Dem Senator Alex Padilla says DSA candidate surge is just ‘democracy playing itself out’
“Look, the way I see it, it’s a democracy playing itself out.”
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“Look, the way I see it, it’s a democracy playing itself out.”
Democrat Senator Alex Padilla has said that it is just part of democracy "playing itself out" as members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have been winning recent elections with the Democrat Party.
He was asked by a reporter in an interview about the DSA having a lot of momentum, even in his state of California. "Are Democratic Socialists welcome in the Democratic Party?" the reporter asked the Senator.
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"Look, the way I see it, it's a democracy playing itself out. Right, people are running for office, either as a Democrat or Republican or other political party or independent and then having to make their case to the voters," Padilla said.
"And so, in some places, candidates affiliated with DSA are winning. I think because of the agenda, because of their message and their campaign style, there's a lot to respect about that, and learn from that," Padilla added.
DSA-backed candidates for Congress have won Democrat primaries in New York and in Colorado, and that is helping to bolster other far-left candidates in races around the nation. Just hours after DSA-backed Melat Kiros beat out 15-term Democrat Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado, former Rep. Cori Bush said on social media, "On August 4th, St. Louis will do the same."
Bush has been endorsed by DSA and after being unseated in her previous election, is running again for the midterms in 2026. Before the win from Kiros in Colorado, there were multiple DSA and Zohran Mamdani-backed candidates that won in New York.
A trio of far-left candidates, Claire Valdez, Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier, were able to pull out wins in their Democrat primaries, two of which were against incumbents.
The DSA has been critical of very progressive Democrats and have routinely taken controversial positions such as abolishing the Senate. With the DSA becoming more entrenched within the Democrat Party, some more moderate Democrats have been trying to separate themselves off in opposition to the surge of far-left candidates.
Others, such as Padilla, have indicated that they are more welcoming to the far-left in their messaging.
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