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Candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani swept the state’s Democratic primaries this week, to the chagrin of corporate interests and party elite. Pundits are calling the political insurgency “Blue MAGA” or “the Democrats’ Tea Party,” but the group behind the victory already has a name — the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — and its grassroots strategy is paying off at the polls.
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with law professor Zephyr Teachout and Jacobin founder Bhaskar Sunkara to break down New York City’s primary results, the rise of the DSA, and whether the socialist revolution could take root in the rest of the country.
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TRANSCRIPT
Following is an automated, unedited transcription of this episode. The text may contain grammatical or spelling errors, especially for proper nouns, or attribute text to the wrong speaker. If you plan to quote any part of this transcript, please first confirm that it is correct by listening to the audio.
[00:00:00] David Sirota: From The Lever's reader-supported newsroom, it's Lever Time. I'm David Sirota. This week, another earthquake hit American politics. In New York City, three candidates backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani ended up winning their Democratic US House primaries, including two who defeated incumbent Democratic members of Congress.
Brad Lander defeated incumbent Congressman Dan Goldman, Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated incumbent Congressman Adriano Espaillat, and Claire Valdez defeated the anointed successor to incumbent Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez. Some are saying the news is yet more proof that there's now a Democratic Tea Party, and this Democratic Tea Party seems fueled by the Democratic Socialists of America.
So today, we're talking to two people who've been involved deeply in New York politics. Law professor and a person The New York Times has called the godmother of the dissatisfaction against the status quo, Zephyr Teachout, and the editor of Jacobin and the publisher of The Nation, Bhaskar Sunkara, one of the longtime leading voices of the socialist movement in America.
