Copyright NBC 5 Chicago
On Sunday night in Queens, the vibrations from thousands of cheering Zohran Mamdani supporters reverberated throughout Forest Hills Stadium, as the audience burst into the same chant as speaker after speaker took the stage: “DSA, DSA.” Mamdani’s surge past former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June’s Democratic primary for New York City mayor didn’t just put the 34-year-old state assemblyman on the political map. It also highlighted the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA — a spotlight that's growing brighter as Mamdani enters next week's general election as the frontrunner. The organization known for attacking a capitalist-oriented status quo in the name of fighting for working-class people has grown in prominence in recent years in part due to its association with figures like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. And its contours continue to evolve, as Mamdani — who identifies himself as both a Democrat and a democratic socialist — prepares for what could be the organization’s most important electoral result yet. “I call myself a democratic socialist, in many ways inspired by the words of Dr. King from decades ago. ‘Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, there has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God’s children in this country,’” Mamdani said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” this summer. But socialism is also unpopular throughout much of the country, used as a cudgel against Sanders in his presidential campaigns and against Democratic candidates more broadly, too. “This is a Democratic city with a Democratic tradition, and Zohran is not a Democrat,” Cuomo charged recently. “Democratic socialist is a different thing.” NBC News spoke with Mamdani supporters and a member of the DSA’s national political committee, Kareem Elrefai, on how they see the mission and evolution of the group as it reaches new prominence. (Mamdani has been endorsed by DSA’s New York chapter but not the national organization.) Elrefai points out that DSA is not a party, but “operates kind of like a party.” “I would say that we are an organization of organizers,” Elrefai said. “I think being an organizer charges you with something more than just being an activist. An organizer is somebody that recognizes that it’s solidarity and working-class power that is going to take us to where we need to be, where we have an economy that works by and for the working class — not for billionaires.” Mamdani is running to lead a city of 8 million people with a budget of $100 billion and 300,000 city employees. His centerpiece policy proposals — free buses, some city-owned grocery stores, a rent freeze on roughly a million rent-stabilized units and universal child care — channel the economic populism that DSA has embraced. He’s proposed raising taxes on millionaires by 2% and increasing New York City’s corporate tax rate to match New Jersey’s to pay for some of those programs. Universal child care, for example, has an estimated cost of around $6 billion. “We think that the best way to make New York a successful city is to end the policies that have turned it into a playground for the rich,” said Gustavo Gordillo, a New York City DSA member. When asked about concerns that higher taxes might cause wealthy New Yorkers to flee, Gordillo said: “You can’t get what New York offers anywhere else in the country. We know that we’ve raised taxes on the rich in the past … and they haven’t left.” Mandeep Singh, who also attended the Forest Hills rally, framed it as a viable path to addressing a broken system and a lack of progress toward addressing it. “There are people who are born and raised here that I know can’t afford to live here anymore,” he said. Should Mamdani become the next mayor of New York City, it would represent a milestone for DSA. “This is probably the biggest executive office that we [would have] succeeded in,” Elrefai said, also pointing to Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh and Willie Burnley Jr. in Somerville, Massachusetts, as DSA-backed names to watch. But the thrust of the movement, he said, goes far beyond gaining a particular political office. And Elrefai said DSA does not see itself as being necessarily tied to either the Democratic Party or the progressive movement. “Progressive politicians, who you know I have very warm feelings towards, but ultimately, you know they’re personality figures kind of on their own,” he said, adding: “For so long, being a Democrat was like being a supporter of Barack Obama. Following that, it’s just kind of been a series of personalities. But there’s not really been like a major policy platform that drives people forward.” In addition to addressing income inequality, DSA has also focused its platform on what it calls solidarity with Palestinians — a significant driver of membership calling for nonviolent protest and boycotts of Israel. Critics have accused the group of being anti-Israel and of harboring antisemitic sentiment. When asked how important the issue of Gaza and Palestinian sovereignty is to the election and DSA’s movement, Elrefai responded, “It’s the backdrop behind everything in American politics right now.” “For many of us, this has been an extremely painful period, three years of unabated U.S.-backed and -aided genocide in Gaza has, I think, activated a lot of people into wanting to be a part of a movement that can stop this,” he said. NBC News asked Elrefai how DSA sees Hamas, especially in light of criticism Mamdani received for not calling on the militant group to lay down arms when he was asked on Fox News earlier this month. He spoke more firmly at a debate a day later: “Of course they should lay down arms.” “Admittedly, it is a somewhat frustrating question to get asked, just given that I think throughout this mayor race, this has been …one of the most Islamophobic campaigns in recent memory,” Elrefai said. “Especially as a young Arab leader of this organization, having to continue to answer these questions is somewhat frustrating and difficult, but I will say, to the question itself: DSA has committed itself to nonviolence consistently,” he said. With the countdown to the 2026 midterm elections already running, both Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress are looking at how a Mamdani mayoralty might affect the nation, including political strategy in crucial swing districts. Being a democratic socialist outside deep-blue New York City — where registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans roughly 6 to 1 — is a different proposition. “By and large, we mostly haven’t competed at the federal level,” Elrefai said. “So I guess I would say it is somewhat untested, and we’ll see. But that’s I think where we see the shortcomings of a progressive movement, and where we think that we can assert ourselves as democratic socialists further.” Affordability, the headline conversation in the mayoral race, isn’t just a New York City issue, he added. “This is an issue across the country that’s maybe magnified in the city, but that’s something that I think everybody resonates with.”
