While not a designated political party, the Democratic Socialists of America have posted some political wins over the past year. In addition to Zohran Mamdani taking the mayor’s office in New York City, they also picked up primary wins in New York, Colorado and Washington, D.C., with their own candidates or those aligned with the DSA.
More locally, Kelsea Bond recently became the first DSA member elected to the Atlanta City Council. Two years ago, House District 42 Representative Gabriel Sanchez became the first Democratic Socialist elected to the Georgia General Assembly.
On today’s “Closer Look,” host Rose Scott asked whether this is a shift in voter sentiment, what it means for the political system, how DSA will resonate with undecided voters and whether Georgia could see more DSA candidates rise to prominence.
“We want the system of government itself to be much more democratic, so we’re not thrilled about the ways that the Electoral College works, or the Senate of being so unrepresentative of the population,” said Ashik Siddique, the national co-chair for the Democratic Socialists of America.
“So, we want the government itself to be more proportional and a representation of the entire population that exists in the United States And we want democracy in our workplaces.”
Siddique says the DSA isn’t just seeing success in Democratic strongholds. He attributes their growing momentum in places like Georgia, Kentucky and Michigan to knocking on doors and meeting with voters to share their workforce-first platform.
He said people across age demographics are also listening to the DSA message because they’re tired of seeing social services cut as things become more expensive.
“So we see this gap in wealth inequality just skyrocketing, and really at some point we got to ask ourselves, ‘When is too much too much?’” said Bianca Garcia, the Atlanta Chapter Co-Chair for the Democratic Socialists of America. “And all of this is because of how capitalism is designed and really just how everything is operating to continue creating that inequality.”
During the conversation, Scott also asked Siddique and Garcia whether their movement creates a rift with the Democratic Party, how the DSA is looking out for small business owners, and what kind of government oversight the DSA wants to see.
“If you feel like you have not been experiencing democracy, that’s for a reason. Because things have been designed in this way.” Garcia added. “People have been exploited. So Democratic Socialists are here to bring true democracy to strengthen labor rights, to really just fight for working people.”
