Democratic Socialists of America, ‘Energized’ by Mamdani’s Primary Win, Won’t Rule Out Challenging Dem Incumbents: Report

Moderate Democrats worry that Mamdani’s rise will alienate voters and deepen party’s woes

The Democratic Socialists of America will not rule out a primary challenge against House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.)—or any other Democratic incumbent representing a New York City district in which socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani did well—as members are “energized” by Mamdani’s Democratic primary victory, according to a report.

“We’re basically looking at districts where Zohran did well in the primary, and that’s quite a lot of New York, so we haven’t narrowed it down too much,” the co-chair of the DSA’s New York City chapter, Gustavo Gordillo, told Politico on Monday. The publication reported that Gordillo “didn’t rule out backing a challenge to Jeffries—in fact, he didn’t rule out anything.”

DSA members are feeling “energized and optimistic” following Mamdani’s primary win this summer, according to Gordillo. The NYC chapter has also seen a surge of interest from potential candidates seeking its endorsement for 2026.

This is not the first time Mamdani’s allies have floated primary challenges to incumbent Democrats. “Key leaders of the Democratic Socialists of America” first floated the idea of “running primary challengers against Jeffries and several other incumbents, including Reps. Ritchie Torres, Jerry Nadler, Dan Goldman and Yvette Clarke,” in July, CNN reported at the time. Since then, Nadler has announced his retirement. Gordillo’s Monday remarks suggest that the DSA expanded its map of potential challenges.

While the DSA celebrates Mamdani’s rise, moderate Democrats are warning that the candidate’s far-left politics could hurt the party in upcoming elections, according to the Politico report.

“Mamdani is the greatest threat to Democrats probably since Ronald Reagan because he’s everything Democrats have been accused of being and in fact is—to the extreme,” longtime Democratic operative Hank Sheinkopf told Politico.

The news comes as the Democratic Party has been struggling with a leadership vacuum, bitter infighting, and low fundraising months into President Donald Trump’s second term. Jeffries in particular has faced scrutiny from his fellow Democrats for not doing enough to step up as the party’s House leader and counter the Trump administration, with a senior House Democrat telling NOTUS earlier this year that Jeffries may not be “well-suited for this moment.”

A number of other progressive primary challengers have also refused to back Jeffries for speaker. “I wouldn’t vote for Jeffries,” activist Saikat Chakrabarti, who is running against Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), told Axios in March. “From what I’m seeing of Jeffries right now, I don’t think he’s leading.”