After all New York candidates endorsed by the far-left Democratic Socialists of America were elected during the midterms, Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is likely to face renewed pressure to adopt a more hard-left law and order strategy.
Mamdani vs the DSA.
Since entering office in January this year, Mamdani and the DSA have grown increasingly at odds. Despite campaigning to keep the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) headcount flat, Mamdani has increased NYPD personnel to over 35,000, including approximately 600 extra officers. Mamdani has also retained both the NYPD’s gang database and Strategic Response Group, despite promising to abolish both.
Mamdani also promised to establish a Department of Community Safety to assume NYPD responsibilities to sidestep traditional policing methods. The department was supposed to have a $1 billion budget. Instead, Mamdani established the Office of Community Safety, a sub-departmental body with a $260 million budget that merely coordinates existing programs.
Mamdani also opted to leave Jessica Tisch, the New York City police commissioner appointed under former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, in her position, a decision which sparked backlash from much of the DSA.
Federal Victories.
During the midterms, the DSA endorsed three candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York. These included incumbent Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Claire Valdez, and Darializa Avila Chevalier, who ran in New York’s 14th, 7th, and 13th electoral districts, respectively. All three were elected. Ocasio-Cortez received 78 percent of the vote, Valdez received 83 percent, and Chevalier received 87 percent.
This makes New York the largest source of DSA representation in the House of Representatives and at the federal level.
State Victories.
The DSA also endorsed 13 Democrat candidates for New York’s State Assembly and State Senate. Specifically, the DSA endorsed Eon Huntley, Christian Celeste Tate, David Orkin, Samantha Kattan, Diana Moreno, Phara Souffrent Forrest, Sarahana Shrestha, Emily Gallagher, Illapa Sairitupac, Maurice Brown, and Adam Bojak for the New York State Assembly, and Aber Kawas and Jabari Brisport for the New York State Senate. All candidates won their respective races. The DSA also endorsed Jo Bennett for the Onondaga County Legislature, to which he was subsequently elected.
Combined with the federal victories, New York alone has 17 DSA-aligned office-holders, making the state second only to California in terms of DSA representation.
Renewed Pressure.
Following the results of the midterms, New York has emerged as the electoral stronghold of the DSA, reflecting the strength of DSA’s local chapter in New York City (NYC-DSA), which is the largest DSA chapter in the United States.
As such, it is fair to assume that Mamdani will be facing scrutiny at both the federal and state level to follow through on the DSA’s objective to “constrain, diminish, and abolish the carceral forces of the state.”
For example, Jabari Brisport, one of the two newly-elected New York State Senators endorsed by the DSA, has explicitly vowed to abolish the police. “As a State Senator I will continue to do everything I can to end policing and incarceration in New York State,” reads the “Community Safety” section of Brisport’s campaign website.
