The Democratic Socialists of America just won their 27th primary of the cycle – and the movement shows no sign of stopping.
Rahm Emanuel – Obama's own chief of staff – says that platform is about to destroy his party.
What Emanuel admitted Democrats have already lost because of the socialist surge is something the RNC could not have scripted.
Democrat Civil War Over DSA Platform Spills Into the Open
Rahm Emanuel – chief of staff in Barack Obama’s White House, former mayor of Chicago, and one of the most calculating political operators the Democrat Party has ever produced – published a Wall Street Journal op-ed this week with a message that should haunt every swing-district Democrat between now and November.
He called out the Democratic Socialists of America by name – blaming them for driving the push to empty the prisons, erase the border, defund police, and put violent criminals back on the street.
The warning that followed was direct: socialist primary wins in safe Democrat districts drag down moderates everywhere else, because what happens in New York's 13th District does not stay in New York's 13th District.
Emanuel pointed to 2006, when he ran the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee and helped the party pick up 31 House seats by recruiting candidates who did not terrify mainstream voters.
The contrast is damning: back then, Democrats won by sounding reasonable. Now the loudest voices in their party are demanding the abolition of the Senate, the Supreme Court, and ICE.
DSA Co-Chair Confirms Open Borders and Amnesty for Illegal Aliens on Fox News
On Fox News Sunday, DSA Co-Chair Megan Romer was asked directly whether the group's platform included open borders and amnesty for all illegal aliens in the United States.
Her answer: "As a long term plan, yup."
Romer confirmed the full agenda – abolishing ICE, defunding the Pentagon, eliminating the Senate, emptying the prisons.
This is the movement that now has at least five members heading to Congress.
A 29-year-old graduate student named Melat Kiros just knocked off 15-term incumbent Diana DeGette in Denver.
A Mamdani-backed socialist named Darializa Avila Chevalier knocked off a five-term incumbent in New York's 13th District.
The DSA has backed 150 candidates this cycle at all levels of government and won nearly half its races – with primaries still on the calendar.
How the Socialist Surge Handed Republicans Their 2026 Midterm Argument
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was blunt about what the socialist surge means for November.
"In swing districts, it draws an incredibly sharp contrast between our incumbent Republicans who are working to make life more affordable for working families against these communists who want to literally defund the police," Scalise said.
The RNC enters the final 100 days before the midterms with $125.5 million in cash on hand.
The Democrat National Committee has $14.9 million – and is carrying $18 million in debt.
Republicans do not need to construct the socialist argument. Democrats are building it for them.
Emanuel wrote in the Journal that the socialist surge has already narrowed the Democrat generic ballot advantage, and warned that continued focus on "defunding, decriminalizing and decolonizing" will alienate independents who now make up a record-high 45 percent of the electorate.
Bernie Sanders brushed off the warning Sunday on Face the Nation, dismissing Emanuel as a symbol of Democrat establishment failure.
Sanders has a point about one thing: the activists do not answer to Emanuel. They answer to Zohran Mamdani, the socialist New York City mayor who has spent the last two months remaking the Democrat congressional delegation in his image.
Rahm Emanuel Admits Defund Police and Open Borders Already Cost Democrats Two Elections
Emanuel didn’t write a warning. He wrote a confession.
In his own words in the Journal, open-border policy cost Democrats the House in 2022 and the White House and Senate in 2024.
The same forces are now back, louder and more organized, running real candidates in real districts and winning.
The socialist wing is not a fringe protest movement anymore. It has the energy in the party.
Every swing-district Democrat in the country will stand on a debate stage and face questions about what the DSA co-chair confirmed on live television – amnesty for every illegal alien, abolish the Senate, defund the Pentagon.
Republicans could not have asked for a better closing argument.
Sources:
- CJ Womack, "Rahm Emanuel warns 'Bernie bros' could sink Democrats by saddling moderates with socialist agenda," Fox News, July 24, 2026.
- "Meet the far-left insurgents waging war on the Democratic establishment in 2026 midterms," Fox News, July 2026.
- Scott McClallen, "Democratic Socialists' Co-Chair Admits Platform Includes Open Borders, Amnesty for Illegals," Townhall, July 26, 2026.
- "House Republicans target democratic socialists in midterm messaging," The Hill, July 2026.
- "100 day sprint to the midterms kicks off as Republicans and Democrats clash for control across the country," Fox News, July 26, 2026.
- "Over 30 socialists have won primaries this year," Washington Examiner, June 25, 2026.