At least 65 candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America have advanced to contest state legislature seats in November's general election, according to a memo from the Republican State Leadership Committee obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital.
The candidates span 24 states, according to reporting from Zetik, and carry platforms that include defunding or abolishing police departments, left-wing economic policies, and demands for race-based reparations. The RSLC identified candidates who are DSA members, DSA endorsees, or self-identified members of the organization.
The Republican State Leadership Committee — the official GOP body tasked with winning state-level races — claims these contests could determine the future direction of the Democratic Party.
"The statehouse trend is also relevant because several prominent DSA-aligned Congressional candidates in 2026 have emerged from state and local political organizing," the RSLC memo reads. "These victories demonstrate one potential progression: movement organizations can help develop candidates locally and at the state level, provide them with political experience and organizational networks, and eventually support campaigns for Congress."
The memo continues: "The scale of that presence matters not only because DSA-aligned candidates could influence the direction of their state legislatures if elected, but because state legislative offices can provide a platform, governing experience, donor networks and organizational infrastructure for future campaigns for higher office."
THE PLAYBOOK: LOCAL OFFICE, NATIONAL POWER
Republicans argue the DSA is executing a long-game strategy familiar to anyone who watched the tea party movement reshape the GOP from the precinct level up — except this version comes with a defund-the-police platform and a reparations agenda that swing voters and independents may find unpalatable.
One candidate highlighted in the RSLC's research is Democratic New York State Sen. Jabari Brisport, whose campaign website states: "As a State Senator I will continue to do everything I can to end policing and incarceration in New York State." Brisport also supports decriminalizing prostitution, arguing that removing criminal penalties for sex workers while maintaining protections against trafficking and exploitation would help keep communities safe.
That's a sitting state senator in America's third-largest state calling for the end of policing as a governing philosophy — not a fringe activist shouting into a megaphone on a college campus.
The DSA's electoral strategy mirrors what the organization has built in New York City, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani — a self-described democratic socialist — won election in 2025. Conservative critics have pointed to Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as evidence that socialist-leaning politicians are overtaking the party's moderate wing.
ESTABLISHMENT DEMOCRATS PUSH BACK — BUT WHO'S WINNING?
Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel pushed back on the Republican characterization of his party's trajectory, pointing to New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger as examples of Democratic pragmatism.
"It is healthy for the Democratic Party to have debate between its progressive and moderate factions," Emanuel told 930 WFMD Free Talk, according to the outlet. He also warned that the Republican Party faces an exodus of its moderate wing once spearheaded by Mitt Romney and John McCain.
Emanuel, the former mayor of Chicago and one-time top adviser to President Barack Obama, distanced himself from the DSA's more radical positions while suggesting the group could have a place in the party if it adopted more moderate stances.
But the RSLC's data tells a different story. The organization's methodology — counting DSA members, endorsees, and self-identified members — reveals a movement that isn't waiting for permission from establishment Democrats to run for office. They're doing it anyway, and they're winning primaries.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR NOVEMBER
State legislatures control everything from police funding to education curricula to tax policy. They draw congressional districts. They set the rules for elections. When 65 DSA-aligned candidates appear on ballots across 24 states, the implications reach far beyond local politics.
The RSLC memo makes clear that state legislative offices serve as proving grounds — places where candidates build donor networks, gain governing experience, and establish the organizational infrastructure needed to run for Congress.
For conservatives, the message is straightforward: these races matter. While national media focuses on congressional contests and presidential politics, the ground floor of government is being contested by candidates who openly call for ending policing and implementing race-based reparations.
Whether voters in those 24 states embrace or reject these candidates will determine not just the direction of their state legislatures, but the future of the Democratic Party itself.
Our Take
Here's what the legacy media won't tell you: this isn't a fringe phenomenon. Sixty-five candidates. Twenty-four states. Candidates who want to abolish the police and hand out reparations based on skin color.
The DSA isn't hiding anymore. They're running for office, winning primaries, and building the infrastructure to take over the Democratic Party from the ground up. Rahm Emanuel can talk about "healthy debate" all he wants, but when sitting state senators are calling for the end of policing, the debate is already over on the left.
The Republican State Leadership Committee is right to sound the alarm. State legislatures are where the real power lives — redistricting, election laws, law enforcement funding, education. Lose those seats, and conservatives lose the ability to shape the rules of the game for a generation.
Patriots, this is your wake-up call. The socialists are coming for your statehouse. They're on the ballot in November. Are you going to let them walk in, or are you going to show up and stop them?
The choice is yours. And it's on the ballot.
