America doesn’t like socialism, but the candidates keep winning

By Finance News On Nov 7, 2026

Democratic socialists just had their biggest election night yet.

There’s just one complication: Most American voters don’t actually like socialism.

Six candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America won House seats Tuesday, giving the movement its largest foothold yet in Congress and greater clout in a Democratic Party already divided over how far left to go.

The victories, coming on the heels of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rise to power, mark another milestone for a movement that has spent years challenging the party establishment. Now, with Democrats sweeping control of Congress, the question is whether those electoral gains will translate into actual political power.

The results of the new CNBC Voter Poll show the potential hazard of handing too much power to the party’s left flank. The survey of roughly 80,000 midterm voters found that 53% view socialism unfavorably, compared with 33% who viewed it favorably. Capitalism fared considerably better, with 56% expressing a positive view. Just 18% of voters identified themselves as democratic socialists.

That disconnect underscores both the opportunity and the challenge facing Democrats and their growing left flank. How the party reconciles the divide between reforming capitalism and fundamentally overhauling it could shape its legislative agenda in Congress, its economic message to voters and, ultimately, its direction heading into the 2028 presidential election.

A mixed night for the left

The DSA’s presence in Congress will be quadrupled when Tuesday’s victors, all of whom won in safely Democratic districts, are sworn in.

But the projected Democratic landslide of more than 250 House seats could dilute their influence. Party leaders could afford to lose all eight DSA votes on most measures, leaving the group with far less bargaining power than it would wield in a narrowly controlled chamber.

Still, the movement is building financial muscle. While the DSA relies on membership dues, wealthy donors are now backing its candidates through outside groups. The 12 largest donors to American Priorities, a super PAC supporting some DSA-backed candidates, gave nearly $5.9 million this cycle, according to a CNBC analysis of Federal Election Commission filings through Oct. 31.

“We’ve had success with more donors but also we have an even stronger ground game to spread our message,” said Megan Romer, co-chair of the DSA. “Mailers and ads alone just don’t do it anymore. You have to knock on more doors and make more phone calls and talk to more people at work and in your union.”

The more revealing tests on Tuesday came outside of liberal enclaves.

In Florida, DSA member Angie Nixon came within three percentage points of an upset in a state where Democrats haven’t won a Senate race since 2012 and President Donald Trump won by 13 percentage points in 2024. But she lost by a wider margin than Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly, who took a more moderate approach.

Michigan told a similar…