r/DemocraticSocialism

Pennsylvania woman and mother Biancha Tatum shared a concerning interaction with local police after she was pulled over after she dropped her son’s coffee cup off to him after he’d forgotten it in her car.

She shared the video of the interaction that occurred in early January 2026, and her latest update from January 17th about the incident she stated:

“Good morning, Facebook, family and friends. I wanna truly say 1 appreciate each and everyone of you who shared commented on my horrible video of racial profiling at its fullest.

I also wanna let you know I will be taking this all the way to the highest possible level that I can. I refuse to sit down and let this happen to me and there be no repercussions.

And I did not allow him to search my car. I did not give him my son’s last name when the video ended. I continue to fuss and cuss both of them out as well as my son. I did reach out to Fairview County Township however the person I needed to speak to was out until Monday now Monday is a holiday so we gonna see how this goes. I have to follow the proper steps but just know that I’m not letting up.

The crazy part about all of this is what he assumed what he thought but again because I was a black woman that’s the only reason. I appreciate all of you who shared, text, called and commented on that video. They say it takes a village and I appreciate my village.”

https://x.com/ajplus/status/2073086186961436991

alt-text:

A tumblr post and a self-reply by the user crippled-peeper. The person has a sunflower as a profile picture. The text of the first post says "“what’s it like being disabled in the USA?” I once told someone my mom died of Covid and they replied “can we not talk about politics right now?”". The text of the second post says "no “sorry for your loss”, no “wow you’re only 26 and your mom died”, no “wow that’s terrible”

The second post says: "just “stop making me uncomfy by mentioning your mom dying because I don’t believe the disease that killed her actually exists”"."

A different kind of politician has been gaining prominence in Democratic politics in recent years: the democratic socialist.

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont drew awareness to the ideology with his 2016 presidential bid. In the years since, other politicians—including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York—who have called themselves democratic socialists have emerged on the national stage. And the past year has seen several self-identified democratic socialists prevail in key local races, with Zohran Mamdani winning the New York City mayoral race in November, and Janeese Lewis George claiming victory in the Democratic primary race for Washington, D.C.’s next mayor this week.

But depending on who you talk to, they might define “democratic socialism” differently.

“It’s a very ambiguous term, and there’s a great deal of confusion about what it is and isn’t,” says Marc Farinella, a senior advisor to the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and former Democratic political consultant. “There’s a lot of ambiguity even among people who might describe themselves as democratic socialists. I think there’s a wide array of flavors of democratic socialists.”

So what exactly does it mean to be a democratic socialist? TIME spoke to experts to unpack the term.

What is democratic socialism?

There isn’t one universal definition of democratic socialism. According to the website of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), democratic socialists view capitalism as “a system designed by the owning class to exploit the rest of us for their own profit” and want to “replace it with democratic socialism, a system where ordinary people have a real voice in our workplaces, neighborhoods, and society.”

“What we want to do is extend democracy to our workplace and our housing and society at large, sort of deciding the ways our cities run, our jobs run, our housing runs, as opposed to right now, we think we’re in sort of a dictatorship of capital—the big corporations kind of make the decisions about everything, really,” says Megan Romer, the co-chair of the DSA.

Democratic socialism in the U.S., Farinella says, is not the socialism seen in the former Soviet Union, which was an autocratic system that eliminated capitalism by putting all major industries under centralized government control. Democratic socialists don’t want large corporations to be controlled by the government, and don’t want an autocracy; rather, they want to place the power of decision-making in the hands of the people through a democratic process.

Farinella says that democratic socialism also isn’t the kind of social democracy seen in Scandinavian countries, which reject authoritarianism and, in his words, “combine free market capitalism with high taxes” to fund social programs such as health care and education. Democratic socialists, meanwhile, don’t support capitalism (though some self-described democratic socialists have suggested that it is possible for democratic socialism and capitalism to exist together).

Democratic socialism “resides perhaps in the middle of the spectrum,” Farinella says.

“The democratic socialists in the United States want to shift political and economic power away from corporations and ultimately move beyond a capitalistic system, which they view as inherently unfair and exploitive,” he says. “They want to replace capitalism with an economy driven by social need rather than by profit motive, and they want to do this with workers and ordinary citizens making decisions about how to deploy resources—not having government make the decisions about how to deploy resources.”

“They want to do it all through democratic processes and institutions,” he adds.

How does it differ from the mainstream Democratic party?

Democratic socialists tend to support policies to the left of mainstream Democratic politicians.

