2024 NYC DSA Convention: Building a Left-Wing Strategy for Resistance Under Trump

The 2024 NYC DSA Convention wasn’t just a convention—it was a wake-up call. The convention exposed significant weaknesses in left unity and strategy, weaknesses that are now more consequential than ever as Trump’s presidency amplifies reactionary threats.

Delegates entered with hopes of shaping the chapter’s direction, eager to push forward transformative demands on issues like anti-imperialism, DSA’s base-building strategy, and police abolition. However, the left-wing delegates and their proposals were soundly defeated, underscoring how challenging it is for the left to overcome the entrenched dominance of the Socialist Majority Caucus (SMC) and Groundwork (GW). These two leading caucuses came prepared, leveraging both the strength of their established networks and a disciplined approach to convention strategy. In contrast, the left found itself out-organized, politically bested, and, at times, divided in its strategy.

Representing Central Brooklyn DSA as part of the Brick by Brick (BxB) slate, I experienced firsthand how we won 31 out of 45 of the seats we contested but didn’t have enough candidates on our slate to compete for more delegate positions. Even with close to 70% of our candidates winning, our success rate fell short of SMC’s 89% and GW’s 83%. Without more leftists contesting seats and increasing our win rate, the balance of power remained firmly in the hands of moderates. Key proposals advocating for campaigns like “Stop Cop City” and demanding a firm anti-Zionist stance failed to gain majority support, exemplifying how SMC and GW’s cautious, reformist goals overpowered the left’s radical vision.

In this article, I’ll break down SMC and GW’s winning strategy and tactics, the challenges and fragmentation that hampered the left, and how the NYC DSA left can reforge a path forward by adopting a cohesive, mass campaigning approach.

In this article, I’ll break down SMC and GW’s winning strategy and tactics, the challenges and fragmentation that hampered the left, and how the NYC DSA left can reforge a path forward by adopting a cohesive, mass campaigning approach. SMC and GW’s strategy effectively oriented toward mobilizing less radical DSA members, while their tactics included running a strong slate of delegates and using organized lists to whip votes for delegate victories. The left’s path forward should leverage the momentum of Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign to elevate demands that truly resonate with NYC’s working class—tenant rights, anti-imperialism in labor, police abolition, and the fight against austerity.

The Anti-Zionist Resolution: Principles, Legal Concerns, and Procedural Debate

Perhaps the most significant proposal at the convention was the anti-Zionist resolution, aimed at formally committing NYC DSA to an anti-Zionist stance and Palestinian solidarity. With Trump back in office, his administration is likely to intensify support for Israel’s far-right government, making this stance more urgent than ever. The resolution outlined specific standards, including requiring NYC DSA-endorsed candidates to support BDS, avoid affiliation with Zionist lobby groups like AIPAC and J Street, and back policies aligned with Palestinian liberation. These policies were to be enforced by a corrective process: if an endorsee fails to uphold these commitments, they will meet with NYC-DSA leadership to realign. If they don’t recommit, the endorsement could be reconsidered. Crucially, the resolution was not retroactive, meaning that current endorsees would not be affected based on past actions.

Despite widespread support for the principles behind the resolution, moderates opposed it, citing concerns over potential legal complications, fears of a “membership purge,” and arguments that it restricted democratic choice by narrowing which candidates members could endorse. Some moderates also alleged that the resolution was unduly influenced by outside groups, asserting it bowed to pressure from Palestinian national movements and related organizations, despite the proposal’s development within NYC DSA.

Ultimately, the resolution’s defeat underscores how NYC DSA, under moderate leadership, is hindered by a reluctance to challenge the imperialist negligence of elected officials, even when the stakes are clear. With Trump’s re-election, the left’s uncritical electoralism risks weakening DSA’s ability to mount a genuinely independent and consistent opposition to U.S.-backed Israeli occupation and broader forces of capitalist imperialism, even as some progressive Democrats might shift their stance in response to Trump’s extremism. While NYC DSA’s electoral program remains under moderate leadership, controversies over unprincipled stances have exposed the chapter’s limitations, underscoring the urgent need for a genuine alternative to bourgeois electoralism that stands firmly against capitalist imperialism.

In place of the original resolution, SMC and GW passed their version of an anti-Zionist resolution. While comprehensive in rhetoric, the resolution remains largely symbolic, lacking enforceable measures.

