What's behind the Democratic Socialist wave?

[00:00:00]And Washington D.C. is getting ready for its first new mayor in more than a decade, and it is likely to be Janeese Lewis George, Democratic Socialist. Her primary win earlier this week signaling the growing reach of the Democratic Socialists of America after New York elected Zohran Mamdani as mayor just last year. News Nation national correspondent and weekend anchor Alicia Menendez joins us live from New York City this morning. Alicia, this election cycle is seeing more Democratic Socialist candidates nationwide. Why?

[00:00:31]>> Yeah, good morning, Mark. Yeah, I mean there's no doubt that we are seeing more and more Democratic Socialist candidates on the upcoming ballots. That's from here to New York all the way to Washington state across the country, and states in between. You know, the DSA is saying that its membership has grown more than 100,000 over the past decade.

[00:00:48]You know, first and foremost initially on Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and his presidential run, but you got to imagine even in the last year or so with Mayor Zohran Mamdani being a Democratic Socialist has gotten a lot of national attention that that is added a spark as well. You know, as you mentioned, Tuesday's D.C. mayoral primary was really telling for Democratic Socialist candidates. Janeese Lewis George handily beat her opponent as you said, leading the way for the district's first Democratic Socialist mayor. The election results just really further showcasing the rise of Democratic Socialists and the organization's differences from both the Republican and Democratic parties.

[00:01:24]>> Now, people often ask me what I think of the state of the Democratic Party.

[00:01:30]This slate here today is our answer. The Democratic Party must change. They tend to follow that question with another.

[00:01:39]Who do you want to run in 2028?

[00:01:43]Then then they ask when does the race for 2028 begin?

[00:01:50]It starts now.

[00:01:54]>> Yeah, from Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson to Oliver Larkin who's running for Congress in Florida. I mean coast to coast you're seeing Democratic Socialist or Democrats who identify as Democratic Socialist.

[00:02:04]They are either in office or they're throwing their hat in the ring. You know, at a rally on Thursday happening here in New York City, we saw several New York Democratic Socialist candidates who are hoping to win next week's primary. They got added support from Senator Bernie Sanders and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. And this is including Claire Valdez, Brad Lander and Delia Lisa Avila Chevalier who are all running for Congress. And in Los Angeles we got to mention the DSA obviously seeing Nithya Raman win her primary to go up against the current Mayor Karen Bass in the upcoming election. If she actually wins that you're talking about two of the largest cities in the country that potentially have a Democratic Socialist Mayor, Markey.

[00:02:45]>> Um Alyssa Naeher's live in New York.

[00:02:46]Thank you. Let's get >> Thank you for watching. Subscribe below and download our News Nation app right now on your phone and you will get fact-based, unbiased news for all Americans.