Zohran Is Dragon

When I told my Dad we won nine out of ten races last Tuesday, he assumed I'd gotten cosmically lucky picking ponies at the track.

That's not the type of unemployed guy I am, Dad!!

I was referring, actually, to the nine NYC-DSA-endorsed candidates who won their primary races, most of them in landslide victories.

We elected:

• Two new US congresswomen, Claire and Darializa, who will join AOC on the national stage
• The first Palestinian-American State Senator in New York history, Aber Kawas
• Six new State Assemblymembers—four of whom ousted longstanding Democratic Machine incumbents

Our only loss, Conrad Blackburn for Assembly in Harlem, came close to eking it out despite more than $900,000 in outside money spent against him. I really hope Conrad runs again in two years and trounces his opponent, just as Eon and Illapa did this cycle.

When the NYC-DSA candidates win again in November's General Elections (and they will), they'll constitute the largest bloc of socialists elected to US state office in over 100 years.

So... how the hell did we do it? What does it all mean? And where do we go from here? These are the big questions I attempt to answer in today's post.

...but first, you know I gotta make my pitch.

There has never been a better time to join DSA. I keep saying that; it keeps being true. Last Tuesday night I mainlined the election results from a packed bar in Bed-Stuy, my t-shirt sweat-soaked from the final door-knocking canvass of the cycle. When the clock struck 9pm, the victories started to hit rapid-fire, one win announced after the next, you could tell a new race had been called by the delirious whoops and astonished gasps punctuating the night like fireworks from clusters of socialists all around the room. A near-sweep assured, we spilled out into the street to celebrate with our newly crowned representatives who proclaimed victory from the lofty steps of a nearby brownstone. There, in the humid embrace of friends and comrades, we all knew that this was only the beginning, the earliest days of a movement that's sweeping across the country, the world, the universe... it was a very special night. One I plan to repeat many times again.

You can be part of it, too. Find your local DSA chapter. If you don't have one, start it. Learn from the organizers who have been at this for a decade, carefully building to this moment. DSA has had thousands of new people join this week. In NYC, we just hit 15,000 members.

Unleash your inner socialist sicko.

Word.

How did we win?

Like I said, Tuesday's results didn't come out of nowhere. Neither did Zohran, for that matter. All our wins were the result of years of strategic electoral experimentation, a considered analysis of voting trends and demographic data, finding and recruiting viable candidates, staffing their campaigns with some of the smartest, hardest-working people I've ever met, and pushing relentlessly for more volunteers to knock doors, make phone calls, and get the good word out.

But I contend that we won primarily for three reasons:

1. Socialism Is Common Sense. Even if you've been living under a rock for the past decade, no doubt you've noticed you can't afford to pay your rock rent anymore. Most of us are even more observant: we see the people in charge of this country stripping everything still decent for parts; we see a clear-as-day genocide in the Middle East; we see a token opposition party that only gets out of bed to shit on the Left whenever we dare to wonder aloud if maybe going to the doctor shouldn't bankrupt us for life. We feel the world growing hotter, the storms stronger, the fire season without end.
   
   Announcing to our neighbors that we intend to make some changes around here is not a hard sell. Nine times of out 10, all you have to do is say the candidate you're supporting is a socialist. "Say no more" is the response.
   
2. The DSA Difference. This cycle, 9,000 NYC-DSA volunteers knocked on over 700,000 doors to talk to their neighbors about voting for our candidates. Our Field operation grows more sophistication with each passing year; tech workers, no longer able to land cushy six-figure jobs with ease, have flocked to DSA. They've built proprietary tools that make organizing easier. They've built websites that chronicle our opponents' penchants for accepting money from big real estate, charter schools, and AIPAC. Our campaign staffers could walk into any job in DC but choose instead to spend their days cutting turf here in New York City. Our canvassers are true believers, knowledgeable and passionate and stalwart.
   
   Whereas the sad non-DSA campaigns, if they have a Field operation at all, can't recruit any volunteers, are forced to hire high school kids who couldn't give less of a shit about the name on their flyers. The voters at the doors can tell the difference. They remember the woman they talked to who cared a great deal about electing Eon Huntley, how important it was to her to elect a fellow retail worker to higher office. They remember, too, the ghost of the young man who rang their doorbell but disappeared before they had a chance to answer, who left them a gift of 50 flyers on their doormat.
   
