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Republicans suffered a statistically bleak showing in the 2025 elections, but the losses went beyond the scoreboard.
Across several jurisdictions – including the nation’s largest city – voters elevated socialist, socialist-aligned and far-left Democrats to public office, underscoring an ideological shift that extended well past individual races.
Here are the top five races won by such leaders preparing to take office in the new year.
1. ZOHRAN MAMDANI: NEW YORK
New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, D-Astoria, will take the oath of office as is tradition as the ball drops to mark New Year’s Day in Times Square.
Mamdani, who was born in Kampala, Uganda, follows British-born Abraham Beame as the only other immigrant New York City mayor since the Colonial era.
Mamdani was endorsed by and associated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and ran on a platform of several public freebies including transit and childcare as well as rent freezes and higher taxes on corporations.
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Zohran Mamdani delivers a victory speech at a mayoral election night watch party, on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in New York City. (Yuki Iwamura/AP)
The millennial defeated old-guard Democrat Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa in the November election. Mamdani garnered just over 50% of the vote, leading Cuomo supporters to blame Sliwa – the founder of the anti-crime Guardian Angels who accrued about 7% of the vote – for having a socialist installed in America’s financial capital.
2. KATIE WILSON: WASHINGTON
While much of the nation was transfixed by the New York City mayoral election, a similar dynamic was playing out on the opposite coast, in Seattle.
Mayor Bruce Harrell, a Democrat viewed as more moderate than other local members of the party, won his 2021 election on a platform of combating homelessness, property crimes, racial violence and other issues.
“Look at what Seattle has become,” he said when running to replace Jenny Durkan, who had overseen the city when the anarchist CHAZ installation was erected in the middle of town.
Harrell’s re-election, however, was unsuccessful this fall, as socialist-aligned Democrat Katie Wilson edged him out by 50-49 in the nonpartisan general election.
Wilson previously told CNN that she ran for mayor due to the city’s affordability crisis, adding that “being socialist is first of all about a belief in good governance. It’s damaging when people lose faith in their ability to tackle big challenges.”
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Wilson co-founded a group called the Transit Riders Union and has supported higher taxes on wealthier citizens – an effort Harrell had reportedly balked at.
She did not run as a socialist-in-name, but “doesn’t shy away from the label,” according to the Downtown Seattle Association.
3. MULTIPLE CANDIDATES: NEW JERSEY
Two new members of the city council in New Jersey’s second-largest city will be ones aligned with the DSA.
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Jersey City will see Ward D – north of I-78 and the Holland Tunnel to New York City – represented by DSA member Jake Ephros, and Ward B – comprising the west side of the city along the Hackensack River – represented by Joel Brooks, who is considered DSA-aligned.
Ephros’ campaign flyers included imagery of a red rose – a symbol associated with socialism and the far left since France’s Socialist Party adopted it around 1969.
He reportedly called the election of himself and Brooks a “watershed” moment, according to the New Jersey Monitor.
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The Monitor cited an official from the Democratic Socialists of America who backed the two candidates and that the group’s fundraising slogan was “socialist cash takes out capitalist trash.”
Ephros told the outlet that democratic socialists are not just running on the idea of “vote for me, I’m going to fight Trump,” but instead a more technocratic message of being new, elected leaders who will improve quality of life like street paving and reliable trash pickup.
Brooks’ campaign page showed he was endorsed by the SEIU union, Hudson County AFL-CIO, CAIR Action of New Jersey – a branch of the pro-Muslim political group – and the Climate Revolution Action Network.
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“[T]he status quo has failed,” the site cites Brooks as telling the outlet Hudson County View.
“Jersey City needs council members who are not a rubber stamp for corporate and real estate funders and police unions.” Brooks’ site also features the Red Rose insignia.
While not running as a socialist, progressive Jersey City Mayor-elect James Solomon upset Democratic establishment candidate, former Gov. Jim McGreevey.
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McGreevey notably resigned his Trenton office amid scandal in 2004 – when, while married to first lady Dina Matos, admitted to an affair with a male staffer whom he appointed to a top security role, declaring “I am a gay American.”
4. MULTIPLE CANDIDATES: MINNESOTA
Amid the social services scandals enveloping the Democrat-controlled state of Minnesota, two of the DSA National Election Commission-endorsed candidates won their bids for Minneapolis City Council.
Soren Stevenson, who supports rent control among other left-wing platforms according to the progressive outlet Jacobin, won a seat in a ward represented by the outgoing council president whom he had unsuccessfully challenged in the last municipal election.
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“We want a city that is safe for everyone, where police are accountable to us and where everyone in the city has a warm place to sleep at night that they can afford,” Stevenson said after his win, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Stevenson made news during the George Floyd protests, after he received a $2.4 million settlement following an incident in which he lost an eye after allegedly being hit with a 40mm less-than-lethal projectile from a police weapon.
Stevenson had congregated with a large group near a highway on-ramp on May 31, 2020, when he was hit – an incident in which he accused a SWAT officer of firing directly at him.
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“I did not riot, I did not vandalize, I caused no damage to people or property, did not even disobey police orders,” Stevenson said, according to the AP.
Another socialist candidate, Robin Wonsley, won her third term on Minneapolis’ City Council.
5. DANNY NOWELL: NORTH CAROLINA
One of the most politically progressive communities in the South elected a DSA-endorsed candidate to its town council this year.
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Carrboro, a town in Orange County that is considered part of North Carolina’s urban “Triangle” region comprising the confluence of I-85, US-64, US-70 and I-40, re-elected Danny Nowell to its town council.
Carrboro has a history of supporting progressive candidates and causes, including becoming one of the first such cities to pass resolutions opposing the Iraq War.
It also declared itself a “Fourth Amendment Town” earlier this year, suggesting ICE and federal immigration enforcement are not respecting constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, and explicitly calling out alleged “overreach” of Article II powers by the Trump administration.
Its left-wing body politic is considered an extension of the collegiate progressivism of nearby Chapel Hill, where the University of North Carolina’s flagship campus sits.
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The DSA’s webpage bolstered Nowell for convening a Community Safety Task Force and bringing a lawsuit against major regional utility Duke Energy for what it called its “role in climate deception.”
Nowell, who is White, also supports “racial equity” endeavors, according to his official town biography.