NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
Republicans performed statistically dismal in the 2025 elections, but the losses went off the scoreboard.
In several jurisdictions, including the nation's largest city, voters elevated socialist, socialist and far-left Democrats to public office, underscoring an ideological shift that extended far beyond individual races.
Here are the top five races won by such leaders as they prepare to take office in the New Year.
1. ZOGRAN MAMDANI; NEW YORK
New York State Assemblyman Zoran Mamdani, D-Astoriawill take the traditional oath of office when the ball drops to ring in the New Year in Times Square.
Mamdani, born in Kampala, Uganda, follows Briton Abraham Beam as the only immigrant. New York mayor since the colonial era.
Mamdani was endorsed by and affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and ran on a platform of several government free services, including transportation, child care, and rent freezes and tax increases on corporations.
SOCIALIST WAVE REACHES THE WEST COAST AS LOS ANGELES MAYOR KAREN BASS RECEIVES A MAMDANI-LIKE CALL
Zohran Mamdani gives a victory speech at a mayoral election night watch party on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, in New York City. (Yuki Iwamura/AP)
Millennials beat old guard Democrats Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa in the November election. Mamdani won just over 50% of the vote, leading Cuomo supporters to accuse Sliwa – the founder of the crime-fighting group Guardian Angels, who received about 7% of the vote – of installing a socialist in America's financial capital.
2. KATIE WILSON; WASHINGTON
While much of the country was rocked by the mayoral election in New York City, similar dynamics were playing out across the coast in Seattle.
Mayor Bruce Harrell, a Democrat seen as more moderate than other local party members, won the 2021 election on a platform of fighting homelessness, property crimes, racial violence and other issues.
“Look what Seattle has become” He said when he was running to replace Jenny Durkan, who oversaw the city when the anarchist installation CHAZ was erected in the city center.
However, Harrell's re-election failed this fall. Democrat Katie Wilson, socialist beat him 50-49 in non-partisan general election.
Wilson previously told CNN that she was running for mayor because of the city's financial crisis, adding that “being a socialist is first and foremost a belief in good government. It's harmful when people lose faith in their ability to solve big problems.”
CHARLIE KIRK'S WARNINGS ABOUT SOCIALISM REMEMBER AS MAMDANI AND TRUMP FOCUS ON ACCESSIBILITY
Wilson co-founded a group called the Transit Riders Union and supported raising taxes on wealthier citizens, an initiative that Harrell reportedly opposed.
She didn't run as a socialist by name, but “doesn't shy away from the label,” the newspaper said. Downtown Seattle Association.
3. MULTIPLE CANDIDATES; NEW JERSEY
Two new city council members in New Jersey's second-largest city will be DSA members.
86 Democrats vote with Republicans to condemn socialism after Mamdani wins mayoralty
Jersey City will have District D, north of I-78 and the Holland Tunnel into New York City, represented by DSA member Jake Efros, and District B, which includes the western part of the city along the Hackensack River, represented by Joel Brooks, who is considered a DSA supporter.
Efros promotional flyers included the image of a red rose, a symbol associated with socialism and the far left since it was adopted by the French Socialist Party around 1969.
It is reported that he called elections of myself and Brooks This is a “watershed” moment, according to the New Jersey Monitor.
The Monitor quoted a Democratic Socialists of America official who endorsed the two candidates and that the fundraising group's slogan was “socialist money takes out capitalist trash.”
Efros told the publication that the Democratic Socialists are not simply coming from a “vote for me, I'll fight Trump” message, but are instead using a more technocratic message that they are the new, elected leaders who will improve the quality of life, such as paving streets and reliable garbage collection.
Brooks' campaign page said he was endorsed by the SEIU, the Hudson County AFL-CIO, CAIR Action of New Jersey, a branch of the pro-Muslim political group, and the Climate Revolution Action Network.
SEATTLE IS GOING TO GET NEW YORK'S HAMMER AND SICKLE TREATMENT. SOCIALISM IS COMING TO YOUR PATH
“[T]the status quo has failed,” the Hudson County View website quoted Brooks as saying.
“Jersey City needs council members who are not rubber stamps for corporate donors, real estate donors and police unions.” Brooks' website also features a “Red Rose” insignia.
Although Jersey City's progressive Mayor-elect James Solomon did not run as a socialist, he upset the Democratic establishment candidate, former Gov. Jim McGreevey.
NEW HAMPSHIRE GOVERNOR RECRUITS NEW YORK BUSINESS OWNERS FLEEING MAMDANI'S “REGIME”
McGreevey notably resigned from his Trenton office amid scandal in 2004 when, while married to first lady Dina Matos, he admitted to an affair with a male employee he had appointed to a top security position, declaring, “I'm a gay American.”
4. MULTIPLE CANDIDATES; MINNESOTA
Amid social services scandals engulfing the Democratic-controlled MinnesotaTwo candidates endorsed by the DSA National Election Commission have won their bids for Minneapolis City Council.
Soren Stevenson, who supports rent control among other left-leaning platforms, according to the progressive publication Jacobin, won a seat in the district represented by the outgoing council president, whom he unsuccessfully challenged in the last municipal election.
SOCIALIST SEATTLE MAYOR-ELECT KATHY WILSON IS OPEN TO MEETING WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP
“We want a city that is safe for everyone, where the police are accountable to us and where everyone in the city has a warm place to stay that they can afford,” Stevenson said after his victory, according to Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Stevenson made the news during the George Floyd protests after he received a $2.4 million settlement following an incident in which he lost an eye after he was allegedly hit by a 40mm non-lethal round from a police weapon.
Stevenson was gathered with a large group near a highway onramp on May 31, 2020, when he was struck, an incident in which he accused a SWAT officer of shooting directly at him.
SEATTLE'S SOCIALIST MAYOR MAY BE 'LESS CONNECTED' THAN MAMDANI, WARNES WASHINGTON POST
“I did not riot, I did not vandalize, I did not harm people or property, I did not even disobey police orders,” Stevenson said, according to the AP.
Another Socialist candidate, Robin Wansley, won her third term on the Minneapolis City Council.
5. DANNY NOWELL; NORTH CAROLINA
This year, one of the South's most politically progressive communities elected a DSA-endorsed candidate to its city council.
MAMDANI AVOIDS QUESTION ABOUT SOCIALISM VOTING BEFORE HIGH STAKES MEETING WITH TRUMP
Carrboro, a city in Orange County that is considered part of North Carolina's “Triangle” urban region, which includes the confluence of I-85, US-64, US-70 and I-40, has re-elected Danny Nowell to its city council.
Carrboro has a history of supporting progressive candidates and causes, including being one of the first such cities to pass resolutions opposing the Iraq War.
Earlier this year, it also declared itself a “Fourth Amendment city,” saying ICE and federal immigration authorities were failing to uphold constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures and directly calling out the alleged “overreach” of Title II powers by the Trump administration.
Its left-wing political organization is seen as an extension of the collegiate progressivism of nearby Chapel Hill, where the flagship campus of the University of North Carolina is located.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The DSA web page supported Nowell in convening a Public Safety Task Force and suing a major regional utility, Duke Energy, for what it called its “role in the climate hoax.”
Nowell, who is white, also supports “racial equality” efforts, according to his official city biography.
