# How the D.S.A. Learned to Love Elections

> D.S.A. members in Los Angeles endorse Nithya Raman for mayor after internal debate over socialist ideology.
- Title: How the D.S.A. Learned to Love Elections · The New Yorker
- Summary: D.S.A. members in Los Angeles endorse Nithya Raman for mayor after internal debate over socialist ideology.
- Keywords: d.s.a, nithya raman, los angeles, mayoral election, democratic socialists of america, socialist majority caucus, groundwork, zohran mamdani, keshav kundassery, seattle, politics, news
- Source: The New Yorker — https://newyorker.com/magazine/2026/10/26/how-the-dsa-learned-to-love-elections
- Author: Benjamin Wallace-Wells
- Published: 2026-10-18T10:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: d.s.a, nithya raman, los angeles, mayoral election, democratic socialists of america, socialist majority caucus, groundwork, zohran mamdani, keshav kundassery, seattle, politics, news
## Rafael Jaime prepares for D.S.A. endorsement vote
Rafael Jaime, a thirty-seven-year-old U.C.L.A. Ph.D. candidate, counts five hundred and forty-one registered D.S.A. members in L.A. to persuade them to endorse Nithya Raman for mayor.
## D.S.A. is small but influential
The D.S.A. has just under one hundred and thirty thousand members, a hundred and twenty-three D.S.A.-backed candidates won primaries since 2025, including nineteen for Congress.
## D.S.A. internal conflict over Nithya Raman
The Socialist Majority Caucus and Groundwork caucus disagree on whether Nithya Raman, a housing advocate, is a socialist, with Groundwork claiming she dissembles on socialist ideology.
## Groundwork claims Raman dissembles on socialism
Groundwork argues Raman, who joined D.S.A. in 2019, does not believe in socialism as an ideology, method of analysis, or political movement.
## D.S.A. endorsement vote results
Raman won sixty-six percent of the L.A. chapter’s vote for endorsement, securing the D.S.A.’s first mayoral candidate.
## Rafael Jaime’s background
Jaime, a U.C.L.A. Ph.D. candidate, leads a union representing sixty thousand higher-education workers across the University of California system.
## Keshav Kundassery’s perspective
Keshav Kundassery, an M.D.-Ph.D. student, believes the D.S.A. must shed ideological purity to become a mass socialist party electing officials.
## D.S.A. members’ political identity
D.S.A. members are often described as 'downwardly mobile' or 'the precariat,' but Jaime and Kundassery have stable careers and ambitions.
## D.S.A. electoral strategy
The D.S.A. targets districts where Sanders performed well and where there is a large base of renters to build political influence.
## Zohran Mamdani’s impact
Zohran Mamdani, a D.S.A. member elected mayor of New York in 2025, inspired a wave of D.S.A.-backed candidates winning primaries.
## Nithya Raman’s campaign
Nithya Raman, a housing advocate, ran for city council after organizing East L.A. residents concerned about homelessness and was endorsed by the D.S.A.
## D.S.A. internal debate on Raman
The Socialist Majority Caucus and Groundwork caucus debated whether Raman, a housing advocate, is a socialist, with Groundwork claiming she dissembles on socialist ideology.
## D.S.A. endorsement vote outcome
Raman won sixty-six percent of the L.A. chapter’s vote for endorsement, securing the D.S.A.’s first mayoral candidate.
## D.S.A. members’ optimism
D.S.A. members in Los Angeles believe they can transform politics in the city, with Raman as their first mayoral candidate.
## D.S.A. national growth
The D.S.A. gained forty thousand members nationwide in the year since Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York.
## D.S.A. electoral strategy in action
D.S.A. members organized patrols of Home Depot parking lots to observe and report ICE activity during the 2025 wildfires.
## Key takeaway

D.S.A. members in Los Angeles endorse Nithya Raman for mayor after internal debate over socialist ideology.