FIRST ON FOX — Dozens of individuals backed by the Democratic Socialists of America are set to appear on ballots as candidates for state legislature seats on Election Day, something Republicans say could set in motion a trend that transforms the Democratic Party. At least 65 DSA-aligned candidates have advanced to contest state legislative seats in November’s general election. The Republican State Leadership Committee — the official GOP body responsible for ensuring state-level conservative victories — claimed that these races could very well determine the future of the Democratic Party, according to a memo obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital.
"The statehouse trend is also relevant because several prominent DSA-aligned Congressional candidates in 2026 have emerged from state and local political organizing," the memo reads. "These victories demonstrate one potential progression: movement organizations can help develop candidates locally and at the state level, provide them with political experience and organizational networks, and eventually support campaigns for Congress." SOCIALISTS CHEER ‘SHOCKWAVE’ PRIMARY NIGHT AS DSA-BACKED CANDIDATES WIN, ADVANCE ACROSS THE MAP "The scale of that presence matters not only because DSA-aligned candidates could influence the direction of their state legislatures if elected, but because state legislative offices can provide a platform, governing experience, donor networks and organizational infrastructure for future campaigns for higher office," it continues. The RSLC's methodology included candidates who are DSA members, DSA endorsees or self-identified members of the organization.
DSA-affiliated candidates identified by the RSLC take positions on a number of issues that crucial swing voters and independents may find extreme, including defunding or abolishing police departments, left-wing economic policies and demanding race-based reparations. Opposition to traditional policing has emerged as a prominent issue among some of the DSA-aligned state legislative candidates identified by Republicans. "As a State Senator I will continue to do everything I can to end policing and incarceration in New York State," Democratic State Sen.
Jabari Brisport’s campaign website reads. Brisport also supports decriminalizing prostitution, arguing that removing criminal penalties for sex workers while maintaining protections against trafficking and exploitation would help keep communities safe. TALARICO PUT ON DEFENSE AFTER 2020 COMMENTS ABOUT DEFUNDING POLICE RESURFACE: 'WE MUST REPLACE' Over in Wisconsin, Democratic State Rep.
Ryan Clancy has stood by his statement that police work has "no dignity or value." "It means that American policing has always been bad and it always will be," Clancy told a local outlet in 2023, alleging that American police forces have their roots in slave patrols. "It’s not like we can get back to this to the early days… American policing… [is] epically racist and classist because that’s a dead end. That is the point of American policing." Clancy told Fox News Digital that his comments concerned officers who abused their authority over sex workers, although his original remarks and subsequent 2023 interview criticized policing more broadly as an institution he argued was inherently racist and could not be reformed.
He concurred with the RSLC's assertion that DSA-aligned candidates are shaping the future of the Democratic Party. Eleanor Chávez, running with the DSA’s backing in New Mexico, meanwhile has called Immigration and Customs Enforcement "fascist" and compared its agents to the KKK. Republicans in New Mexico have condemned such rhetoric, arguing that it could spur people to commit violence against law enforcement officers.
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