After progressive wins in state-level Democratic primaries, New York boasts a legislature that may be "one of the most liberal in the nation" by November, the New York Times reported Friday.
The primary wins occurred in state seats that nearly all lean Democratic, setting up a progressive sweep come Election Day. The total number of potential new members could amount to nearly two dozen.
"Socialism won," tweeted candidate Zohran Mamdani after defeating incumbent Queens assemblywoman Aravella Simotas.
In what the Times called a "high-water mark" for the Democratic Socialists of America, the party's candidates won five New York primary races this election cycle.
Not limited to state seats, the phenomenon of a leftward shift in the Democratic Party has spilled over into New York's congressional delegation. Former school principal and Democratic Socialist party member Jamaal Bowman defeated Rep. Eliot Engel, a 16-term incumbent and House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, earlier this month. Unseating one of Congress's staunchest Israel hawks, Bowman's victory signals "change is coming" to the Democratic Party's position on the Jewish state, columnist Peter Beinart said.
Victories for the progressive wing of the party come during a crisis for American cities. Unemployment, poverty rates, and a wave of deadly shootings afflict major metropolitan areas nationwide. In New York, shootings are up roughly 60 percent compared with last year.
Many progressives have embraced criminal justice reform proposals—including defunding the police—that some worry will worsen the current urban malaise. "Today's progressives, many of whom didn't live through [the crime wave of 1961-1991], may not remember [it]," a recent Washington Free Beacon editorial reads. "Enabled by their allies on the 'right,' they are embracing policies that will beget a 21st century crime wave."