An alarming percentage of Democratic voters are identifying as democratic socialists as dissatisfaction with the establishment wing of the party grows.
A new CNN poll found that about a third of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters consider themselves to be democratic socialists.
These individuals rank among the party’s most loyal backers yet push for significant internal change amid recent electoral gains by democratic socialist candidates. “They’re some of the party’s staunchest supporters, but many are also raring for a party overhaul at a time when democratic socialists are seeing new momentum at the polls,” the report noted.
Staten Island @RepNicole, whose mother fled Communist Cuba in 1959, stood alongside Republican leadership this morning and slammed New York City’s recent DSA boom.
— Shannon Ryan (@_shanryan) July 21, 2026
“We just saw a radical group of individuals win the Democratic primary in New York City. Some of these candidates… pic.twitter.com/WzlfjyOvoz
Building on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s win last year, a growing number of candidates have defeated establishment incumbents in House primaries in states like New York and Colorado. The trend faces further tests in upcoming races including Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary.
The survey found that Democratic socialist voters tend to be younger, more likely white, less college-educated, and lower-income than other Democrat-aligned adults.
“Notably, they are nearly twice as likely to support the party moving to the left on policy issues.” However, they diverge on foreign policy, as “48 percent say they’d be enthusiastic about a candidate who believes the US should cut support to Israel, compared to 20 percent for non-democratic socialists.”
Even further, most non-socialist Democratic-aligned adults remain at least comfortable with the party nominating democratic socialist candidates.
Hakeem Jeffries was celebrating a primary win when the DSA crowd turned on him.
— Jabotinsky Jew (@CrazyVideosOnly) July 28, 2026
"You're next."
Same people who've been screaming at Jews for months. Same media silence.
The hate doesn't stop where they promise it will. 🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/12sSHULPKY
Recent wins by DSA-backed candidates include New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s success in 2025, the June 2026 New York primaries where Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated Rep. Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) and Claire Valdez took an open seat, plus Melat Kiros defeating Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-1). Francesca Hong also leads in Wisconsin’s Democratic primary for governor.
There are a plethora of reasons why democratic socialists are rising in popularity. Economic woes rank at the top of the list, along with anger toward the party’s current leaders. To put it simply, they seem to be fed up with the status quo of the party and the failure to oppose President Donald Trump’s agenda.
“What you all have shown this evening, whether for state Senate, state Assembly or Congress, is that a year ago it was not the end of a political movement. It was the beginning,” Mamdani said.
