After a primary season of upsets over Democratic incumbents, the Democratic Socialists of America faces a broader test Tuesday: whether its momentum can reach beyond the party’s safest strongholds.
The group’s website lists more than 130 candidates for local, state, and federal offices as well as dozens of ballot measures. Many are running as Democrats in heavily Democratic areas. In Rhode Island, one is taking a different route.
Brittany Kubicek, a 33-year-old Navy veteran and mechanical engineer, is running for the Rhode Island House of Representatives in District 5 as an independent socialist. She is challenging Democratic Rep. Anthony DeSimone, who has held the seat since 2023 and serves as a deputy majority leader.
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Kubicek, who served in the Navy from 2013 to 2019 and ran nuclear reactors on submarines, told Scripps News her campaign has knocked on more than 13,000 doors over eight months and spoken with “well over 2,000 people.” Only about 100, she said, told her to get off their porch.
“Most people are curious,” she said. “People are seeing that this system that we exist under right now is not working for them and it’s not in their best interest.”
Housing is the top concern, Kubicek said. Her platform calls for a statewide rent freeze, a $30 minimum wage, single-payer health care, and public ownership of the energy grid.
She is running outside the Democratic Party on purpose. “I don’t think we need to hide it anymore,” Kubicek said.
“Whether you want to call it a labor party, a socialist party, a workers party, something that is owned and controlled by working people rather than the Democratic Party establishment or in whatever state, Republican establishment or whatever it might be, something that working people are actually in charge of is what we're trying to build,” she added.
Her campaign highlights a growing focus on where the DSA movement can go next. Rhode Island’s chapter has moved away from reforming the Democratic Party and toward independent campaigns. Most DSA-backed candidates, however, continue to run as Democrats.
Many won their Democratic primaries that way. In Providence, DSA-backed David Morales ousted incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley. In Colorado, Melat Kiros beat longtime Rep. Diana DeGette. In New York, Darializa Avila Chevalier unseated five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat.
Kiros and Avila Chevalier are among five DSA-backed House candidates seeking to join returning Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib in Congress. Seven DSA-aligned congressional candidates are running in heavily Democratic districts and could produce the movement’s largest contingent in Congress
Michael Kazin, a Georgetown University historian who has studied the American left, told Scripps News socialism “is gaining ground especially among Democrats and especially in very blue areas.” He noted that DSA members in Congress “are all in very safe seats.”
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Younger voters remain central to the movement’s rise. A Pew Research Center survey found 39% of Democrats under 30 view democratic socialist leaders favorably, compared with 26% of those 50 and older.
Sara Almosawi, a former national co-chair of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, told Scripps News, “A lot of young people are very much down for DSA.”
“Young people are flocking towards democratic socialism because we're willing to take a stand on the billionaire-class to take a stand on Palestine, on the affordability crisis,” Almosawi said.
“Political power is built from the bottom up,” she said, referring to DSA candidates running for local offices. “We can build a bench that is ready to take on much more significant political power.”
Both Almosawi and Kaznin pointed out the need for democratic socialists in office to build coalitions among Democrats and Republicans.
“At the end of the day I still want us to be building working class power, and we need to do what it takes to get there and with a small block, we can't just do that alone,” Almosawi said.
"Every party to become a majority party in this country has to be a big tent,” Kazin said.
Kazin said the movement’s long-term appeal will depend on effective governing. He pointed to the early 20th century “sewer socialism” in Milwaukee when socialist officials won support by delivering basic services.
“It depends on how well Socialists govern in the end,” he said. “That is the litmus test.”
Tuesday also brings tests of DSA-backed candidates outside Congress. For Kubicek, the stakes go beyond one seat and Election night.
“We’ve talked to thousands of people about socialism,” she said. “Now let’s show them what a socialist is really about -- win, lose or draw.”
