To the mayor, it’s the beginning of a wave of democratic socialists gaining seats at all levels of government.
“It is an incredible night,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani told NY1 on primary night. “And I think New Yorkers have shown last June was not the end, it was just the beginning.”
“I think we would have won many of those races,” Gustavo Gordillo, the co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, said. “But I don’t think we could have elected Darializa [Avila Chevalier] without him.”
What You Need To Know
The Democratic Socialists of America picked up seats in the state legislature and in Congress
Officials there say Mayor Zohran Mamdani was a major factor in their victories
It’s unclear what seats they could target next
One of the leaders of the Democratic Socialists of America in New York City acknowledges it may not have happened without their star player.
What the DSA did this week was built on their victory last year — targeting districts where Mamdani did well in the primary and general election, seeing openings or a vulnerable incumbent.
And then the work began.
“Direct voter outreach is always one of the core parts of our strategy,” Gordillo said.
In the final days of the campaign, that meant late-night trips to bars and clubs in both the 7th and 13th congressional districts.
“Because of such a large historic win last year, they have a lot of room to grow still in areas where Mamdani won and they don’t have a local representative on the state level of the City Council level,” democratic strategist Trip Yang said.
Some consultants see this as just the beginning.
Where other longstanding democratic power brokers say there is always some soul-searching after an election.
“After any election, you are always going to have a shift, if you will, people are always going to have to analyze, look at, examine what the electorate has said,” Keith Wright, the chair of the Manhattan Democratic Party, said.
From the DSA’s perspective, its leaders say other more conservative districts could be harder to infiltrate.
“It’s more feasible to think about a statewide democratic socialist race, maybe then a democratic socialist in Meeks’ seat, which I think is maybe a different kind of challenge,” Gordillo said.
And while some are hoping Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is next, one leader wouldn’t rule it out.
“Our congressional districts are going to look very different in 2028 if the measure to redraw the lines ends up being successful,” he said. “So, I don’t think we can make any concrete predictions until that is further along.”