Young swing-state voters cozy up to Democratic Socialists, say party establishment must ‘learn’ from DSA wins
Gen Z and young Millennial voters in Michigan who are leaning blue for the midterm election say they welcome the ideas of the Democratic Socialists of America, with a couple of voters agreeing that Americans should abolish the Senate.
Fox News Digital was on the ground at Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed's "Students v. Billionaires" rally at Michigan State University on Sept. 11 and at the Detroit Health Department's annual block party, where young Democratic voters said rising costs and the complacency of the Democratic establishment have made the DSA more appealing to them.
"I feel as if they actually focus on the people," said Detroit resident Shelby Campbell, who is also a 2023 Wayne State University graduate. "It's not as, I guess, capitalistic or just bought into the system. They want to do good, but they are just another big organization, and I think we just need to get rid of all the political parties and be independent."
So far this election cycle, dozens of Democratic Socialists of America candidates have won their primary races, including Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney, who defeated incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich.
But some of the biggest upsets came out of New York, where New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialists of America member, saw three candidates he endorsed — Claire Valdez, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Brad Lander — win their Democratic congressional primaries.
The flurry of DSA-backed primary victories has put Republicans on the offensive while fueling concern among some Democrats about the socialist movement’s growing influence within the party.
Noel Otteson is a sophomore at Michigan State University. He described himself as a "leftist" and "anti-capitalist," but he said he supports El-Sayed for his Medicare for All stance and his promise to get money out of politics.
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"I believe in the power of people and democracy over corporations and oligarchs running everything, putting millions upon millions if not billions of dollars into Congress too," Otteson told Fox News Digital.
"The system is rigged against the average person and is in favor of corporations and special interests and lobbyists," Otteson continued.
Otteson said he supports the DSA's proposal to abolish the U.S. Senate, which he called "undemocratic."
"The way that the Senate is set up is inherently undemocratic," Otteson said. "I'm someone who always, always, prioritizes democracy, and the Senate isn't that."
"Some states hold more power than others based on population, and I would probably advocate for a more parliamentary system, you know, things like the U.K. and a lot of other European countries have, or most other countries have actually," Otteson said.
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He proposed that the House of Representatives should be expanded.
And in the heart of Detroit, Jahdante Smith, who is a Green Party candidate for District 9 of the Michigan House of Representatives, agreed that the Senate has got to go.
"Their stance on abolishing the Senate, I think that is something that can work, only because the Senate is one of the most exclusionary clubs in politics and is also very, very hard to get into, and I think if you have a Republican and Democrat in the U.S. Senate in one state, they kind of cancel each other out, and they really don't get anything positive done," Smith told Fox News Digital.
Smith said he supports the DSA's anti-ICE agenda and Medicare for All proposals, but wants to see the organization bring about actual change.
"I support their ideas, but I love to see them have more traction in getting things actually done. Policy is something that you have to enact. It's not bills die in Congress, bills die on Capitol Hill every day," Smith told Fox News Digital. "You have to be able to get those bills passed through. I do support their stance on anti-ice."
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Blake, a Michigan State University freshman, said he likes a lot of what the Democratic Socialists of America is pushing but said he's not on board with everything on its agenda, including abolishing the Senate.
"The standard democrat has shown themselves to more or less be incapable of standing up for themselves and standing up for what's right," Blake told Fox News Digital. "So I've leaned on, I've decided to take my allegiances with further parties on more extreme sides of leftism because they can do what needs to be done."
"And I feel like that's a lesson that normal Democrats need to learn," Blake continued.