   The DSA Difference is this: we are a member-led organization. Beholden to no large-money donors, bosses, or grants. Beholden to interests but our own. That means every decision we make is the best decision we can make. No one else can do that, and that's why we will keep winning not just here in New York but all over the country: Melat Kiros in Denver, Chris Rabb in PA, Mo Brown in Syracuse, Adam Bojak in Buffalo, Janeese Lewis George in DC, and more. But NYC does have an advantage over everywhere else.
   
3. Zohran Is a Dragon. Remember Game of Thrones? Zohran Mamdani as the Mayor of NYC is like Khaleesi having a fucking dragon to fight alongside her army of horse guys (that's us). He's out there flying around just aerially incinerating the opposition. For the past month, Zohran has been everywhere supporting his endorsed candidates—relentlessly rallying, posting vids, taking selfies, swing dancing with babies. He's been in office for half a year and people here already love him. At the doors, old ladies with no English point to his picture on our flyers and smile.
   
   Many politicos regarded this election as an existential battle between DSA and the longer-tenured, nonprofit-affiliated Working Families Party. The clearest example is that WFP endorsed Antonio Reynoso in the race against DSA's Claire Valdez. But Claire was endorsed by Zohran. And therefore one of us came to the battle with a fucking dragon. Reynoso lost to Claire by over 20 points.

What does it mean?

Let's start with the most literal interpretation.

Assuming all nine NYC-DSA candidates win in November and assuming Mo Brown in Syracuse and Adam Bojak in Buffalo win their races, here's what the New York DSA power map looks like:

• NYC City Council: 4 out of 51 seats, ~8%
• State Assembly: 11 out of 150 seats, 7%
• State Senate: 4 out of 63 seats, 6.3%
• US Congress: 7 seats, potentially 8 (AOC, DAC, Claire, Rashida, Melat, Chris Rabb, and potentially Oliver Larkin in FL, Cori Bush in MO, and Donavan McKinney in Michigan) out of 535, 1%

Doesn't look amazing on paper. We are still badly outnumbered. But it's more nuanced than that, particularly here in New York where Democrats hold a supermajority in both houses, 103-47 in the Assembly and 41-22 in the Senate.

A bloc of 15 NY State Democrats can make a lot of noise. We'll hold more committee assignments, which means we will introduce more legislation. Our block will be organized and therefore (continue) to punch above its weight. Our electeds love to use their megaphones.

But more seats are needed. Thankfully, we'll have opportunities.

What happens next?

Here's the wild thing: all of this just happened during Zohran's first year in office. It is not wishcasting to think the most popular politician in the city (soon the country?) will win a second term. That means eight years of riding into battle with The Dragon.

Zohran has shown restraint early in his mayoralty. He chose not to endorse all nine of our candidates, for instance, probably because he wanted to avoid pissing off various power players in state government. Had he endorsed the full slate, perhaps Conrad would have won, too.

But now? Now that we swept? My Mayor is flying high. The New York Times is calling him a kingmaker, and that's true. But he is also a destroyer of kings, those old and venal kings and queens who thought themselves sufficiently insulated behind castle walls.

Shoulda put a roof on that bitch!

NYC-DSA will have seven more election cycles with our dragon flying by our side. But we know we cannot rest, either. NYC-DSA, 15,000 members strong, must continue to grow our ranks. We're doing just that. Since the polls closed on Tuesday, we've added a few new members.

Oh wait, that's not the latest number. Here's an update:

We could hit 100,000 members in New York City by the end of Zohran's first term.

It's true that running ten races this election cycle was grueling. It stretched our capacity to the limit. But I believe we must go even bigger in 2028, using the rest of this year and next to prepare for the fight to come. I'm not a data whisperer like Michael Lange—I can't say where all it will make sense for us to run. But 28 races in '28 has a nice ring to it...

I'm kidding... maybe! What I can say with certainty is that right now, NYC-DSA is the most powerful political party in New York City. And unlike the Democrats of yore, our ambition is far greater than holding office.

The thing about socialists is that when we get hold of power, you best believe we're going to use it.

So, once again, I ask you to join the movement. It is unbelievably satisfying to win as a result of our own hard work, discipline, strategizing, and belief that a world governed not by profits but by the public interest is within reach.

The revolution's already started. It's happening right now. You just don't know it yet. But you will soon.