In place of the original resolution, SMC and GW passed their version of an anti-Zionist resolution. While comprehensive in rhetoric, the resolution remains largely symbolic, lacking enforceable measures. Focusing on non-binding commitments and vague initiatives without explicit accountability mirrors SMC and GW’s broader strategy of symbolic appeasement—resolutions designed to placate political sentiment without requiring real shifts in practice or resources. This pattern of “appeasement” resolutions undermines any effort to build a principled, anti-imperialist DSA chapter that can meaningfully resist Trump’s authoritarian and imperialist agenda in the years to come.

Inside the Moderates’ Playbook: How SMC and GW Built Their Power Base

The dominance of SMC and GW wasn’t coincidental—it was years in the making, based on both a reformist political approach and a strong organizational apparatus that supports it. However, Trump’s return to office has exposed the dangers of NYC DSA’s moderate strategy, which relies on incrementalism and an electoral focus that often compromises on transformative change. The political landscape demands more than small, local victories; it requires a unified, bold response to protect vulnerable communities and actively resist a rightward shift across the country.

SMC and GW’s political strategy revolves around electoral work as the centerpiece of DSA’s role in NYC politics, appealing to members who want immediate wins over long-term revolutionary change. This approach has a natural pull: by focusing on pragmatic, achievable goals, SMC and GW attract members eager for visible progress, even if it’s small-scale or fleeting. However, the Trump presidency is poised to sweep away minor reforms, underscoring the limitations of these short-term strategies. The left knows that opportunist wins, sometimes achieved by compromising with the Democratic establishment, ultimately fail to address the systemic issues Trump’s administration is likely to amplify.

Examples abound: Jamaal Bowman’s vote to fund Israel’s Iron Dome, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s cautious stances on Palestine, and her increasing alignment with the Democratic Party establishment reveal the pitfalls of relying on candidates who prioritize immediate, “safe” wins over principled socialist positions. This reliance on cautious, opportunist electoral politics may be a practical strategy for building incremental power, but it leaves DSA vulnerable to compromising on critical issues, ultimately risking alignment with Democratic Party interests rather than a clear, independent socialist agenda.

This network risks positioning NYC DSA as merely a progressive wing within Democratic structures, rather than laying the groundwork for a strong movement capable of ultimately breaking away to form an independent socialist party.

Moderates’ success in mobilizing support within DSA is undeniable, but their focus on incremental electoralism, even as more acknowledge the Democratic Party’s limits, weakens the chapter’s capacity to build a genuinely transformative movement under a Trump presidency. Paid campaign staff, organizational resources, and alliances with Democratic networks have given SMC and GW an internal advantage, allowing them to steer DSA’s political vision. Yet without a bold, independent socialist agenda, this network risks positioning NYC DSA as merely a progressive wing within Democratic structures, rather than laying the groundwork for a strong movement capable of ultimately breaking away to form an independent socialist party.

While this centralized influence gave moderates an edge at the convention, enabling them to dominate key votes, Trump’s win underscores the limitations of this strategy. Without a more radical, action-oriented vision, NYC DSA may find itself unable to mount an effective response to right-wing policies or provide a genuine socialist alternative in a political environment increasingly hostile to marginalized groups.

Reckoning with Our Own Missteps: Isolation, Moralism, and Missed Opportunities

For the left, this convention laid bare how far we are from leading the chapter in a revolutionary direction. Brick by Brick, the primary left coalition, has poured energy into tenant organizing, mutual aid, and base-building, focusing on grassroots campaigns that often lack the visibility and shorter-term tangible wins of electoral work. However, our fragmented approach has isolated us from broader DSA efforts, leaving us unable to wield the kind of chapter-wide influence necessary to counter an administration that will likely escalate austerity, anti-immigrant policies, and police militarization. By focusing our efforts solely on grassroots programming rather than engaging more of the membership in organizing these initiatives, we’ve left ourselves siloed in spaces that, while valuable, lack the reach needed to rally large numbers for resistance.

Our tendency toward moralistic critiques has further alienated us from potential allies. While it is essential to call out opportunism, our focus on exposing its flaws without offering a structured, alternative electoral strategy has left us appearing reactive rather than constructive. Trump’s presidency should serve as a wake-up call to move beyond mere criticism. We need to build a positive, inclusive program that can unite DSA members across differences, create actionable pathways for involvement, and articulate a clear vision that resonates with NYC’s working class.

While it is essential to call out opportunism, our focus on exposing its flaws without offering a structured, alternative electoral strategy has left us appearing reactive rather than constructive.

