The Democratic Socialists of America moved quickly to assert their influence in New York City after Tuesday night’s decisive “socialist sweep,” led by candidates aligned with Mayor Zohran Mamdani — while signaling that mainstream Democrats should think twice before mounting challenges.
“We have a democratic socialist mandate in New York City,” Osman Chaudhary, co-chair of the New York City DSA Electoral Working Group, said during a Wednesday night DSA call celebrating the organization’s primary-night victories.
Chaudhary also issued a blunt warning to anyone considering bids against DSA-backed officials: “Don’t even try it. We control these areas, we won by massive margins,” according to a video clip posted on social media by Stu Smith, an investigative analyst with the conservative Manhattan Institute.
He argued that the group’s mandate is reflected in the fact that roughly 3 million New Yorkers “are now represented by socialists at multiple levels of government.”
Chaudhary then listed a series of New York City neighborhoods where DSA-aligned politicians hold sway, referring to areas such as the “People’s Republic of Ridgewood” and the “People’s Republic of Astoria” — both part of what has been dubbed the city’s “commie corridor.”
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The DSA posted significant victories Tuesday in Democratic primaries for both the U.S. House of Representatives and the New York state Legislature.
Among the biggest upsets, 32-year-old DSA firebrand Darializa Avila Chevalier narrowly defeated five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in New York’s 12th Congressional District, despite having never previously held elected office.
Claire Valdez, a DSA member and first-term state assemblywoman, also won handily in the 7th House District, putting two additional DSA members on track to join Congress.
Former city Comptroller Brad Lander, a former DSA member who had Mamdani’s support, defeated his opponent in a landslide victory in New York’s 10th congressional district.
The DSA will also likely be sending a wave of representatives to Albany next year after defeating several establishment Democrats — boosting the lefty group’s numbers to 14 from nine in Albany.
On last night’s call, the organization touted the primary victories of Aber Kawas (SD-12); Christian Celeste Tate (AD-54);David Orkin (AD-38); Diana Moreno (AD-36); Eon Huntley (AD-56) Illapa Sairitupac (AD-65); and Samantha Kattan (AD-37).