Democratic socialists “are very focused on making sure basic needs are guaranteed,” Farinella says—for instance, universal health care, free tuition, housing for all, paid family leave, and free child care are all policies that the DSA supports.

Some of those policies are in line with those backed by moderate Democrats. But others may not align with the views of many in the party; for instance, on its website, the DSA says it wants to “allow workers to freely migrate between countries to seek employment without restrictive immigration controls,” as well as “provide access to jobs, labor rights, and social services to all immigrants.” While the Democratic party has vocally criticized the Trump Administration’s hardline immigration policy, some of the DSA’s views on immigration may fall to the left of the more moderate Democrats.

Strategically, a politician identifying themselves as a democratic socialist could create problems for their campaign, Farinella says, because the word “socialism” can bring “a lot of baggage with lots of people, and there’s a lot of confusion over what they’re really talking about.”

“To a lot of Americans, democratic socialism is a nonstarter because of the preconceived negative notions they have about what socialism is and their notions may or may not be actually descriptive of what the democratic socialists in the United States are talking about,” Farinella says.

But Farinella says it’s not surprising that democratic socialism is gaining popularity now, at a time when there’s “enormous economic inequality and the perception that the economic system is failing a lot of people”—particularly young people.

“At a time when people are feeling left behind and feeling that the economy is structured in such a way as not being equitable and not being fair, they’re going to be interested in exploring other systems,” he says. “There are plenty of people who think the system is not working for them, and so they are looking elsewhere for a system that they might feel is more just and equitable and would give them a better shot at economic success.”

*excerpt from Time's article with Philip Wang*

Full Article here:

https://time.com/article/2026/06/18/what-is-a-democratic-socialist-mamdani-lewis-george-bernie-sanders-aoc/

It's hot outside. But the DSA is hotter.

Fresh off major primary wins in Colorado and New York, the Democratic Socialists of America is looking to prove that it can translate its momentum beyond deep-blue House primaries and into competitive statewide races.

DSA officials and allies told POLITICO they’ve already shifted organizers, volunteers and resources toward battleground Michigan and Wisconsin, where progressive Abdul El-Sayed is locked in a hotly contested Democratic primary for Michigan Senate and DSA-backed Francesca Hong is gaining steam in her primary for Wisconsin governor.

Both El-Sayed and Hong are planning a series of major rallies ahead of their primaries, and their campaigns and DSA organizers are currently discussing bringing many of the movement’s biggest stars — including recent winners from New York and Colorado — to generate attention and shore up the broader national effort. That will likely include a trip to Michigan for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who just made a major endorsement for El-Sayed.

“It’s DSA summer. We can’t stop racking up wins,” said Emma Vigeland, co-host of the long-running progressive program The Majority Report, who has campaigned for DSA candidates this primary season. “We’re seeing the culmination of 10 years of democratic socialism becoming more mainstream.”

Sustaining that summer momentum will be a tall task, as the DSA and the insurgent left try to harness the infrastructure they need to extend their wins into the battlegrounds.

But popular Twitch streamer Hasan Piker and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) are already planning to hit the trail to boost DSA picks in Michigan and Wisconsin ahead of the August primary.

And DSA membership has surged, according to national co-chair Megan Romer, with more than 7,500 new members signing up nationally since the sweeping victories in the Big Apple.

The DSA held a national members call Thursday night to rally the troops featuring two of the organization’s newest stars: Pennsylvania congressional nominee state Rep. Chris Rabb and Melat Kiros, who this week scored a major primary upset in Colorado over longtime Rep. Diana DeGette. Members also addressed Speaker Mike Johnson’s recent attacks on the group.

“This is a movement moment,” Hong said in an interview, pushing back on skeptics who question whether democratic socialists can win statewide in a state President Donald Trump carried twice. “More and more folks are recognizing that the system is rigged and they deserve a more democratic economy, where the power and control are with the workers and not the establishment, the elites and the mega corporations.”

The democratic socialist surge has been building since Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign brought the movement into the mainstream. But it’s been supercharged by progressive voters’ frustration with Democratic leadership, especially following former President Joe Biden’s late exit during the 2024 race and the party’s tepid response — in the eyes of many in the base — to the second Trump administration.

That anti-Washington sentiment has now resulted in DSA’s most successful primary season yet, putting democratic socialists on pace to have at least eight aligned members of Congress next year, not to mention the mayorships of New York City, Washington and Seattle — with more races still ahead.

