DSA Dominates Albany Elections Despite Super PAC Deluge
SOCIALIST CANDIDATES racked up victories in New York’s primary elections for the state legislature on Tuesday, with the Democratic Socialists of America poised to pick up at least six seats despite an enormous wave of outside spending.
Super PACs had spent $9.6 million on primaries for state Assembly and Senate as of Monday, according to a New York Focus analysis — nearly five times the amount spent through the same period in 2024. Much of the spending was focused on defeating candidates endorsed by local dsa chapters, which fielded their biggest-ever slate of candidates for state office in an effort to build on last year’s election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor.
“Zohran is the catalyst. His win woke people up,” said Jeff Leb, a strategist who is running a super pac devoted to supporting moderate candidates against DSA-aligned challengers.
“dsa has momentum, they’re running their largest slate in New York, and they think they’ve figured out the playbook. That’s why people are responding,” he said, referring to groups spending against socialists.
https://nysfocus.com/2026/06/24/ny-primary-election-results-dsa-state-legislature-2026