5% national cap on yearly increases for existing units managed by ‘large landlords.’” The article concludes by stating these races “reflect the potent organizing of the DSA and the leftwing march of young progressive voters” with the goal “to turn the Democratic Party even further left than it has moved since Bill Clinton.”

Our analysts rated a video from CNN’s YouTube page that combined segments from the morning edition of CNN News Central and The Arena with Kasie Hunt. In the CNN News Central portion of the video, Harry Enten, CNN’s chief data analyst, discussed how the DSA currently has a +17 net favorability among Democrats while Congressional Democrats only have a +4 net favorability with the same group. Enten also noted how in 2010, 50% of Democrats had a favorable view of socialism and 51% had a favorable view of capitalism, but as of 2025 the favorable rating of socialism among Democrats has increased to 66% while the favorable rating of capitalism among Democrats has fallen to 42%. In The Arena segment of the video, Professor Eddie Glaude attributed the rise of the DSA “to an overall kind of upset in the American political environment.” He believes Americans are “tired of business as usual and they’re reaching for other solutions.” The segment ends with Lulu Garcia-Navarro of The New York Times stating, “We are a country many people think has lost its way. We are a country at the moment that doesn’t know what it should be in the world.” Our analysts found the video to be “analysis” with a “strong left” bias.

The other video our analysts rated was a segment from The Five on Fox News. Guest host Brian Kilmeade stated that “after the last election in 2024, I thought we would see a Democratic Party that would move closer to the center overall…but I am shocked, and maybe so were the Democratic establishment, that the money and the enthusiasm is behind outright socialists.” Guest host Gillian Turner believed the rise in inflation that first began during the Covid-19 pandemic is the primary cause for the rise in popularity of the DSA. Turner said “the one thing [the DSA] are doing that I think the broader Democratic umbrella party is failing to grasp is that dissatisfaction with the economy nationwide still remains the dominant driver of politics in this country.” Analysts rated this video as “opinion” with bias that “skews right.”

Finally, in The New Republic, Perry Bacon noted that candidates from the far left wing of the Democratic Party have unsuccessfully run for election in the past. He believes the more recent success of groups like the DSA has occurred because “the Democratic establishment has made some huge blunders, and the party’s left wing has made some smart tactical adjustments.” He believes “the Democratic establishment has discredited itself with the party base, with massive electoral (2024) and policy (the Gaza war) mistakes. So endorsements from centrist leaders such as Joe Biden, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Chuck Schumer no longer carry much weight.” Bacon believes candidates on the far left “have smartly changed their rhetoric. Mamdani and numerous other progressive candidates deleted their tweets calling for defunding the police and have broadly stopped calling for police reforms. In terms of policy, that’s disappointing. The police in America deserve much scrutiny and accountability. But this shift is shrewd politics.” Our analysts rated this article as “analysis” with a “strong left” bias.

If you would like to follow along with our weekly Topic of the Week exercise, you can do so by visiting our website. New Topics of the Week are posted each Monday. Read the articles and watch the videos yourself, then come back on Wednesday to compare your scores with our analysts. Learn more here.