Most Americans first heard about the Democratic Socialists of America during the 2016 Democratic primary. The rise of the “Bernie Bro” and Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) so-called “democratic socialism” stood in blatant opposition to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s corrupt Washington-insider politics. Despite Sanders’s eventual loss, his calls for socialism resonated with many young people.

By 2017, the DSA had grown to 25,000 members, and by July 4, 2026, amid the political turmoil of the 2020s, it had grown to 120,000 members. The budding relevance of the newly popular organization has led to over 100 primary upsets in the 2026 Democratic primaries and has led the once-fringe faction on the left wing of the Democratic Party into the mainstream.