Since the 2018 midterm elections, The Heartland Institute has tracked and analyzed the total number of socialists running for political offices throughout the United States.
In 2018, 86 socialist candidates ran at the local, state, and federal levels, with about 40 percent winning. Two years later, in the 2020 general election, 266 socialist candidates ran, and nearly 90 percent won.
In 2022, 132 socialists ran in the midterm elections, garnering another 90 percent win rate.
Most recently, in the 2024 general election, 48 of 51 socialists were elected.
This year, more than 200 socialists are running in the midterm elections.
Aside from the huge increase in socialist candidates running this year, which is a concern in and of itself, socialists are running in places that have historically been socialist no-go zones.
In the past few elections, most of the socialist candidates have campaigned and won in places like California and New York.
This year, a new trend is emerging as socialists are expanding their electoral map and are likely to win in flyover states like Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
The slow rise of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the largest socialist organization in the United States, over the past decade should not be ignored.
Today, the DSA has “over 100,000 members and chapters in all 50 states.” It also has a youth group, the Young Democratic Socialists of America, with hundreds of campus chapters.
Nearly all of the more than 200 socialists on the ballot this fall are members of the DSA, and nearly all embrace the DSA’s 2026 midterm platform: the Workers Deserve More Agenda.
The DSA’s platform will neither aid nor assist American workers. Actually, it is anathema to the interests of hardworking Americans.
Here are just a few of the absurd policies the DSA claims will benefit workers:
“Free, quality public education from pre-K to college and cancel all student debt.”
“Guarantee universal healthcare at no cost to individuals.”
“Enact reparations.”
“Abolish the police and prison system.”
“Phase out the use of fossil fuels.”
“Pass a federal jobs guarantee.”
“Abolish ICE.”
“Establish statehood for Washington, D.C.”
“Establish public ownership of the largest corporations and essential industries.”
“Enact aggressive wealth taxes.”
As you can see, the DSA does not think American workers have the intelligence to understand that “free” stuff is never actually free.
Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, reparations, and a universal basic income would cost hundreds of trillions of dollars. Even worse, they come with dreadful strings attached, like rationing, shortages, and scarcity.
Moreover, why in the world would American workers support canceling student loan debt or a universal basic income for those unwilling to work?
The ugly truth is that the DSA’s 2026 platform will not help workers of any sort because it seeks to redistribute existing wealth rather than creating the conditions that foster wealth creation.
Wealth redistribution is a relic of a zero-sum worldview. It is un-American and preys upon humanity’s worst impulses and instincts.
Socialists in America say that America has so much wealth, it can afford to spread it around.
But wealth redistribution is a temporary “solution” that carries massive trade-offs.
And it never works, because as the late former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously said, “the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”
Nevertheless, I remain afraid that many socialists will still win in a few weeks. I hope I am wrong.
Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.