Published on 6/29/2026
As the midterm elections approach, controversy is escalating within the Democratic Party regarding whether the United States of America is standing on the cusp of a historic transformation that may lead for the first time a leftist or democratic socialist president to the White House in the 2028 elections, or whether this rise will remain confined to the party’s traditional strongholds without the ability to win a national majority.
Two reports in The Guardian and Newsweek believe that the successive victories of the progressive left candidates, led by New York Mayor Zahran Mamdani, reflect a deeper transformation within the Democratic Party, but they also reveal a sharp division between those who consider it an opportunity to rebuild the party, and those who consider it a path that may lead it to lose the next presidential elections.
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Political power
The Guardian says that what has become known as the “Mamdani effect” is no longer just a personal success for the mayor of New York, but has turned into a “structural force” within the Democratic Party, after it contributed to the victory of a number of progressive and social democratic candidates in primary elections for Congress and state councils.
The report quotes Brookings Institution researcher Bill Galston as saying that the results of the recent elections “significantly” raised the odds of the emergence of a “credible left-wing candidate” in the 2028 presidential primaries.
Supporters of this movement believe that the party’s traditional leadership has failed to provide effective opposition to President Donald Trump, while the left has succeeded in attracting voters through an economic discourse that focuses on social justice, imposing taxes on the wealthy, reducing the cost of living, and limiting the influence of major corporations.
Socialists in Congress
Newsweek reinforces this reading by noting that the number of members of the Democratic Socialists of America in the House of Representatives is likely to double after the November elections, to reach 5 members, which is the largest representation of the movement in its modern history.
The Executive Director of the “Our Revolution” organization, Joseph Gevarghese, confirms that what is happening “is not a sudden wave, but rather the result of 10 years of work that has now become visible,” considering that the left is no longer marginal within the Democratic Party, but rather has an organizational structure capable of influencing its decisions.
The magazine indicates that this expansion may not stop at 5 members, as the movement is still supporting other candidates in different states, which may give it a more influential bloc within Congress.
The number of members of the Democratic Socialists of America in the House of Representatives is likely to double after the November elections, reaching 5 members, which is the largest representation of the movement in its modern history.
Between optimism and warning
Despite this momentum, left-wing opponents within the party believe that the road to the White House is still long. The Guardian quotes centrist leaders warning that the party’s adoption of a socialist discourse will give Republicans a “political gift” by portraying all Democrats as “extremist socialists.”
Newsweek agrees with this proposition, citing Jim Kessler, vice president of the Third Way Foundation, as saying that the socialists “still represent a small part of the party,” warning that their continued growth may make Democrats “unwinnable at the national level.”
The magazine points out that most of this movement’s victories were achieved in safe democratic circles, while the swing states remain more conservative toward leftist slogans, despite the decline in negative perception of the word “socialism” among younger generations.
Opinion polls also show, according to the two reports, that Democrats, especially those under fifty, have become more critical of capitalism and more accepting of economic justice programs, although this does not necessarily mean adopting socialism as an ideology.
White House Test
The Guardian believes that Mamdani himself cannot run for president because he was born outside the United States, but he may play the role of “kingmaker” within the party, with the start of competition between progressive figures such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ro Khanna to represent the left wing in the 2028 elections.
The two reports agree that the real battle no longer revolves around the term “socialism” as much as it relates to the left’s ability to convince the American voter that its economic problems result from the widening social gap and the influence of large corporations, and not from traditional policies alone.
The two reports conclude that the path to the White House is still full of obstacles, but the rise of the left within the Democratic Party is no longer a marginal phenomenon. If this movement succeeds in expanding its presence outside its traditional strongholds, the 2028 elections may become the first real test of the possibility of a leftist or democratic socialist president reaching the White House.
