Socialist wave goes coast-to-coast as historic wins shake up the 2025 mayoral elections

Socialism was on the ballot in 2025, and the Democratic Socialists of America landed their biggest ballot victory yet when New Yorkers elected Zohran Mamdani to lead the nation’s largest city.

The year began with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., firing up Democrats on the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour after bruising losses last year. It ends with two decisive victories for the socialist movement, with Mamdani in New York City and self-described socialist Katie Wilson in Seattle, Washington.

“Through Zohran’s victory, the people defeated the oligarchy; the working class defeated major corporations; Democratic Socialism defeated the Democratic Party status quo,” the DSA said in a statement as Mamdani declared victory.

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell conceded to Wilson on Thursday in a tight race that took more than a week to determine the winner, handing power to the party’s left-flank in the West Coast city.

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Mamdani congratulated the fellow socialist in a post Friday morning.

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“Seattle voters made their voices heard: they want a new kind of politics — one that rejects corporate PAC money and delivers for working people. From one Mayor-elect to another, wishing you the best. Seattle is in great hands,” Mamdani said.

Both candidates have made history as their cities’ first millennial mayors. Running on affordability agendas, they built their campaigns around bold progressive ideas, from universal childcare to city-run grocery stores, funded by a tax hike on the wealthy.

“I want everyone in this great city of ours to have a roof over their head,” Wilson said Thursday. “I want universal child care and free K through 8 summer care. I want world-class mass transit … great, safe public spaces where kids can run around without abandon, stable, affordable housing for renters, social housing and much more land and wealth to be owned and stewarded by communities instead of by corporations.”

Both socialists have pledged to “Trump proof” their cities as President Donald Trump’s sweeping, second-term agenda loomed large over 2025 mayoral and gubernatorial races.

Trump has already deployed the National Guard to a handful of U.S. cities to combat crime and enforce illegal immigrant deportation efforts, and he vowed to cut federal funding to New York City if Mamdani won.

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“New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant,” Mamdani said during his victory speech last week. “So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”

At Mamdani’s election night party at the Brooklyn Paramount theater, supporters chanted “D-S-A” throughout the night. DSA leaders also joined Mamdani’s high-profile “New York is not for sale” rally with Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez ahead of Election Day. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., a more moderate Democrat, met a cooler reception at Forest Hills Stadium as Mamdani’s supporters broke into chants of “Tax the rich!” as she spoke.

Mamdani can’t deliver on his signature campaign promises without Hochul’s approval to raise taxes.

As Mamdani and Wilson seek to actualize their ambitious policy agendas in two coastal cities, a socialist candidate in the Midwest wasn’t so successful this election cycle.

Jacob Frey won re-election as mayor of Minneapolis last week, securing his third term.

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The election was officially nonpartisan, though Frey chose to include the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party label on his ballot line. He defeated a large field that included state Sen. Omar Fateh, a socialist endorsed by the DSA.

Fateh made waves on the national political stage this year, drawing comparisons to Mamdani’s mayoral campaign in New York City after The Minnesota Star Tribune dubbed him the “Mamdani of Minneapolis.”

The 35-year-old son of Somali immigrants who became the first Somali-American elected to the Minnesota state Senate in 2020 challenged incumbent Frey head-on this year, criticizing the comparatively moderate Democrat for failing to “meet the needs of our changing society.”

While socialist slogans resonated in Seattle and New York City, Fateh’s message of change wasn’t enough to carry him across the finish line.

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With a new wave of progressive candidates already eyeing the 2026 midterm elections, the verdict is still out on whether the socialist momentum will last.

Fox News Digital reached out to the DSA for clarification about their support for Wilson’s campaign.