Key facts
- Nithya Raman and Janeese Lewis George, DSA members, were elected mayors of Los Angeles and Washington DC.
- David Morales and Yousef Rabhi, DSA members, were elected mayors of Providence and Ann Arbor.
- Come January, the number of DSA members in Congress will have quadrupled to eight, the report said.
- More than 100 DSA-endorsed candidates will sit in local, state and national office, the report said.
- Mamdani's office says he has repaired more than 200,000 potholes since taking office, per the New York Times.
- Raman promised more housing and public transit improvements in her campaign.
Democratic Socialists of America members Nithya Raman and Janeese Lewis George were elected to lead Los Angeles, the second largest US city, and Washington DC, the capital, according to a report dated November 12, 2026. Two other young DSA members, David Morales and Yousef Rabhi, were elected mayors of Providence, Rhode Island, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. They join a handful of socialist mayors in smaller cities, including Burlington, Vermont, and Irvine, California, as well as Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist mayor of New York, the largest US city.
Mamdani, who grew up politically within New York City's DSA chapter and has become the group's best known representative, was considered a long-shot candidate before his rise. His election is widely credited with inspiring record numbers of democratic socialists winning office across the country and up and down the ballot. Come January, the number of DSA members in Congress will have quadrupled to eight, and more than 100 DSA-endorsed candidates will sit in local, state and national office, the report said.
DSA mayors, who have authority over elements of governance from garbage pickup to snow days, face an opportunity to prove to the public that the group's ideals of affordability and inclusivity can improve the lives of working people, the report said. "It's the executive office, so the stakes are actually higher there," said Eric Blanc, an assistant professor of labor studies at Rutgers University and DSA member. "If politics cannot deliver on the block where you live, why would you trust it to deliver anywhere?" Mamdani told a gathering of mayors from around the world on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly earlier in the fall, according to the report.
According to the New York Times, which covered the event, Mamdani made the remarks to fellow mayors to explain his fixation with potholes; his office says he has repaired more than 200,000 since taking office. Raman, an urban planner, has promised more housing and public transit improvements. Lewis George has campaigned on universal childcare, public housing and better protections for tenants. Morales has pitched affordable housing and called for corporations to contribute a larger share toward public education and city services. Rabhi has pledged to fight data centers and keep utilities affordable.
Katie Wilson, the mayor of Seattle and a self-identified democratic socialist though not a DSA member, said a mayor's job requires a mix of "the high and the low." "There's big vision and ambitions and values, and then on the other hand a lot of the job is the real nitty-gritty of keeping the lights on," she said. "It's really important as socialists and progressives coming into office that we're able to get those nitty-gritty details right, do the basics well."