By Hank Russell
After three shocking upsets in New York congressional races in New York City, local Republican officials are warning everyone that socialism will soon spread throughout the state and the nation, causing irreparable damage.
On June 23, three Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) congressional candidates endorsed by New York City Mayor and fellow DSA member Zohran Mamdani beat out establishment Democratic incumbents. The Week reported that Darializa Avila Chevalier, a doctoral student, beat out U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat (D-Harlem), while state Assemblymember Claire Valdez (D-Sunnyside) beat out Nydia Velázquez (D-Sunnyside) and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander unseated Dan Goldman (D-Manhattan).
In another race, Micah Lasher won a primary to succeed outgoing Representative Jerry Nadler (D-Lower Manhattan), beating out state Assemblyman Alex Bores (D-Manhattan), Jack Schlossberg (grandson of John F. Kennedy) and George Conway, an anti-Trump commentator whose wife, Kellyanne, managed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 and served as senior counselor during Trump’s first term.
Some of these DSA candidates are not without controversy. While at Columbia University, Chevalier founded a group supporting Hamas that called for “death to America.” She has also posted on social media that called then-President Joe Biden “a war criminal” and the U.S. “a disgrace.” She also stormed out of an interview with La Mega radio when she was confronted about a post she wrote on “violent” Dominican nationalism.
In September 2025, Lander was arrested for blocking access to an elevator at the city’s immigration courthouse. On June 11, 2026, he was found not guilty.
New York State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs issued a statement celebrating the victories without mentioning the incumbents’ losses or the controversy surrounding the primary winners. Rather, he focused on the facts that approximately 1 million people voted in the primaries and that early primary voting nearly tripled compared to 2024.
“New York Democrats are united and ready to win this November with a slate of proven leaders who are fighting to lower costs, protect healthcare, make our communities safer, and stand up to Donald Trump’s attacks on New York,” Jacobs said. “We enter the general election ready to hit the ground running, build on the energy and enthusiasm we saw in the primaries, and build the machine it will take to win. Led by the strong leadership of Governor [Kathy] Hochul and [running mate] Adrienne Adams at the top of the ticket, New York Democrats are poised and ready to earn every vote this fall.”
But GOP officials said these candidates — and their ideologies they will carry with them to Washington, D.C. if they win — pose an imminent threat to the state and the nation.
“This is no longer a debate between conservatives and liberals,” said Suffolk County and Brookhaven Town GOP Chairman Jesse Garcia. “This is a battle between American freedom and socialist government control.”
Garcia said the DSA’s agenda is “alarming,” consisting of defunding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the local police, open borders, closure of jails and prisons, expanding government control over private property, increasing taxes and wealth redistribution.
“They reject the very principles that made America the greatest nation in the history of the world,” Garcia said. “They reject American Exceptionalism. They reject the belief that success comes through hard work, personal responsibility, and opportunity. They reject the idea that families — not government bureaucrats — should be the foundation of society. The rise of Democratic Socialism should concern every American regardless of party registration.”
U.S. Representative Nick LaLota (R-Rocky Point) told Newsmax that “the Democrat Party is becoming the party of Zohran,” adding that the far-left progressives “are now the majority of that party. You can’t win a primary in that party unless you have that radical support.”
Assembly Minority Leader Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) echoed LaLota’s sentiments. “New York’s Democratic party is headed in one clear direction — the extreme left,” he said. “After [the June 23] primaries, it appears socialists are no longer merely a ‘wing’ of the party, they’re taking over the entire house.”
Ra said socialism has been implemented in other parts of the country and has been “a failed experiment” as people and businesses moved out and the quality of life has declined. “Their vision for New York is built on higher taxes, defunding police, ending capitalism, expanding government control and erasing public safety policies. It is a recipe for disaster and a direct threat to the future of our state.”
“If this thing spreads,” LaLota said, referring to socialism, “America will not be what we know her to be.”