At least seven Democratic Socialist candidates have won primary elections for the New York Legislature in districts considered safe in November. The primary sweep included multiple victories over incumbent Democrats and in competitive open seats.
Not only will it more than double the socialist contingent in the state house to 16 across both chambers, it will mark the largest socialist contingent in the state legislature in New York history.
Prior to this, the highest number of socialists was the five members of the Socialist Party of America elected to the New York State Assembly in 1919, who were controversially expelled in 1920.
The five socialists elected in 1919 were aggressively targeted by the political establishment during the First Red Scare.
Despite winning their elections, all five — August Claessens (1885-1954) in Manhattan and Harlem, Samuel DeWitt and Samuel Orr (1890-1981), both in the Bronx, Charles Solomon (1889–1963) in Brooklyn, and Louis Waldman (1892-1982) in the Lower East East — were suspended and eventually expelled from the Assembly for their political beliefs.
Led by Assembly Speaker Thaddeus C. Sweet (1872-1928, a Republican from Oswego County and prominent opponent of women’s suffrage), the New York Legislature took unprecedented measures against these duly elected lawmakers.
Less than 40 minutes after taking their oaths, the Assembly voted 140 to 6 to suspend them.
After a highly partisan trial spearheaded by the New York State Assembly Judiciary Committee they were formally expelled on April 1, 1920, on the grounds that they belonged to a political party deemed “inimical” to the state and federal constitutions.
The expelled members successfully ran in the September 1920 special elections and won back their seats. Undeterred, the Assembly held another contentious vote on September 21, 1920, refusing to seat three of the returning lawmakers, which prompted the remaining two to resign in solidarity.
The expulsion was strongly condemned by mainstream legal and political figures at the time, most notably by Charles Evans Hughes of Glens Falls, who formed a special committee to fight for the rule of law and legislative representation.
The official repression of these opposition politicians, along with associated vigilante persecution, was a defining moment in the suppression of left politics in the United States, and effectively crushed the Socialist Party of America’s momentum in New York State.
Socialist lawmakers endorsed by the DSA currently hold a total of nine seats across the state, six in the New York State Assembly and three in the State Senate. Eight of these lawmakers represent districts in New York City, with the ninth (Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha) representing the Mid-Hudson Valley.
Among this week’s primary winners were Christian Celeste Tate (Brooklyn), Aber Kawas (Queens), Eon Huntley (Brooklyn), Illapa Sairitupac (Lower East Side), David Orkin (Queens), Samantha Kattan (Queens) and Adam Bojak (Erie County).
Sitting Assemblymembers Emily Gallagher and Phara Souffrant Forrest in Brooklyn, as well as Diana Moreno in Queens, also won their primaries.
“Progressives in New York are building a legislative bench that will make the movement less dependent on one charismatic figure,” one commenter said. “A durable institutional base is a lot harder for the establishment to counter than a single mayor.”
Democratic Socialists believe that both the economy and society should be run democratically to meet human needs rather than to maximize corporate profit.
They explicitly reject totalitarian command economies and authoritarian visions of socialism, valuing political and civil liberties.
The Democratic Socialists of America is the largest socialist organization (it is not a political party) in the United States, with over 100,000 members and chapters in all 50 states.
Read more about socialism in New York State.
Photos: The New York State Capitol; 21 DSA Districts in NYC, June 2026 (map by Reddit user Lilyo, see details here) and 2026 Socialist primary winners.
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