This approach can be self-isolating, lowering our appeal not only among moderates but also undecided members who may view our constant criticisms of opportunism as obstructionist. And even when we recruit on the basis of opposition, it is hard to transform this recruitment into building power. Many members can be engaged through a “negative” critique —based on their disappointment or rejection of elected officials’ complicity in issues like genocide, for example. However, recruiting to our project on this basis lacks a clear path for these recruits to get involved beyond loudly resisting opportunism. We agree on what we are against, but do we agree on what we are for? On what is to be done? That is why it is crucial that we pay our negative resistance to opportunism with a positive alternative, explored in the section below. To be able to win over DSA membership towards our revolutionary politics, it is essential to be able to connect our short term goals to the longer term vision.

Moreover, our lack of a unified, long-term strategy for leadership development has been a significant weakness. Until recently, the left lacked a systematic approach to bringing like-minded organizers into leadership roles, leaving us without a sustainable leadership pipeline. However, this is beginning to change. Recent efforts to establish cross-caucus communication channels to elect left-wing delegates and now branch leadership mark an important shift toward consolidating power and building our capacity to lead. For example, in Central Brooklyn, the left now holds a majority on the Organizing Committee (OC) following an uncontested election, offering a potential model for consolidating branch-level power and developing a leadership pipeline grounded in shared political goals.

Moving forward, the left must commit to a unified vision that organizes for tangible, impactful results rather than merely opposing moderates. Our priorities—tenant organizing, anti-imperialism, and police abolition efforts—have broad support among members, yet these initiatives remain fragmented. To build effective resistance against Trump’s agenda and strengthen our socialist movement, we need an integrated strategy that combines grassroots mobilization with a clear electoral component, empowering us to transform isolated projects into cohesive, movement-building efforts.

The Positive Alternative To Opportunism: The Mass Campaigning Approach

This cohesive vision requires a tactical shift towards mass campaigning—a model that combines grassroots activism with strategic electoral work to offer a powerful alternative to SMC and GW’s incrementalism. Under Trump’s presidency, time is of the essence; there is no room for reformist strategies that trade transformative demands for short-term gains. Embracing mass campaigning enables NYC DSA to engage working-class communities around demands that address their urgent needs while advancing a bold socialist vision for systemic change.

Reform and Revolution’s (R&R) “mass campaigning” model offers a way to bridge this divide, engaging in electoral campaigns that also mobilize working-class communities around urgent issues like tenant rights, abolition, and anti-imperialism. This model refuses to dilute our socialist politics to accommodate lower levels of political consciousness; instead, it aims to elevate consciousness by mobilizing working people directly around struggles that connect to their daily lives. Rather than bending to the limits of voters’ existing views, we polarize elections around demands that resonate widely with the working class, making our campaigns an expression of the most pressing needs and aspirations of those who bear the brunt of Trump’s incoming policies.

In practice, this means we can run a socialist campaign that rallies broader forces, such as unions and progressive/leftists groups, even if they may not endorse our candidate directly. By focusing on issue-based initiatives, we can draw in support from groups committed to our causes, indirectly bolstering our electoral efforts. This dual approach helps us contest NYC’s political establishment without compromising on our principles. Through these coalition-based campaigns, we can elevate class consciousness, channel working-class anger into organized resistance, and build a socialist movement that inspires action far beyond NYC.

This model isn’t just theoretical—it has been proven effective by socialist campaigns like Kshama Sawant’s in Seattle. Sawant’s approach demonstrates that running socialists for office can mobilize broad working-class support and secure tangible wins when rooted in mass organizing and uncompromising demands. Her $15Now campaign not only achieved a historic minimum wage increase but also raised political consciousness in Seattle, ensuring sustained support for re-election and advancing a pro-worker agenda. This model can and should be adapted in NYC to counter Trumpism’s inevitable impacts on our city and push forward concrete working-class demands.

The stakes are clear: under Trump, a mass campaigning approach is more critical than ever. By grounding our campaigns in the material needs of working-class communities and addressing both local and federal issues, we can build NYC’s socialist movement and set a powerful national example. Mass campaigning isn’t merely an option; it’s the essential path to building the base and power we need to stand against Trump’s agenda and foster lasting change.

Lessons from Seattle: Kshama Sawant and the Power of a Mass Campaigning Approach

Kshama Sawant’s team has demonstrated that running socialist candidates can be a powerful force for the working class when paired with mass-based organizing and an unwavering commitment to key issues. For example, the $15Now campaign, with its independent treasury and support from unions and advocacy groups, made the $15/hour minimum wage the central issue in Sawant’s election, and Sawant led this demand as a revolutionary Marxist without compromise.

