About a third of Democrats and Democratic-leaning Americans now describe themselves as democratic socialists, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, a finding that lands as the party’s left-wing flank racks up a string of primary wins heading into the fall.
The poll, released Thursday, found democratic socialists are among the party’s staunchest supporters even as many are pushing for a broader overhaul of Democratic leadership — a tension that is playing out in primary contests around the country as the movement gains momentum.
Zohran Mamdani’s win over Andrew Cuomo last year in the New York City mayor’s race helped fuel the trend. Self-described democratic socialists have since won Democratic nominations in two competitive U.S. House primaries this cycle: Darializa Avila Chevalier unseated Adriano Espaillat, a five-term incumbent who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in New York’s 13th District, while Melat Kiros ousted Diana DeGette, who had held her Denver-based Colorado seat for roughly three decades, in that state’s 1st District.
Both races drew heavy national attention and outside spending, but both districts remain rated safely Democratic — Mr. Espaillat’s Upper Manhattan and Bronx-based seat and Ms. DeGette’s Denver-based district. The wins mark a shift in who represents deep-blue Democratic strongholds rather than a breakthrough in competitive or swing districts, a distinction that Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary will test on a statewide scale.
The next test comes in Wisconsin, where state Rep. Francesca Hong has emerged as the front-runner in the Democratic primary for governor. A recent Marquette Law School Poll found Ms. Hong at 38% among primary voters, up from 26% two weeks earlier, with former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes second at 16% and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley third at 7%. The Aug. 11 primary will show whether the democratic socialist brand can win outside deep-blue strongholds.
So who are these voters? According to the CNN poll, Democratic-aligned adults who identify as democratic socialists tend to be younger — 59% are under 45, compared with 46% of other Democratic-aligned adults — and are more likely to be White, 57% to 49%. They are also less likely to hold a college degree, 66% to 54%, and more likely to earn under $100,000 a year, 76% to 65%.
They are more motivated to vote this year, with 66% of registered voters in the group calling themselves extremely motivated, versus 57% of non-democratic socialists, though both blocs overwhelmingly back Democratic congressional candidates — 99% to 94%. Democratic socialists also view their own party more favorably, 68% to 60%, and take a harsher view of Republicans and GOP congressional leaders.
While democratic socialists are about as likely as other Democratic-aligned adults to say the party needs a top-to-bottom overhaul, they are more supportive of replacing current party leadership and nominating younger candidates, and they are nearly twice as likely to want the party to shift further left on policy.
The starkest divide is over Israel. Forty-eight percent of democratic socialists said they would be enthusiastic about a candidate who wants to cut U.S. aid to Israel, compared with just 20% of other Democratic-aligned adults — a gap that has shaped several primaries three years into the war in Gaza.
Nearly all democratic socialists who expressed an opinion said they view Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Mr. Mamdani favorably, and most other Democratic-aligned adults said they would be at least comfortable with their party nominating a democratic socialist: 64% said they’d be OK with it, while 36% said they would be upset or uneasy.
The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS from July 23-27 among 1,225 U.S. adults, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
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