Eight New York City democratic socialists are looking to maintain momentum from Mayor Zohran Mamdani's election and shift the balance of political power in Albany.
The candidates include a public defender, a union organizer and a former PTA president, and all are running on a shared platform of fighting “against ICE, war and genocide, and Trump’s tax cuts.”
It is the largest slate of candidates the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America has ever endorsed. DSA leaders said they want to double the ranks of socialist legislators in Albany pushing to tax the rich to pay for social services like universal childcare.
The NYC-DSA and its army of volunteers were instrumental in Mamdani’s successful mayoral campaign last year, and the mayor continues to refer to the organization as his “political home.”
“We now know we can win across the city,” NYC-DSA co-chair Grace Mausser said. “And so we wanted to take bigger swings.”
In Harlem, for instance, Mamdani won parts of the neighborhood by 60%. NYC-DSA leaders said they saw a corresponding surge in membership from Upper Manhattan and the Bronx.
That’s where Conrad Blackburn, a 33-year-old defense attorney, is running to topple Assemblymember Jordan Wright. Wright is the son of former Harlem Assemblymember Keith Wright, head of the New York County Democrats and grandson of former New York Supreme Court Judge Bruce Wright.
“ People are just very disillusioned with politics as normal. The Democratic Party has let people down for so long,” Blackburn said. “People have seen a failure on the moderates' part to really fight for the working class.”
Blackburn is looking to win alongside congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, who’s challenging Rep. Adriano Espaillat.
“ There's a moment right now and we have to capture it, because if we don't, this moment's gonna pass us by,” Blackburn said.
NYC-DSA has endorsed seven candidates for the Assembly and one for the state Senate.
This includes Diana Moreno, who’s running for a full term after winning Mamdani’s old Astoria-based Assembly seat in a special election earlier this year; tenant organizer Illapa Sairitupac, who’s running for an open Assembly seat in Chinatown; and Eon Huntley, the former PTA president who’s challenging Assemblymember Stefani Zinerman for her Bed-Stuy seat.
The DSA has also endorsed attorney Adam Bojack, who’s running for Assembly in Buffalo.
There are currently eight DSA state lawmakers in Albany. Even if all eight newcomers joined their ranks, the numbers would still make up a small portion of the 213-member Legislature.
But momentum is persuasive, according to Christina Greer, a Fordham University political science professor.
“ None of this stuff happens overnight,” Greer said. “It's a series of incremental gains and sometimes some incremental losses as well. But you keep chipping away at the policies that you want to see.”
Albany’s socialist lawmakers went into last session hoping to pass a 2% surcharge on people making over $1 million a year. They advocated for free universal childcare statewide.
Neither priority passed. But Gov. Kathy Hochul did approve a new tax on second homes in New York City to help close the municipal budget gap following pressure from Mamdani, as well as funding for an expanded free childcare program.
“ [Hochul] claimed she was impervious to the demands of her constituents, and yet she passed a pied-à-terre tax,” Mausser said. “It's a step in the right direction.”
Mausser predicts the socialists will score more wins next session with a larger cadre in office. She said DSA volunteers have so far knocked on 523,000 doors for the whole slate of candidates and are on track to hit 1 million by Primary Day.
“ We know from Zohran's victory that there are so many people who are excited about socialism, willing to vote for a socialist, have a new vision for what New York could be,” Mausser said. “But we have to get them to the polls again this year to make that a reality.”
