Los Angeles Democratic Socialists of America

Los Angeles Democratic Socialists of America
AbbreviationDSA-LA
Governing bodySteering Committee
Membership (2026) 4,000[1]
Ideology
Political positionLeft-wing
National affiliationDemocratic Socialists of America
California State Assembly (LA only)
0 / 5
California State Senate (LA only)
0 / 13
Citywide executive offices
0 / 3
Los Angeles City Council
4 / 15
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
0 / 5
Website
dsa-la.org

Los Angeles Democratic Socialists of America (DSA-LA) is the Los Angeles County chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), a democratic socialist organization in the United States. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, DSA-LA became a significant force in LA politics through Los Angeles City Council campaigns and labor organizing.[2][3] DSA-LA is the 2nd-largest DSA chapter, below NYC-DSA and above Metro DC DSA.[1][3]

Notable DSA-LA members and endorsees include Nithya Raman, Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martinez, and Ysabel Jurado.[3][4]

Structure

In 2026, DSA-LA had over 4,000 dues-paying members,[1] up from 1,000 in 2018.[5] DSA-LA has five branches: Central, Eastside/San Gabriel Valley, San Fernando Valley, Westside, and South Central/Inglewood.[1]

Since 2018,[5] DSA-LA holds an annual Local Convention at which members elect the DSA-LA Steering Committee and set chapter priorities.[6][7]

DSA-LA holds an annual convention at which members elect the DSA-LA Steering Committee and set chapter priorities.[6][7] Hugo Soto-Martinez was a DSA-LA Steering Committee member, though he stepped down to seek DSA endorsement in his run for city council.[8]

History

In 1982, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) formed as a merger of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee and the New American Movement.[9][10] In the 1980s, DSA had two local chapters: One in Los Angeles, one in San Fernando Valley.[11] In 1989, the LA chapter had about 400 local members and supported a stronger labor movement, rent control, and social spending for disadvantaged communities.[12] DSA-LA hosted the 2005 DSA National Convention.[13]

In 2016, DSA-LA grew dramatically, alongside national DSA, after Bernie Sanders' first presidential campaign and the election of Donald Trump.[14] DSA-LA's membership tripled,[15] as members organized around anti-deportation politics and other local campaigns.[15]

By the mid-2020s, DSA-LA had become one of the most electorally successful DSA chapters in the country.[3] In 2024, DSA-LA endorsees held 4 of 15 Los Angeles City Council seats.[3] In 2024, the Los Angeles Times stated that DSA-LA's city council wins had broken the "near-invincible aura" of the LA "establishment", giving progressive groups sway in LA government.[2]

Electoral campaigns

Los Angeles city council

In the 2020 Los Angeles elections, DSA-LA endorsed urban planner Nithya Raman against incumbent council member David Ryu.[16][17] Raman joined DSA shortly before seeking DSA-LA's endorsement.[4] DSA-LA canvassed and phone-banked extensively for Raman.[18] Raman won their top-two runoff election with 70,317 votes (52.9%). Raman was the first challenger to unseat a sitting Los Angeles City Council member in 17 years,[2][19] and won the most votes of any city councilor in history,[2] representing a progressive challenge to City Hall.[19]

In 2022, DSA-LA endorsed labor organizer Hugo Soto-Martinez in Council District 13, against incumbent Mitch O'Farrell, and community activist Eunisses Hernandez in Council District 1, against incumbent Gil Cedillo.[20][17][21] Hernandez and Soto-Martinez were DSA members for a long time before endorsement, though neither was a "cadre" (highly involved) member.[4] Soto-Martinez proudly linked his campaign to both DSA-LA and UNITE HERE Local 11.[22] DSA-LA members had knocked on thousands of doors for Soto-Martinez,[22] and his electoral coalition represented democratic socialists, progressives, and organized labor.[22][8] Soto-Martinez and Hernandez both supported shifting funding from police to housing, child care and other social services. Soto-Martinez marked himself as an "abolitionist" on DSA-LA's candidate questionnaire.[23] Police unions, including the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS) and Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL), sharply criticized Hernandez and Soto-Martinez, and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to oppose their election.[24][25] Both DSA candidates won their top-two runoff elections: Soto-Martinez won 37,800 votes (57.7%), Hernandez won 16,108 votes (53.89%).[2]

In 2024, DSA-LA re-endorsed Raman and endorsed for tenant rights attorney Ysabel Jurado in Council District 14 against incumbent Kevin de León.[26][27][3] Jurado, like Raman, joined DSA soon before endorsement.[28][4] DSA-LA volunteers door-knocked extensively for Jurado.[29] de León and LAPPL attacked Jurado over support for police abolition and shifting city spending from LAPD to social services.[30][31] Raman won re-election in the nonpartisan primary with 32,562 votes (50.7%). Jurado won the top-two runoff with 46,007 votes (57.17%).[32][33]

