Socialist-leaning candidates gain ground in US cities as business backlash grows

New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic primary for the New York City mayoral race is the latest example of the rise of progressive socialist policies in Democrat-led cities.

Mamdani is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and has made socialist policies a cornerstone of his platform, from implementing a rent freeze on rent-controlled apartments to expanding city-owned grocery stores.

He has also called for higher taxes on corporations in New York City and an extra 2% flat tax on the wealthiest 1% of New Yorkers, wants the minimum wage to rise to $30 an hour by 2030, said he’ll permanently eliminate fares on all city buses and has pledged to “implement free childcare for every New Yorker aged six weeks to five years.”

Another DSA-backed candidate, Minnesota State Sen. Omar Fateh, recently won the Democratic-Farm-Labor Party’s nomination for the Minneapolis mayoral race when he defeated incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey in the DFL primary.

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Fateh has called for creating a local income tax to “ensure the wealthy pay their fair share,” as well as creating a “commercial vacancy tax to address vacant storefronts and a land value tax to incentivize development of underutilized parcels.”

He has also proposed increasing the construction of public housing and implementing a rent stabilization policy.

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Several cities that have elected progressive or socialist mayors have seen large businesses reduce their footprint in the city or relocate their headquarters entirely.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson defeated the Windy City’s incumbent mayor, Lori Lightfoot, in 2023 on a progressive platform, but high taxes and public safety issues have become an issue in keeping companies and their employees in the city.

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The period at the end of Lightfoot’s tenure saw Boeing, Caterpillar, Citadel, Guggenheim Partners, TTX and Tyson Foods move their headquarters or significant parts of their operations out of the city.

The San Francisco Bay Area has also struggled with the loss of businesses amid years of progressive governance leading to high costs of living as well as challenges to conducting their business.

Chevron, Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Tesla and X (formerly Twitter), have all relocated their headquarters out of the Bay Area since 2020 – though some retain a presence in the area.