By running candidates who commit to this style of campaigning, we can build lasting influence for the left in NYC, achieve immediate wins like rent control and police demilitarization, and work toward larger systemic change.

Sawant’s team has repeatedly used this approach to sustain electoral wins and push a pro-worker agenda. Similar strategies have been effective in other countries, where leftist candidates have connected electoral efforts to key social movements. For example, People Before Profit member Paul Murphy secured a seat in the Irish Parliament through his leadership in the anti-water charges movement, and Militant Labour MP Terry Fields famously served jail time for his refusal to pay the anti-worker Poll Tax imposed by Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom.

For NYC DSA, Sawant’s model illustrates how a mass-based approach can combine electoral and grassroots organizing to build real power. Campaigns like Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral run and the Stop Cop City movement should follow this strategy, focusing on mobilizing working-class communities around specific, transformative demands. By running candidates who commit to this style of campaigning, we can build lasting influence for the left in NYC, achieve immediate wins like rent control and police demilitarization, and work toward larger systemic change. Sawant’s example shows that socialists can both win office and lead effectively, inspiring a revolutionary vision that meets today’s needs while laying a foundation for a socialist future.

Harnessing Revolutionary Potential: Zohran Mamdani’s Mayoral Campaign

The left’s involvement in Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign is crucial to ensuring that his run mobilizes and radicalizes NYC’s working class around transformative demands, especially as Trump’s presidency intensifies the need for bold opposition. Mamdani’s campaign represents one of our best opportunities to shift the city’s political landscape to the left and to build the organized resistance needed to challenge Trump’s agenda at a local level.

Zohran already demonstrates a commitment to issues like universal childcare, tenant protections, and canceling Cop City. However, as his campaign gains momentum, there may be pressure for him to moderate his positions to appeal to a broader electorate. In the current political climate, the left has no room to stand by and watch this drift happen. Instead, we must engage actively with his campaign, mobilizing our supporters to shape it into a movement that meets the challenges of a Trump presidency head-on.

With a mass campaigning strategy, Mamdani’s run for mayor can become a rallying point for socialist organizing in NYC, creating a model for how to combine electoral efforts with grassroots resistance.

By organizing alongside Mamdani’s campaign, we can anchor it in a mass campaigning approach that prioritizes mobilization over mere messaging. Through coordinated efforts independent from the campaign itself, we can engage tenants, anti-war activists, abolitionists, and others to ensure that the election is polarized around demands that resonate with NYC’s working class. This approach doesn’t just aim to win votes but to build a movement that stands in direct opposition to Trump’s reactionary agenda and rallies New Yorkers behind transformative policies.

Our task is to maximize the revolutionary potential of Zohran’s campaign. By reinforcing a class-struggle platform with grassroots organizing, we make it clear that this campaign stands for more than electoral gains—it’s a vehicle for empowering NYC’s working class to take on Trumpism locally. Through adjacent organizing, we can prevent any drift toward the center while shifting NYC’s political terrain further to the left. This approach keeps the campaign focused on critical demands like rent control, police demilitarization, and anti-imperialism, demonstrating that the left can contribute productively to electoral work without sacrificing our core principles.

With a mass campaigning strategy, Mamdani’s run for mayor can become a rallying point for socialist organizing in NYC, creating a model for how to combine electoral efforts with grassroots resistance. As Trump’s presidency threatens to accelerate harmful policies and heighten attacks on working-class communities, Mamdani’s campaign offers a way to inspire, mobilize, and build a powerful movement that stands ready to protect and empower the city’s most vulnerable.

Strengthening the Left: Building Long-Term Capacity in NYC DSA

For the NYC left to achieve sustained influence—especially under Trump’s presidency, where right-wing policies threaten to dismantle social safety nets, escalate policing, and erode workers’ rights—we need a structured approach to building long-term organizational capacity. One of the critical challenges the left has faced is a tendency toward short-lived bursts of organizing, often focused on moments like conventions or leadership elections. This reactive approach leaves us vulnerable to losing momentum and falling back into isolated grassroots work when we need sustained, citywide mobilization to combat Trumpism’s effects on NYC.