But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. In California, DSA-backed Sean Dougherty lost his blanket primary against Rep. Jimmy Panetta, while Chris Bennett fell short against Rep. Kevin Kiley, losses that point to a bigger question ahead: How far can the movement translate its surge of national attention and energy? Especially as establishment Democrats and outside groups look to blunt its momentum — and as Republicans ramp up efforts to turn the group into a campaign boogeyman.

“One of the biggest challenges of organizing is helping people channel their organic excitement — positive or negative — into movement growth,” Romer said. “We’ve built these structures and now we get to help people find their way into them so they can use them to win what they want.”

In Wisconsin, Hong is mounting one of the group’s clearest tests yet of whether a democratic socialist can win statewide, running on affordability and opposition to data center expansion — a message that has boosted her into a leading position in some polling heading into next month’s contest.

Public polling in the Wisconsin governor's race has been sparse. A Marquette University Law School poll from March showed Hong leading the Democratic field at 14 percent among voters who named a candidate, ahead of Mandela Barnes at 11 percent, with 65 percent still undecided.

Hong, who last week appeared on Piker’s stream and raised over $50,000 from viewers in under an hour, says she plans to try unconventional ways of meeting voters heading into the primary.

“We will continue to be campaigning in creative ways, where people are meeting a candidate where they weren’t expected to meet a gubernatorial candidate — bike rides and dive bars," she said.

Nearby Michigan is shaping up to be perhaps the most important state on the primary calendar this August for the strength of the insurgent movement in the Democratic Party. El-Sayed is not explicitly backed by DSA, but he’s widely viewed within the movement as part of the same progressive project, and organizers are going all in behind El-Sayed’s Senate campaign.

Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed El-Sayed during his 2018 gubernatorial bid, joins Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who previously backed him in this campaign, in lining up two of the most influential voices on the left behind him.

“Everybody in the coalition is on the same page, whether it be Justice Dems, whether it be [Working Families Party], whether it be DSA,” said Vincent Vertuccio, Egret Strategies, a consulting firm that has worked with leftists running for office this cycle. He said Michigan is “absolutely the next focus of this national movement.”

Piker, who has become a highly sought-after surrogate for insurgent candidates this primary season, told POLITICO that he was headed to Michigan soon to rally support: “Abdul El-Sayed is not DSA affiliated, but he’s a progressive fighter. He’s a Berniecrat, and I’m excited to help him out to the best of my ability.”

A recent Quantus Insights poll from late June found El-Sayed leading Rep. Haley Stevens 41 percent to 36 percent, with state Sen. Mallory McMorrow trailing at 8 percent. McMorrow dropped out of the race on Sunday after failing to gain traction.

The DSA has another target in Michigan: Ousting incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar, a former democratic socialist member whom the organization says it expelled over what it described as a “substantial disagreement with the values of DSA.” Thanedar at the time claimed he had renounced his membership, citing the organization's promotion of a pro-Palestinian rally in New York City in the days immediately after Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023.

The representative now faces a DSA-backed challenger in state Rep. Donavan McKinney in Michigan’s 13th District.

Tlaib, an original member of the Squad, is working hard in her backyard to boost both McKinney and El-Sayed. In an interview, she said that the current momentum behind insurgent candidates reminds her of the 2018 wave that first brought her into Congress along with other Squad members, and their frustration once Democrats won unified control in the 2020 elections.

“Democrats had the trifecta and we couldn’t even get the Voting Rights Act passed. We couldn’t even get Build Back Better passed that was about child care and housing,” she said. “These are not years that we can get back for our residents, and especially our children.”

McKinney has hit Thanedar over taking corporate PAC money and questioned his progressive credentials. Tlaib and DSA are banking on their organizing efforts to propel the challenger to victory.

“[Mckinney] was raised in Wayne County all his life. He understands what it feels like to smell like rotten eggs when you go outside because the air is so polluted,” Tlaib added. “People are hungry for folks that will move with urgency.”

*excerpt from Will Steakin's article*

Full Article here:

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/06/dsa-progressives-wisconsin-michigan-primaries-00986944

Cross-posted from my substack. Image made with the OWID data editor (original). Data source is the OECD.

July 3, 2026. Mike Figueredo interviews Oliver Larkin who is running for U.S. Congress in Florida (CD-25): oliverforcongress.com

His primary opponent is incumbent Democrat Jared Moskowitz.

