New York City Democrats just delivered a verdict on three sitting members of Congress, including a powerful committee chairman. They also humiliated one of Donald Trump's most relentless impeachment cheerleaders, all in favor of candidates who want to abolish ICE, abolish prisons, and erase the southern border altogether. Republicans are calling it a gift. Is it?
Darializa Avila Chevalier didn't just beat Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) in New York's 13th Congressional District. She buried him, and she did it by running to his left on everything that matters to actual Americans. Espaillat chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He's about as establishment as Democrat Party politics gets. None of that mattered. Chevalier ran on shutting down prisons, eliminating ICE, erasing the border entirely, and stripping funding from police departments. She also opposed deporting illegal immigrants, period, including violent criminals. Voters in the district said yes to all of it.
Then there's Claire Valdez. In New York's 7th District, Valdez ran on handing citizenship and voting rights to people who entered the country illegally, covering transgender medical treatments with taxpayer money, and scrapping private health insurance for every American, not just the people on Obamacare. She won.
And in New York's 10th District, Brad Lander didn't just beat Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.); he demolished him, taking nearly 65% of the vote. Goldman wasn't some moderate either. He was one of the loudest anti-Trump voices in the entire Democrat Party caucus and led the charge to impeach President Trump. The voters of his own district decided he wasn't leftist enough.
Zohran Mamdani, who has become the new Democrat Party kingmaker, backed all three winners. And Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters thinks Republicans should be thrilled about it.
"That's what the left is putting out. It's these radical leftists that are being elected. They're being inspired by Mamdani, AOC, Bernie Sanders," Gruters said on Newsmax. "They're running all across the country, and the only good news is in a lot of these districts where it's actually competitive districts. If they're putting up these radicals, we're getting a lot of favorable matchups. It's the mainstream. This is what's happened to their Party. They've gone so far to the left. This is normal. But the people are going to reject this at the polls."
He's not wrong that the Democrat Party has drifted into territory most Americans don't recognize, but will that have an impact nationwide? CNN's Harry Enten dug into the numbers, and the answer isn’t all that complicated.
Related: Even Jessica Tarlov Can't Deny How Bad the NYC Primaries Went for the Dems
“What is true in New York City in a Democratic primary ain't necessarily true nationwide with the general electorate," Enten said. Democrat Socialists of America carry a net favorable rating of +17 points among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. Among all voters, that number flips to 27 points underwater, a 44-point swing in the wrong direction for the left.
The same gap shows up for the word "socialism" itself.
"One of the trends that we have seen is in among Democrats, socialism has become more popular over the last decade and a half," Enten said. Positive views of socialism among Democrats jumped from 50% in 2010 to 66% today. Among everyone else, the number hasn't budged: 29% then, 30% now. "Socialism has become increasingly popular among Democrats, but it is a much tougher sell in the rest of the electorate," Enten said.
Polls show socialism is on the rise in the Democrat party but still highly unpopular amongst the overwhelmingly majority of Americans.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 25, 2026
CNN: “Socialism has become increasingly popular among Democrats, but it is a much tougher sell in the rest of the electorate." pic.twitter.com/2vysympwRW
That's the trap. The Democrat Party's base is rewarding candidates who'd be unelectable in a general election almost anywhere outside a deep-blue House district. Mamdani-style socialism wins primaries in Manhattan and Queens. Suburban swing voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Arizona are a different story entirely, and those are the voters who decide control of Congress.
Gruters is counting on Democrats nominating more DSA-aligned candidates in swing districts they can't afford to lose. Given what just happened in New York, he might not have to wait long. The Democrat Party isn't being pulled left by some fringe element anymore. And the entire country can see it. Republican candidates nationwide can use the NYC primaries against their own Democrat opponents, aligning them with the policies that most Americans find repugnant. In other words, Republicans don't need to manufacture a socialism scare for the midterms. The Democrat Party is doing that work for them, and it could cost Democrats the House in November.
