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\n

NEW YORK \u2014 The Democratic Socialists of America are facing a reckoning in New York City \u2014 and there\u2019s a lot on the line.<\/p>\n

Two members of the hard-left group\u2019s New York City chapter are running for congressional seats in this month\u2019s primaries, vying to topple more mainstream Democrats \u2014 including one incumbent.<\/p>\n

If the DSA\u2019s candidates, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, prevail, it will prove the ascendent organization can capitalize on the momentum generated by Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s once-improbable 2025 election win. Victories for Valdez and Avila Chevalier would expand socialist influence on Capitol Hill as the Democratic Party continues to grapple with its ideological identity after getting shellacked in the 2024 elections. And it would likely embolden the DSA to expand its political footprint \u2014 accelerating its evolution from insurgent movement to political institution.<\/p>\n

But if one or both candidates lose, the DSA\u2019s growth arc in New York would experience its first major dip since November, raising the prospect that the pendulum for Democrats may be swinging toward the middle. Defeat would also reflect poorly on Mamdani, who expended significant political capital to endorse Valdez and especially Avila Chevalier, who\u2019s challenging a veteran New York congressional delegation member with deep ties to party leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to win major races that show the Democratic Party establishment that our agenda is what working class New Yorkers demand,\u201d Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the DSA\u2019s New York City chapter, told Blue Light News. \u201cThe stakes couldn\u2019t be higher for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a third insurgent candidate challenging an incumbent House member in New York City\u2019s June 23 primaries: Former City Comptroller Brad Lander, who\u2019s hoping to unseat Rep. Dan Goldman.<\/p>\n

Lander isn\u2019t a DSA member and hasn\u2019t earned the group\u2019s endorsement. But he\u2019s campaigned to the left of Goldman, giving that primary a sense of importance for the broader progressive movement \u2014 especially since Mamdani is Lander\u2019s top endorser. <\/p>\n

There are currently only two members of Congress who qualify themselves as DSA comrades: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). To that end, the DSA could double its presence in Congress if both Avila Chevalier and Valdez win their races.<\/p>\n

In a sign that the three competitive New York City primaries are important for democratic socialism on a national level, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the patriarch of the modern American left, plans to headline a rally Thursday in Brooklyn with Valdez, Avila Chevalier and Lander. Sanders \u2014 who has endorsed democratic socialist candidates<\/a> across the country this year \u2014 is also expected to be joined on stage by Mamdani. <\/p>\n

The DSA\u2019s influence in New York has increased considerably since Mamdani\u2019s rise, but it hasn\u2019t been without growing pains.<\/p>\n

Take New York\u2019s 7th Congressional District. Valdez, a state Assembly member, is facing off against Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and City Council member Julie Won in a race to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez.<\/p>\n

Vel\u00e1zquez, a matriarch of local progressive politics and an early supporter of Mamdani\u2019s 2025 run, has soured on the mayor \u2014 and the DSA as a whole \u2014 after they threw their weight behind Valdez despite the outgoing incumbent\u2019s wishes to be succeeded by Reynoso.<\/p>\n

In a candidate forum last week, Reynoso, a non-DSA progressive, suggested the socialist group has turned into a \u201cmachine\u201d with Mamdani as its \u201cboss\u201d \u2014 language that harkens back to an era when the heads of the city\u2019s county parties ruled local politics and could handpick whoever they wanted for any given elected office.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is beholden to the powers of the new administration, the same way all political machines are,” Reynoso said of Valdez at the June 8 forum hosted by WNYC.<\/p>\n

There are indeed aspects of the DSA\u2019s operational structure that resemble the component parts of a political machine.<\/p>\n

With Mamdani as its figurehead, the DSA\u2019s leaders rarely criticize him \u2014 even when he stakes out policy positions that run afoul of their dogma \u2014 a reticence that evokes how the county bosses of yesteryear were loath to tolerate dissent among their ranks (the group did issue a rare rebuke<\/u><\/a> of Mamdani last week over his support for increasing the NYPD headcount this year).<\/p>\n

The DSA has also shown itself highly capable of deploying thousands of loyal volunteers on canvassing efforts for its preferred candidates \u2014 another hallmark of a machine.<\/p>\n

Basil Smikle, a political scientist and former executive director of the New York State Democratic Party, said the DSA is on its way to becoming a full-fledged political machine, but argued it\u2019s not quite there yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they start creating local political clubs in individual neighborhoods, push to create its own ballot line and, frankly, just win more elections so they have more members in positions of power, that\u2019s when it really starts to become the sort of machine that\u2019s systemic and more similar to the old school political machines,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Frank Carone, an attorney who has been deeply involved in the Brooklyn Democratic Party for decades, said he \u201ccan certainly see why\u201d Reynoso would draw the comparison, noting that the DSA\u2019s canvassing prowess is undeniable.<\/p>\n