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Florida Voters:

* Register to Vote or Confirm Registration (.gov): registertovoteflorida.gov/home

* Important Dates (.gov): dos.fl.gov/elections/for-voters/election-dates

• Deadline to register to vote or change party affiliation: July 20, 2026
• Deadline to request that ballot be mailed: August 6, 2026
• Early voting period (mandatory period): August 8 – 15, 2026 (Contact Supervisor of Elections for optional days of early voting)
• Election Day: August 18, 2026

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Here is Oliver's full 25-minute interview on YouTube: LOL: Democrat Afraid of Socialists Pretends His DSA-Backed Opponent Doesn’t Exist - The Humanist Report (THR) - July 3, 2026 (YouTube)

From the description: In this video we talk to DSA-endorsed congressional candidate Oliver Larkin. He's challenging Jared Moskowitz—the Fetterman of House Democrats—in Florida's 25th congressional district.

The Humanist Report (THR) is a progressive political podcast that discusses and analyzes current news events and pressing political issues. Our analyses are guided by humanism and political progressivism. Each news story we cover is supplemented with thought-provoking, fact-based commentary that aims for the highest level of objectivity. ~:~ humanistreport.com

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It's Primary Election season in the U.S.:

* Primary Election Dates: AP News ~and~ NBC News :~:~: Upcoming Dates: July 21: Arizona ~:~:~ July 28: Georgia (Special) and South Dakota (Runoff) ~:~:~ Aug 4: Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia, Washington, California (Special) ~:~:~ Aug 6: Tennessee ~:~:~ Aug 8: Hawaii ~:~:~ Aug 11: Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont, Wisconsin, Alabama (Special) ~:~:~ More Aug dates + Sept dates: AP News ~and~ NBC News

* Candidates (all States): U.S. House (Dem Primary only): Ballotpedia (HouseDems) :~:~:~: U.S. Senate: Ballotpedia (Senate) (select “List of Candidates”) :~:~:~: State Execs (Gov, Lt. Gov, AG, SoS, and more): Ballotpedia (State Execs)

* Voter Info (all States): Register To Vote :~:~:~: Voter Registration Status :~:~:~: Find Your Polling Place :~:~:~: Valid Forms of ID :~:~:~: Absentee & Early Voting :~:~:~: Become a Poll Worker ~:~ Links go to the National Association of Secretaries of State website. When you select a State, it takes to a .gov page on that State's SoS website.

Here's the full text of the tweet:

>Today, I'm announcing that I am suspending my campaign for United States Senate.

>And I'm doing it with a deep, deep sense of gratitude. For our thousands of volunteers, for everyone who donated what you could — building a campaign with zero corporate PAC dollars. For my staff, who built this team up from nothing. I thank you.

>For my family. For Ray, who believed in me long before I ever believed in myself. And for Noa. Our five-year-old, who presses her hands up against the window to wave goodbye every morning when I leave for work.

>"Remember, Mom," she reminded me recently. "It's not about if you win. It's about trying hard and having fun."

>She's right. So I want to be very clear about what this announcement is not. I may be suspending this campaign, but I am not leaving the fight.

>I never planned on politics. After the 2016 election, I felt lost. I picked up my phone and typed five words into the search bar: "How to run for office."

>And here's what I learned: when regular people get in the fight, things can change. In my very first election, we flipped a district against the incumbent. Four years later — with so many of you — we flipped the Michigan Senate for the first time in nearly forty years.

>And we didn’t stop at winning. We repealed Michigan's abortion ban. We raised wages. We made sure every child gets breakfast and lunch at school. We made it easier to go to college. We expanded civil rights and voting rights. And so, so much more.

>These wins took thousands of us — showing up every single day, refusing to give up when there were setbacks. That's why I'm staying in this fight. And why I need you to stay in it with me.

>Now, I haven’t been shy about calling for new leadership and a better Democratic Party. I mean it. The energy is there. People are crying out for change. And we owe it to them to listen.

>Then we need to build it up, together, from the ground up.

>So here's what we do next. Every day through November 3rd. We win this Senate seat and send Mike Rogers back to Florida for good. Whoever wins this primary on August 4th will have my full support.

>Then, let’s elect Jocelyn Benson as our next Governor. Let’s flip the State House, and expand our majority in the State Senate. Let’s elect Democrats up and down the ticket and show the rest of this country what it means to fight like Michigan.

>Ten years ago, I started this work heartbroken, typing five words into a search bar. And I learned the only thing that has ever really changed this country: ordinary people who love something enough to fight for it.

>I love this country. I love Michigan. And I love the little girl who waves at me from the window every morning, trusting the grown-ups to leave her a state and a country worth inheriting.

>That's who I'm fighting for.

>And I'm not going anywhere. I hope you'll join me.