This article originally appeared on The Conversation.
The last few high-profile congressional primaries in the Democratic Party resulted in the nomination of unexpected candidates. Many of these winning candidates lost their established positions, as a 29-year-old lawyer from Colorado Melata Kiros he did U.S. Representative Diana DeGettewho has served in this chamber for thirty years.
Some of these candidates are clearly running under the banner of the Democratic Socialists of America, known as “DSA”, far-left organization known for standard bearers such as the USA Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont and United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez New York. The charismatic mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, won election as a DSA member in 2025 and has since provided political support for other progressives running for other offices in the city he runs.
Mamdani lent his star power to three New York progressives, including two DSA members, in an ad that included promises to “abolish ICE” and “end corporate greed.” The three of them moved on win the congressional primary in June 2026
There is no doubt that DSA moment in the Democratic Party. And since their candidates in midterm races are almost certain to win in unthreatening Democratic districts, I believe their influence will likely be a major factor on Capitol Hill in the next Congress.
This is especially true when Democrats win the House of Representatives by a slim margin. The cooperation and votes of a handful of DSA members could be crucial to Democrats’ ability to operate effectively as a majority – or not.
This is because DSA extreme left positions on issues like Medicare for All health care, defunding the police and taxing the ultra-rich will likely divide Democrats, many of which are more moderate and/or represent conservative districts.
But as political scientist who studies given the many methods politicians have to represent their constituents, I see a story that is more sophisticated than many people inside and outside the Democratic Party make it out to be.
DSA membership, or even extreme leftist ideology, explains only part of the insurgent victories observed in the primaries. In fact, Democrats’ calculations are more complicated.
Who is – and who is not – a democratic socialist?
Determining DSA’s influence in the Democratic Party, or in American politics as a whole, means understanding its membership among both elites and voters.
Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani are well-known, charismatic and adept donor collectors on the left, as it is Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, second member of the DSA Chamber. And come January 2027, when the fresh Congress is seated, at least three more – the already mentioned Kiros from Colorado along with Darializ Avila Chevalier AND Claire Valdezwho won primaries in two Democratic-heavy seats in New York in June – will almost certainly be added to their ranks. All of these figures have won nominating contests in the Democratic Party, but they refer to themselves as DSA and have received official endorsement from it.
Meanwhile, the number of voters who officially affiliate as dues-paying DSA members is also growing, almost double since Mamdani launched his viral mayoral campaign in 2025. Like their candidates, these voters largely participate in Democratic primaries rather than running their own third-party contests.
But total official DSA membership remains at around 100,000: a powerful but compact percentage of the population compared to the two main parties. Even among this year’s field of insurgent Democratic candidates, most are unaffiliated with DSA, including many ideological progressives.
For example, Graham PlatnerDemocrats beaten US Senate candidate in Maineis an economic progressive who boasts an early endorsement of Sanders. But in an interview tardy last yearPlatner refused to identify as a democratic socialist, saying: “It’s not my politics.”
Brad Lander, former New York City Comptroller and city councilor, who recently won the Democratic primary against the incumbent U.S. Representative DanGoldmanis also widely considered progressive – and had Mamdani’s support – but it is what it is is currently not affiliated with DSA.
Not all insurgent candidates are the same
Even among insurgent progressives this cycle, political ideology is not the only differentiator that appears to matter to Democratic primary voters.
And the far-right equivalent of the 2010 Democratic Socialists, the Tea Party, can facilitate shed airy on these non-ideological factors.
During this time, a tea party took place Barack Obama presidency as a far-right ideological movement with an apparent focus on fiscal conservatism. and my own research with Stella Rouse AND Kristen Esselwe found that state legislators affiliated with the Tea Party were more ideologically conservative in their voting records.
These legislators were also more likely to be white, serve in the military, and follow religious principles. Other research identified the tea party movement as being fueled as much by the Obama-era backlash on racial lines as the movement’s stated fiscal concerns.
Most importantly, we found that Tea Party legislators in state legislatures share many anti-establishment characteristics and tendencies. They were less likely to hold elected office in previous elections, to seek leadership positions in the party, or to cooperate with the party before taking office.
Many of the same differentiating elements, such as racial and ethnic identity or aversion to the established way of doing politics, are clear factors among insurgent Democrats this cycle, whether it is DSA or not.
Race, age, Israel and Palestine
Many, for example, would swell the ranks of nonwhite members of Congress if elected in November; AND almost everyone either questioned or explicitly rejected the idea maintenance Senator Chuck Schumer AND Rep. Hakeem Jeffries – both Democrats from New York – as party leaders in Congress.
Age is a related emerging factor in the Democratic primaries, from which many youthful candidates emerge.
Kiros, Chevalier and Valdez are 29, 32 and 36 years elderly respectively. In the Democratic primary, 41-year-old Platner defeated the governor of Maine, Żaneta Millswho is 78 years elderly.
And in New York’s 12th District, two relatively youthful Democrats, Michah Lasher AND Alex Boreswere top two vote getters in the race for success U.S. Representative Jerry Nadler79, who eventually gave in to calls to retire due to elderly age. Lasher won the primary and is almost certain to win in a largely Democratic district.
In still other cases, insurgent candidates – whether DSA or not – have taken positions on specific issues that characterize them as a fresh generation of Democrats. Among them, the most significant and controversial is their opposition to Israel, which has done just that fueled ever-increasing numbers pro-Palestinian candidates for nomination, often against long-time officials.
The recently defeated Goldman in New York, for example, continued to do so reveal pro-Israel positionseven as the Democratic Party did more and more sour regarding that nation’s actions in Gaza. Goldman’s winning opponent, Lander, he made these positions a constant focus of his campaign.
What does DSA mean for Democrats?
It is almost certain that more democratic socialists will attend next year’s Congress than this one. However, it is also clear that not all insurgent Democrats in this cycle share this label and that they differ from longer-term Democrats in many ways.
In our researchwe found that the Tea Party was best understood as a “factional group” rather than a distinct party, and that its goal was to transform the Republican Party “in a way that transcended ideology.” Considering the American ones established two-party systemthis may be the most right way to understand the fresh slate of insurgent Democrats, whether they identify as democratic socialists or not.
Regardless of these candidates’ motivations or DSA affiliation, the Democratic Party will have to take into account different ways of representing its voters, especially if the party regains one or both houses of Congress next year. If factionalism cutting through the current Republican majority any indication that Democrats should probably prepare for fresh and sharper divisions within their own ranks.
Charlie Hunt is a professor of political science at Boise State University
