Socialist Red Wave Rising: DSA Endorsed Candidates won on Election Day

While Democrats took back control of the House and Republicans still control the Senate, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) also had a good night as some of their endorsed candidates won their own respective races. With more than 50,000 official members, the left-wing electoral organization is gaining ground in progressive circles as well as Democratic Party politics in 2018 and beyond.

DSA made congressional history as community activist Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was elected as the next congresswoman for New York’s 14th congressional district, which includes the Bronx and Queens.

At 29 years of age, Ocasio Cortez will become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, beating the record once previously held by New York Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who was 30 years old when she was elected to Congress four years ago in 2014.

DSA also made history by electing Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who is one of the first Muslim American women elected to Congress alongside Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and the first Palestinian American woman elected to Congress.

In Pennslyvania, a state that went for the Democrats in federal races in the House and the Senate, John Fetterman, a self-described democratic socialist and former mayor of Braddock, will become the state’s next lieutenant governor serving alongside Governor Tom Wolfe. Summer Lee and Sara Innamorato, two democratic socialists, won their seats as state legislators representing the Pittsburgh area.

Win or lose, the Democratic Socialists of America and their own endorsed candidates are gaining grounds for future elections to come in 2020 and beyond.