But Carone, an ardent DSA critic and confidant of former Mayor Eric Adams, said Reynoso\u2019s attempt to use the machine term as a cudgel against the socialist group is \u201cbullshit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSame way he did against county back then, he\u2019s doing it against DSA now,\u201d Carone said, referring to Reynoso\u2019s longrunning beef with the Brooklyn Democratic Party. \u201cAny time you\u2019re invoking emotion to do this type of name-calling, it\u2019s bullshit. It\u2019s essentially cowardly.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview last Wednesday, Valdez also took a dig at Reynoso for the machine jab.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Brooklyn borough president doesn\u2019t understand where DSA\u2019s power comes from,\u201d she said. \u201cOur membership is the boss of this organization. We steer the ship, and it\u2019s a misunderstanding to say there\u2019s a single figurehead.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it relates to the looming election, Valdez said \u201cthe power\u201d the DSA has built in New York won\u2019t dissipate even if she and Avila Chevalier lose their races. If they win, \u201cit would cement this organization as a major power-player in New York City,\u201d said Valdez, who first joined the DSA in 2019.<\/p>\n

Polling has been scant in the race for the 7th District, which spans gentrifying parts of Brooklyn and Queens. A PIX11 survey released on May 21 showed Valdez and Reynoso neck-and-neck, with Won far behind in third place.<\/p>\n

Asked how much is at stake for the DSA in the race, Reynoso told Blue Light News he\u2019s \u201cglad to see this much energy on the left.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way any of us actually delivers for working people is by working together instead of fighting over who gets the credit,\u201d he said. \u201cWith Trump back in the White House and ICE tearing families apart, that is the fight that matters, and I intend to be a partner to every group ready to roll up their sleeves and get something done.”<\/p>\n

On the other side of the East River, Avila Chevalier has emerged as the DSA\u2019s riskiest gamble this election cycle.<\/p>\n

A first-time candidate known for her pro-Palestinian activism, Avila Chevalier is challenging Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who has over the years built a political machine of his own in upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx.<\/p>\n

As in the Valdez-Reynoso-Won race, there hasn\u2019t been much polling in the contest between Espaillat and Avila Chevalier. A survey conducted last week<\/u><\/a> on behalf of a pro-Espaillat super PAC found him leading Avila Chevalier by a 35-27 percentage point margin. A second poll<\/u><\/a> commissioned at the beginning of this month by Justice Democrats, a progressive group supportive of Avila Chevalier, showed her beating Espaillat by a 39-35 margin, though that survey only had a sample size of 319 likely voters.<\/p>\n

For the DSA, any momentum stands to be blunted, however, by a torrent of old social media posts from Avila Chevalier. In her since-deleted missives, she denigrated Democratic politicians, the police, Israel and private property. The posts have surfaced since Mamdani and the DSA got behind her. Espaillat and super PACs that support him have seized on her social media history, airing ads that characterize her past online screeds as evidence she\u2019s too extreme.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what it looks like when movements stop asking for a seat at the table and start building our own,\u201d Avila Chevalier said in a statement when asked about the DSA\u2019s impact on her campaign. \u201cOur movement is fighting for and powered by the people, and I look forward to bringing it home for our community on June 23.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ironically for the DSA, Lander seems like the most potent progressive running for Congress in New York City this cycle. Polls are showing him ahead of Goldman by double digits, and he has benefited greatly from an endorsement from Mamdani, who won Goldman\u2019s Manhattan and Brooklyn district by a wide margin in last year\u2019s mayoral election.<\/p>\n

The DSA generally doesn\u2019t endorse candidates who aren\u2019t dues-paying members. Lander, who\u2019s Jewish, left the DSA in late 2023 over the group hosting a rally ostensibly celebrating Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7 terror attack against Israel shortly after it happened.<\/p>\n

Gordillo, the DSA co-chair, would not comment on Lander\u2019s race. But speaking generally, he said he\u2019s bullish about pickups in New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year\u2019s mayoral election showed there\u2019s a citywide constituency for democratic socialist politics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 The Democratic Socialists of America are facing a reckoning in New York City \u2014 and there\u2019s a lot on the line. Two members of the hard-left group\u2019s New York City chapter are running for congressional seats in this month\u2019s primaries, vying to topple more mainstream Democrats \u2014 including one incumbent. If the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24413\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}