As more democratic socialists win, the Georgia GOP looks to capitalize

A string of victories by democratic socialists across the country has given new life to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party — and opened another line of attack for Georgia Republicans.

Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins has portrayed Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff as embracing socialism. State Sen. Greg Dolezal, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, has framed his campaign as a battle against socialism. Other Republicans have echoed those attacks.

The moves come as democratic socialist candidates in Georgia, Michigan and Colorado have won in Democratic primaries this year — prompting questions from more mainstream Democrats about whether they’re too extreme to win in November.

Some Georgia Democrats say the charges of “socialism” are absurd attempts to tie them to a movement they are not involved in. Meanwhile, democratic socialists say they’re fighting to improve the lives of working people and are not as extreme as critics portray.

The attacks come as both parties have experienced a realignment of their political coalitions. The Republican mainstream was battered first by the Tea Party movement during Barack Obama’s presidency and later by the rise of Donald Trump, who has remade the party in his image.

Now mainstream Democrats face a challenge from an energized progressive wing, including some candidates who identify as democratic socialists. A precise definition of democratic socialism is tough to pin down. But in general, the movement pushes for publicly elected officials to take a stronger role in regulating the economy rather than relying on the free market. Democratic socialist candidates have called for greatly expanding social safety net programs, making healthcare free for everyone and raising taxes on the rich.

The Democratic Socialists of America, an organized political party, has also espoused views that have traditionally been political poison: defunding the police, abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and dismantling the U.S. Senate.

Democratic socialists have won elections in liberal strongholds like New York, where Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor last year. But this week showed the party’s left wing making inroads in Michigan, a key swing state.

Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney, a DSA member, defeated U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar in the Democratic primary on Tuesday. And progressive Abdul El-Sayed, who does not identify as a democratic socialist but takes similar positions, defeated U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, a well-financed mainstream rival, to become the party’s U.S. Senate nominee.

Democratic socialist candidates have had modest success in Georgia. State Rep. Gabriel Sanchez, D-Smyrna, defeated an incumbent two years ago to become the first democratic socialist in the General Assembly. He may be joined this year by Mathewos Samson, who won the Democratic nomination for the deep-blue state House District 58 in Atlanta.

Democratic socialist Kelsea Bond won an Atlanta City Council seat last year. But a more moderate Democrat defeated a DSA candidate in the Athens mayor’s race in June.

Successful or not, DSA candidates have the political world abuzz. Some moderate Democrats fear they could cost the party winnable seats in the midterms and in future elections.

Collins, on the defensive over the revelation of his son-in-law’s antisemitic and white nationalist social media posts, has sought to turn the tables on Ossoff by linking him to socialists who have blasted Israel’s war in Gaza and who have been accused of using antisemitic rhetoric.

“The fastest-growing movement of the Democratic Party right now is the Democratic Socialists of America movement,” Collins told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “You talk about antisemitism. You talk about people that are way over to the left. Where are the Jon Ossoff’s of the world? Where does he stand on that?”

Ossoff’s campaign noted that then-U.S. Sen. David Perdue also sought to portray the Democrat as a socialist when Ossoff defeated him in 2021.

“David Perdue tried the same laughable lie against Senator Ossoff, got caught lying, and lost,” the Ossoff campaign said.

Dolezal has portrayed the DSA as a threat to America. And he sees little difference between the group and other Democrats.

“There’s a little bit of daylight between some Democrats and the democratic socialists,” Dolezal said in a recent interview with ClassE News with Erik Harmon. “But you have not seen a steady stream of Democrats come out and disavow what the DSA is saying. You’ve not seen (Democratic nominee for governor) Keisha Lance Bottoms do it. You have not seen my opponent do it in this race, because they are afraid.”

State Sen. Josh McLaurin, Dolezal’s Democratic opponent in the lieutenant governor’s race, dismissed allegations that Georgia Democrats have embraced a radical agenda.

“It’s not gonna be as crazy as the propaganda makes it seem (if Democrats win),” McLaurin said on the AJC’s “Politically Georgia” podcast. “If Democrats are in charge, we want to do some pretty obvious things that we’ve been waiting on, things like expanding Medicaid, you know, things like fully funding our public schools. This is not crazy stuff.”

Republican Andre Stafford is trying to unseat Sanchez in state House District 42. Stafford said he’d face long odds against a more moderate Democrat in the blue district. But he thinks he has a shot against Sanchez, and he’s peppered his social media accounts with attacks on socialism.

“Their policies are horrible,” Stafford said. “It doesn’t fit with the American people.”

Sanchez said Republicans have been smearing Democrats with charges of “socialism” for decades. He said Republican policies have hurt working people, and he’s focused on affordable housing and healthcare.

“We believe in a government that works for working people and ensuring our economy is set up for the people who actually run it, who are workers,” Sanchez said.

Brayan Ramirez, co-chair of the Atlanta DSA, criticized Democrats and Republicans alike for failing to embrace policies like “Medicare for all” that he said would benefit working people. He said the DSA has never worked with the Democratic Party of Georgia or with Ossoff. And he dismissed the Republican attacks as misleading.

“Republicans still believe that ‘socialism’ is a scary word, so they’re using that to win their seats,” Ramirez said.