To build a resilient left in NYC, we need a steady pipeline of trained, dedicated organizers who can fill key roles within DSA, expanding our capacity to engage in chapter-wide campaigns and deepen NYC’s organizational base. This capacity-building effort goes beyond merely expanding our influence; it’s about creating the infrastructure necessary to resist and mitigate the impacts of Trump’s policies on NYC’s working-class communities. Creating this capacity requires a multi-pronged approach—recruitment, training, and mentorship—that can develop a new generation of leaders ready to fight for a socialist vision of NYC.

With a robust organizing capacity, NYC DSA can become a reliable base for revolutionary socialist organizing and a stronghold against Trump’s agenda, paving the way for a more radical chapter that’s prepared to defend NYC’s working class.

Central to this effort is a long-term commitment to training programs that equip members with skills in organizing, campaign strategy, and coalition-building. By prioritizing leadership development, the left can not only remain competitive within NYC DSA but can consolidate its gains and prevent moderate caucuses from reasserting dominance between conventions. Campaigns like Mamdani’s mayoral run and the Stop Cop City initiative offer ideal frameworks for this, as they mobilize broad bases of supporters who can transition into chapter roles and organizing positions beyond the campaign itself. By mentoring campaign volunteers and supporters to take on responsibilities within the chapter, we can build an enduring infrastructure of leaders who can resist Trump’s policies and organize long-term for transformative change.

In addition to leadership training, we must build clear pathways for involvement that go beyond moderate-controlled recruitment channels. This means creating accessible entry points into organizing that align with the left’s values and connect new members with tangible actions they can take in their communities. It’s crucial that these pathways guide members from initial involvement to more significant roles in the chapter, allowing them to gain organizing experience and understand the broader goals of socialist work in NYC.

A structured approach to leadership development and recruitment will ensure that the left isn’t relying on a small core of organizers, but cultivating a diverse group of leaders across the city. This approach solidifies a foundation from which to expand our reach and align momentum from campaigns like Mamdani’s with an internal infrastructure that keeps members engaged, well-organized, and prepared for future fights. With a robust organizing capacity, NYC DSA can become a reliable base for revolutionary socialist organizing and a stronghold against Trump’s agenda, paving the way for a more radical chapter that’s prepared to defend NYC’s working class.

Expanding Our Base: A Long-Term Strategy for NYC DSA

The disconnect between NYC DSA and the local working class has become even more problematic in light of Trump’s re-election, underscoring the need for a stronger, sustained presence in working-class communities. The Eon Huntley campaign earlier this year highlighted DSA’s challenge in reaching Black and Brown communities, as well as working-class neighborhoods that see DSA as largely absent except during election cycles. As we focus on developing infrastructure, cultivating leadership, and expanding our organizing capacity, we must deepen our roots in communities of color and working-class neighborhoods to create a truly representative, resilient DSA.

Building this base means making a sustained, intentional effort to recruit Black and Brown members into DSA, with a proactive strategy that goes beyond canvassing during campaign season. Harris’s defeat will inevitably bring calls from mainstream media and the Democratic Party to move further right, blaming the left for her loss. We must counter this fallacy by providing a message that resonates with people’s real, material conditions—especially as many are disillusioned by the Democratic Party’s failures.

To do this, we need to demonstrate to communities that DSA isn’t just an election-focused group, but a consistent ally fighting alongside them on issues that directly impact their lives. Taking inspiration from the Black Panthers’ mutual aid initiatives, NYC DSA must meet immediate community needs as part of its socialist organizing, offering real, tangible support where the state and the Democrats have fallen short. This solidarity approach builds trust and credibility, showing that DSA is ready to protect communities against Trump’s policies—not just during elections, but throughout the year. By doing so, we can strengthen a left-wing alternative that speaks to people’s lived realities rather than retreating into ineffective moderation.

The “Socialism is the People” proposal passed at the recent convention provides a roadmap for creating these genuine partnerships and expanding DSA’s social base. This strategy prioritizes intentional engagement with community organizations, local unions, tenant unions, and other working-class institutions. By establishing Community Solidarity Committees (CSCs), we can build long-term relationships that integrate DSA into the everyday struggles of NYC’s working class, connecting our socialist movement to grassroots concerns and material needs.

By investing in deep, long-term relationships across the city, NYC DSA can set a national example of how socialists can organize within working-class communities, proving that solidarity, not just electoral mobilization, is the path to enduring influence and radical change.

