ANALYSIS | Meet the Democratic Socialists going to Washington

While the Nov. 3 midterm elections saw Democrats capture a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, five candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) also won election to the House, while two other DSA-aligned incumbents won reelection.

Incumbent Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., both won reelection by comfortable margins. Both are DSA members and members of the “Squad,” an informal group considered to be the most progressive faction of the Democratic Party in the House.

Here are the freshman Democratic Socialists entering the House in January.

Darializa Avila Chevalier

The Florida-born daughter of Dominican immigrants, Darializa Avila Chevalier was elected to represent New York’s 13th congressional district by a margin of more than 75 points, defeating Republican candidate Jomo Williams. Chevalier previously unseated incumbent Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the Democratic primary.

Chevalier formally joined the DSA in 2025, although she has a lengthy history of involvement in far-left causes and programs. As a student at Columbia University, she did community organizing work for Students for Justice in Palestine and Mobilized African Diaspora and spent two months living in Palestine while interning for Tomorrow's Youth Organization. She emerged from the experience faulting the U.S. for what she characterized as oppression in Palestine and co-founded the Columbia University Apartheid Divest organization.

After graduating from Columbia University with a degree in Middle Eastern studies, Chevalier did community organizing with the progressive Black Youth Project 100 and Families for Freedom, where she was involved in protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration policies during his first term and participating as an alumna in the 2024 Gaza solidarity encampments at Columbia University, where she was removed from campus by riot police.

According to her campaign website, Chevalier is currently a doctoral student at City University New York, where she “studies how the U.S. immigration system criminalizes Black immigrants from Latin America,” and works as an investigator at a public defender’s office in Harlem, where she “provides legal aid to victims of police brutality” and “collect[s] evidence to keep innocent New Yorkers out of jail.”

In the 2026 Democratic primary, Chevalier was endorsed by Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Ugandan-born socialist; Democratic former congressman Jamaal Bowman; controversial left-wing influencer Hasan Piker; and the New York City chapter of the DSA.

Chevalier’s campaign website names abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), securing mass amnesty for illegal aliens, facilitating “housing for all,” fighting corporate interests, and establishing “Medicare for all” as her policy priorities. She has also called for the abolition of borders, characterizing borderless states and “free movement” as an “ideal vision,” and the abolition of prisons, suggesting that greater investment in mental health programs would prevent murders.

In 2018, Chevalier converted to Islam. Her past comments on social media recommended the works of Karl Marx, discouraged non-white ethnic groups from engaging in interracial relationships with white people, and criticized black and Middle Eastern men for their sexual interest in white women, saying that such men are “fetishizing ugly colonizer women.”

Melat Kiros

Ethiopian-born Democrat Melat Kiros was elected to represent Colorado’s first congressional district, defeating Republican candidate Christy Peterson by a margin of nearly two to one. She defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette, who was first elected to Congress 30 years ago, in the 2026 primary.

Kiros moved to Colorado as an infant with her family when her father was awarded legal permanent residency through the Diversity Immigrant Visa program, nicknamed the “green card lottery.” She later attended Washington College in Maryland and earned her law degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School.

While working as an associate at the international law firm Sidley Austin in 2023, Kiros published an article openly criticizing major law firms, including Sidley Austin, for allegedly opposing Palestine-centered protests and demonstrations. When she refused to retract the article at her employer’s request, she was fired. She then moved on to study for a doctoral degree in “the efficacy of reparations, universal basic income and regulatory reform in achieving social, economic, and environmental equity” at the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs.

A self-described Democratic Socialist, Kiros’ campaign website says that her priorities include abolishing ICE, which she described as a “terror apparatus,” releasing non-violent illegal aliens from federal custody, facilitating mass amnesty for illegal aliens, “taxing the rich,” and establishing “Medicare for all.”

Donavan McKinney

A Detroit native and former Michigan state legislator, Donovan McKinney defeated Rep. Shri Thanedar in the Democratic primary and Republican candidate T.P. Nykoriak in the Nov. 3 election to represent Michigan’s 13th congressional district.

McKinney has worked in Michigan politics and activism for roughly a decade, first as a legislative director in the state legislature, then as a community organizer for the nonprofit Community Development Advocates of Detroit and as a union healthcare organizer.

In 2020, outgoing Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appointed him to a position on her Environmental Justice Council. Two years later, McKinney successfully ran for a seat in the Michigan House of Representatives. During his tenure as a state legislator, he focused his efforts on healthcare reform, fining energy companies, and removing legal protections for police officers accused of brutality or excessive force.

After announcing his candidacy for Congress in 2025, McKinney was endorsed by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; the Detroit chapter of the DSA; and other left-wing activist organizations and unions. He defeated Thanedar, an Indian-born ex-DSA member who had held the seat since 2022, in the primary by a margin of roughly three points.

On his campaign website, McKinney says that his legislative priorities include environment and climate “justice,” expanding federal protections for abortion and repealing the Hyde Amendment, funding Hamas-linked organizations in Palestine instead of funding Israel, “healthcare for all,” curbing ICE immigration enforcement efforts, and establishing mass amnesty for illegal aliens.

Chris Rabb

A longtime political activist and operative, Chris Rabb was elected to represent Pennsylvania’s third congressional district, the most deeply blue district in the U.S., by a margin of nearly 90 points.

Born and raised in Chicago, Rabb got his start in politics as an aide to Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, D-Ill., before moving on to work in the administration of President Bill Clinton in 1995. He moved to the Philadelphia area, much of which he will now represent in Congress, to study for a master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 2016, Rabb defeated Democratic establishment figure Tonyelle Cook-Artis in the Democratic primary for a seat in the state legislature, proceeding to crush Republican challenger Latryse McDowell in the general election that year. He has served in the state legislature ever since, advocating for abortion expansion, social justice in policing, and other left-wing causes.

Rabb won the 2026 Democratic primary to succeed Democratic Rep. Dwight Evans, bolstered by endorsements from Ocasio-Cortez, the Justice Democrats, the Sunrise Movement, the Working Families Party, and both the Philadelphia chapter and national arm of the DSA.

An official DSA member, Rabb supports state-owned grocery stores, a universal basic income, broad abortion access, “Medicare for all,” abolition of life-long prison sentences, and abolition of ICE, referring to federal detention centers as “concentration camps.”

Claire Valdez

Like other DSA winners, Claire Valdez won election to represent New York’s seventh congressional district by a comfortable margin of nearly 70 points. Originally from Texas, she moved to New York to work at Columbia University as a program assistant in the visual arts department, where she became involved in union work and far-left politics.

In 2019, Valdez joined the DSA and became a coordinator, aiding state and local candidates in their campaigns. She ran for a seat in the New York State Assembly in 2024. Armed with endorsements from Ocasio-Cortez, the DSA, and the Working Families Party, she defeated incumbent Democratic state legislator Juan Ardila in the primary and ran unopposed in the general election. She quickly joined New York State Socialists in Office and was an early supporter of Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, later promoting legislation that he had introduced during his tenure in the State Assembly.

During her tenure in state politics, Valdez participated in Palestine-centered protests and sponsored New York for All, an initiative to bar ICE enforcement in the state.

In 2026, she defeated Brooklyn borough president Antonio Reynoso and New York City Councilor Julie Won in the Democratic primary. Valdez was endorsed by Mamdani, Sanders, the New York City DSA chapter, Justice Democrats, and United Auto Workers.

On her campaign website, Valdez describes abolishing ICE as a day-one priority. She also supports universal rent control, “queer and trans liberation,” abortion expansion, and “Medicare for all.”