GOP Group Flags 65 DSA-Backed Candidates on State Legislature Ballots This Fall

At least 65 candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America have advanced to November general-election contests for state legislative seats across the country, according to an analysis from a Republican campaign organization that argues the races could reshape the Democratic Party from the ground up.

Dozens of individuals backed by the Democratic Socialists of America will appear on ballots as candidates for state legislature seats on Election Day, something Republicans say could set in motion a trend that transforms the Democratic Party. The Republican State Leadership Committee, the official GOP body responsible for ensuring state-level conservative victories, claimed these races could determine the future of the Democratic Party, according to a memo obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital.

What the memo counts — and how

At least 65 DSA-aligned candidates have advanced to contest state legislative seats in November’s general election. The RSLC’s methodology included candidates who are DSA members, DSA-endorsed candidates or self-identified members of the organization. That broad definition means the count includes sitting Democratic lawmakers with DSA ties as well as first-time challengers running on DSA-aligned platforms.

The RSLC, the national committee dedicated to electing Republicans to state offices, frames the strategy in blunt terms. “The RSLC has consistently said that socialism starts in the states and that is where we need to stop it,” the RSLC’s memo reads. The group also argues the stakes extend beyond any single legislature. “The statehouse trend is also relevant because several prominent DSA-aligned Congressional candidates in 2026 have emerged from state and local political organizing,” the memo reads.

New York remains the focal point

Republicans have trained particular attention on New York, where the DSA’s national profile has surged since Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory. Mamdani has served since 2026 as the 112th mayor of New York City, and is a member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America who represented the 36th district in the New York State Assembly from 2021 to 2025.

That momentum carried into this year’s state legislative primaries. DSA candidates across New York City posted comprehensive victories, especially in Queens, where five candidates in the DSA slate recorded resounding wins against their respective opponents, some of whom were established incumbents or candidates with over a decade of experience.

One of those winners, Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, has since moved on to a bigger stage. Valdez, a Mexican-American politician who has served as a member of the New York State Assembly for the 37th district since 2025, is the Democratic nominee for New York’s 7th congressional district in the 2026 election. Valdez won New York’s June congressional primary, besting Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, and is considered the clear favorite in the heavily Democratic district this November.

Sitting lawmakers are also part of the RSLC’s list. The group’s memo points to Democratic state Sen. Jabari Brisport, a DSA-aligned incumbent seeking reelection in New York. “As a State Senator I will continue to do everything I can to end policing and incarceration in New York State,” Brisport’s campaign website reads.

Beyond New York: Michigan and other states

The RSLC’s analysis extends well past New York. Dylan Wegela, a DSA-backed state house candidate in Michigan, has similarly pushed for state acquisitions of utility companies — part of a broader pattern Republicans say includes candidates who back rent control, expanded public services and stronger protections for organized labor in statehouses from Pennsylvania to Maine.

Republicans argue that even a modest number of wins could pull Democratic legislative caucuses further left and create a farm system for future congressional and statewide campaigns. DSA-aligned candidates and their supporters have largely rejected that framing, casting their campaigns instead as responses to the cost of living, housing affordability and dissatisfaction with establishment Democratic politics.

A disputed scale

Not every assessment of the DSA’s reach matches the RSLC’s framing. A Brookings Institution analysis found that candidates backed by the organization represent only a tiny fraction of the nation’s state legislative seats, raising questions about how much influence the movement actually commands this cycle. A separate count by Brookings put the number of DSA-aligned general-election candidates at roughly 76 — slightly higher than the RSLC’s tally — while still concluding they make up a small share of legislative seats up for election nationwide.

That gap underscores a central disagreement in the debate: Republicans see a rapidly expanding pipeline into the Democratic Party’s future leadership, while independent analysts note that DSA-aligned candidates remain a small slice of the roughly 6,000 state legislative seats contested each cycle, concentrated heavily in a handful of blue-leaning districts in places like New York City.

What happens next

The candidates identified in the RSLC’s memo will face voters on Election Day, November 3, 2026. Results in closely watched districts — particularly in New York, where DSA-aligned Democrats have already ousted several incumbents in primaries, and in Michigan, where Wegela and other DSA-backed candidates are seeking state house seats — will offer the clearest test yet of whether the organization’s local organizing translates into expanded influence inside the Democratic Party or remains concentrated in a small number of safely Democratic districts.