This phase-based strategy begins with mapping members’ connections to local institutions, setting the foundation for strategic partnerships that go beyond isolated actions. CSCs engage these groups in a structured way, ensuring that DSA’s support is not limited to single-issue campaigns but part of a sustained, mutual alliance. By linking these partnerships to larger campaigns, like Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral run and Stop Cop City, DSA can create a cohesive strategy that brings communities into the broader struggle against right wing policies.

In the final stages, we must work to bring collaborators into DSA spaces and support community events, building an ongoing exchange that strengthens DSA’s presence within these communities. Over time, this approach positions DSA as an organization that not only advocates for policy but actively invests in community resilience and support. By nurturing these relationships, NYC DSA can build a lasting base of support in working-class neighborhoods, especially those historically underserved by the left, transforming isolated campaigns into a formidable movement against Trump’s agenda.

This interconnected strategy not only broadens DSA’s reach but ensures that we’re building a movement capable of driving systemic change at the local level. By investing in deep, long-term relationships across the city, NYC DSA can set a national example of how socialists can organize within working-class communities, proving that solidarity, not just electoral mobilization, is the path to enduring influence and radical change.

Building Multi-Year Campaigns: Stop Cop City as a Model for NYC DSA

The Stop Cop City campaign emerged earlier this year, sparked by the NYC budget’s approval of $225 million to expand police training facilities. This mayoral decision, pushed through despite significant community opposition, has galvanized local and DSA-led mobilizations, demanding investment in community resources over increased militarization.

The campaign presents a crucial opportunity for NYC DSA to put a multi-year, mass campaigning approach into action. More than just opposition to a new police facility, it represents a broader call to challenge the militarization of policing and advocate for a city that prioritizes community well-being over surveillance and force. By committing to Stop Cop City as a sustained, multi-year effort, DSA can mobilize broad sections of NYC’s working class, connecting the fight against police militarization with larger struggles for racial justice, housing, and economic equity. This approach builds a long-term base of support, channels community anger into organized resistance, and develops leaders who can carry these principles into other areas of political work.

To be effective, Stop Cop City should be fully integrated into NYC DSA’s long-term strategy, incorporating steady, structured engagement with community groups, tenant unions, and neighborhood organizations across the city. Already, the campaign has several coalition partners, with a December event planned to include a teach-in and mutual aid initiatives. This follows the success of previous campaign events like June’s “People’s Library,” which engaged families with a pop-up library at the closed Brooklyn Public Library to protest funding cuts in favor of a $225 million Cop City project. This event helped illustrate how austerity measures harm communities, creating an immediate and powerful connection between residents’ material needs and the contradictions of capitalism.

By committing to Stop Cop City as a sustained, multi-year effort, DSA can mobilize broad sections of NYC’s working class, connecting the fight against police militarization with larger struggles for racial justice, housing, and economic equity.

The Stop Cop City campaign should serve as a blueprint for future multi-year campaigns. By focusing on locally resonant issues that also challenge structural inequalities, NYC DSA can replicate this mass campaigning model in other areas, such as universal rent control or renewable energy projects being delayed by political opposition. By anchoring campaigns in community material needs and sustaining them over time, NYC DSA can grow its influence, develop deeper trust within the city’s working-class communities, and create a lasting infrastructure for radical change across multiple fronts.

From Local Wins to National Strategy: Building Toward 2028

The NYC left’s approach—grounded in mass campaigns like Stop Cop City, Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, and the push for stronger community connections—offers a model that DSA chapters nationwide can emulate. NYC has one of the most developed electoral programs, positioning us to lead not only in running candidates and endorsees but in developing strong DSA leaders who can spearhead transformative movements. These locally-rooted victories don’t just bring gains to NYC; they build momentum and inspiration for a national strategy focused on uniting working-class struggles and showing that socialist organizing on a larger scale can bring fundamental changes to society.

To capitalize on these victories, we need a long-term perspective and strategic focus. Building relationships within local communities, engaging in mass campaigns, and developing leaders are essential next steps to lay the foundation for transformative actions over the coming years. As we look toward 2028, we envision this groundwork scaling up into a cohesive, nationwide movement capable of fundamentally shifting the political landscape.

In the years ahead, the left must remember that building a movement is not about isolated wins or temporary projects—it’s about laying a foundation, brick by brick. By learning from our successes in NYC and uniting local efforts under a shared vision, we can inspire a movement that isn’t merely reactive but proactive, setting the stage for working-class and socialist leadership across the country. Through disciplined organizing and a shared commitment to a long-term strategy, DSA can become a formidable force nationwide, paving the way for a future shaped by socialist values and working-class power.