From New York to Seattle to DC, more cities are picking democratic socialist leaders

By Arit John, David Wright, CNN

(CNN) — On the night of the Democratic primary to be the next mayor of Washington, DC, Janeese Lewis George pushed back on those who doubted the movement that had formed behind her.

Despite speculation that she was primarily drawing support from wealthier, White residents and DC transplants, election results showed that Lewis George, who is Black, won wide support across the district.

“Over the past year, we assembled the most diverse coalition in this city’s history,” Lewis George said, describing a base that included organizers, environmentalists, nurses, transit and federal workers and janitors.

“We are Democrats, independents,” she said. “And democratic socialists.”

Lewis George’s victory in the nation’s capital — after 12 years of the more business-friendly administration of Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser — marks the latest electoral success for candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America and the far left, running broadly on addressing affordability issues like housing and childcare.

Last November, Zohran Mamdani of New York City and Katie Wilson of Seattle won mayoral elections in their cities. Earlier this month, Los Angeles city councilmember Nithya Raman, also a DSA member, advanced to the general election in her city’s mayoral race, despite efforts by incumbent Mayor Karen Bass to elevate a Republican rival, former reality show star Spencer Pratt.

Mamdani is trying to extend his influence in New York City by backing democratic socialists in two US House primaries on Tuesday, including a high-profile test between Rep. Adriano Espaillat and the mayor’s endorsed candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier.

Rallying with his slate of primary candidates on Thursday, Mamdani ripped the Democratic Party as stuck in an “old way of thinking” that would lose future elections.

“Frankly, it will lose in South Carolina and New Hampshire,” he said, referencing traditional early presidential primary states. “It will fall short of 270 electoral votes, because the party of the past will not be what leads us into the future.”

Aparna Raj, a democratic socialist who is currently leading her primary for a council seat in Northwest Washington, argued Democrats must offer a forward-looking message.

“If we are going to provide a positive vision, and a positive alternative, in comparison to Trump and authoritarianism, we have to actually provide a positive thing for people to vote for,” she said. “And that is people seeing that elected officials care about working people.”

But moderate Democrats caution against reading too much into the DSA’s wins, arguing that the far left’s successes are limited to the bluest parts of the country and their policies don’t resonate in Republican-leaning or swing districts.

“It is certainly true that they’ve had some success in these very, very blue areas, but that is not indicative of where the broader party is in the rest of the country,” said Matt Bennett, the executive vice president for public affairs at Third Way, a center-left think tank. “The danger for Democrats is that the party massively over-interprets what is happening in these races.”

Building political influence

The growth in democratic socialists’ influence comes as Democrats are grappling with what kind of leaders are more electable and what messages will resonate most with voters beyond vowing to oppose President Donald Trump. Other heavily Democratic cities have taken different approaches.

In San Francisco, voters rejected both the moderate incumbent, London Breed, and the race’s prominent progressive standard-bearer, Aaron Peskin, in 2024, pivoting instead to Daniel Lurie, a Levi Strauss heir and philanthropic executive who ran as a political outsider. Lurie has drawn bipartisan praise amid his focus on street conditions, public safety and government efficiency.

But in Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson, who isn’t a democratic socialist but was celebrated by organizers when he was elected in 2023, has faced a protracted budget battle and bitter fights with the city council over property taxes. Lawsuits and staffing chaos at the Chicago school board, paired with simmering disputes between the teachers and service employees’ unions, have eroded key bases of support.

In New York, democratic socialists are seeking to push back on the idea that their success is limited.

“DSA’s electoral theory of change is really about starting from building the bench at the lowest levels of office,” Ashik Siddique, the DSA’s national political committee co-chair, told CNN.

Siddique pointed to the rise of leaders like Lewis George, who was first elected to DC’s council in 2020, and Mamdani, who was first elected to the New York state assembly the same year.

In the 7th District, where Rep. Nydia Velázquez announced she won’t seek re-election, Mamdani is backing state assemblymember and democratic socialist Claire Valdez against Brooklyn borough president Antonio Reynoso, who was endorsed by the incumbent.

And in the 10th District, he’s also backing former city comptroller Brad Lander, a progressive and primary rival-turned-ally, against incumbent Rep. Daniel Goldman.

Gustavo Gordillo, the co-chair of the New York City DSA, said the results of the June 23 primaries will serve as a proof point for members of the political establishment who aren’t sure if Mamdani’s win was a fluke.

“They’re paying attention closely to see, ‘How seriously do we have to take these people?’” he said. “We think that our performance this election cycle will help decide those questions.”

There’s already evidence that Mamdani’s rise has built up the party locally. The New York City DSA chapter grew from 5,900 members when it endorsed Mamdani to 14,000 members today, Gordillo said.

While the DC Democratic primary for mayor was a contest between the progressive-left and a more centrist candidate, former at-large councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, the elections in New York’s 7th and 13th Districts are between the “left and further left,” said Reynoso.

He and Velázquez were early supporters of Mamdani. Reynoso’s political base, which includes the progressive Working Families Party, was part of the movement that backed Mamdani last year.

“The coalition to get him elected was very broad and expansive. It had to be to take down the establishment, and we were all a part of that,” Reynoso told CNN. “We’re family in here, so we’re just a brother and a sister fighting for community.”

Turning electoral wins into policy

For the democratic socialists who’ve been elected to office, their administrations have had to navigate the realities of governing as they try to implement their campaign promises.

Wilson, a self-described democratic socialist, ousted moderate incumbent Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell in November 2025. Encouraging Mamdani comparisons, Wilson positioned herself against Harrell’s more punitive approach to public safety and encampment sweeps.

Since taking office, however, Wilson now finds herself directing a crackdown on an open-air drug market in a high-profile Seattle intersection, amid pushback to leniency policies.

“While increased police presence is one part of this new approach, we know we can’t arrest our way out of these problems,” Wilson wrote in a statement this week.

In New York City, Mamdani has made some progress on his agenda, including a $1.2 billion state investment in early childhood education, while other campaign promises like making public buses free have stalled. As he marked his first 100 days in office in April, Mamdani doubled down on his democratic socialist politics.

“I know there are many who use ‘socialist’ as a dirty word, something to be ashamed of,” Mamdani said. “They can try all they want, but we will not be ashamed of using government to fight for the many, not simply the few.”

Lewis George, who is expected to face minimal opposition in the November general election, has vowed to lower utility bills, build tens of thousands of new affordable housing units and implement universal affordable childcare.

And she has said she would take on a more combative approach against the Trump administration than the current mayoral administration to protect DC’s autonomy. But that, too, will require a balancing act that will only become apparent in office. Ahead of Tuesday’s election, the president threatened a federal takeover of the district if Lewis George won.

“We are not going to be able to stand up for our autonomy and fight for DC statehood, ultimately, by just complying in advance,” Lewis George said during a press conference Thursday. “I’ve also been very clear that I will work with anyone, including the president, for the best interests of DC residents.”

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