Nearby municipalities

In 2020, DSA-LA endorsed Konstantine Anthony for the Burbank City Council.[34] In the election for two seats, Anthony won, placing 1st with 17,529 votes (20.4%).[35] In 2024, DSA-LA re-endorsed Anthony and endorsed challenger Mike Van Gorder.[36][37][38][39] In the election for two seats, Anthony won, placing 1st with 18,694 votes (23.4%), and Van Gorder lost, placing 4th with 8,843 votes (11.1%).[40]

In 2022, DSA-LA endorsed Ricardo Martinez for La Puente City Council.[41][20] Martinez ran a progressive campaign focused on workers' rights.[42] Martinez lost, placing third in a two-seat election with 1,853 votes, behind incumbents Valerie Muñoz and Charlie Klinakis.[43]

Other elected offices

In the 2020 California State Assembly election for AD-64, DSA-LA endorsed Fatima Iqbal-Zubair against incumbent Mike Gipson.[28][44] Both Iqbal-Zubair and Gipson ran as Democrats. Iqbal-Zubair lost the general election with 56,875 votes (40.5%).[45] In 2022, DSA-LA again endorsed Iqbal-Zubair,[28] who lost again with 26,719 votes (38.3%).[46]

In the 2021 special election for SD-30, DSA-LA endorsed Culver City mayor Daniel Lee against Sydney Kamlager,[28][47][48][49] citing his support for California-wide Medicare For All.[50] Both Lee and Kamlager ran as Democrats. Lee lost lost the top-two partisan primary, coming second with 9,458 votes (13.4%).[51]

Ballot measures

In 2017, DSA-LA canvassed in support of Los Angeles County Measure H, a sales-tax measure to fund homeless services, and in opposition to Los Angeles Measure S, an anti-development ballot initiative backed by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.[52][53]

In 2020, Proposition 15, which would have partially reversed 1978 Prop 13 and raised property taxes on large commercial properties to fund public schools and community colleges, was endorsed by many DSA chapters.[54] Endorsing chapters included DSA-LA,[55] East Bay DSA, Inland Empire DSA, and San Francisco DSA.[56][57][58] Prop 15 failed with 8,213,054 votes (48.0%).[45] The cross-chapter effort to pass Prop 15 yielded a statewide DSA organization, California DSA.[59]

In 2022, DSA-LA endorsed and canvassed for Measure ULA,[20][60] a "mansion tax" that funded affordable housing and tenant assistance. Measure ULA won with 512,808 votes (57.8%).

Other campaigns

In March 2017, DSA-LA members protested outside Mayor Eric Garcetti's reelection-night event, demanding that Los Angeles take a harder line against deportation and adopt a stronger sanctuary-city stance.[52]

In February 2025, DSA-LA helped organize protests outside Children's Hospital Los Angeles after the hospital paused gender-affirming care for most patients under 19.[61]

In October 2023, as the War in Gaza began, DSA-LA declared its "solidarity with Palestine". This became a flashpoint in Los Angeles politics,[62] with Raman's opponent Ethan Weaver calling on her to reject DSA-LA's endorsement.[62] LA mayor Karen Bass described the statement as "antisemitic", "reprehensible, disgusting, and dangerous".[63] In 2024, DSA-LA and its endorsees supported a municipal ceasefire resolution on the LA City Council,[63] which was unsuccessful.[64] DSA-LA has supported local pro-Palestinian protests. In March 2024, DSA-LA organizers rallied with IfNotNow Los Angeles and several unions to organize a "Not Another Bomb" rally on the steps of City Hall.[65][66] In 2025, the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles argued that DSA-LA supported "hate and violence aimed at Jews", noting that DSA-LA had condemned Israel and opposed US weapon shipments to Israel.[63]

Labor

In 1989, DSA-LA members supported striking Catholic cemetery workers during a unionization drive,[12] who later voted to unionize.[67] In 1991, the workers voted 92-43 to disband the union.[68]

In 2019, during the 2019 United Teachers Los Angeles strike, DSA-LA launched the Tacos for Teachers solidarity effort, which helped the teachers extend their walkout.[69][70]

In 2023, during the UAW's "Stand Up strike", DSA-LA members joined picket lines in Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario. DSA-LA members also gave tacos to strikers.[71][72]

Since 2023, DSA-LA has supported organizing and strike activity among Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) baristas.[73] In late 2025, Los Angeles baristas had joined SWBU's "Red Cup Rebellion" strike wave. Picket line baristas were being supported nationally by DSA chapters, including DSA-LA.[74][75][76]

Housing

In 2018, DSA-LA organized alongside Burlington Arcade tenants and brought their protest to the home of City Council member Mitch O'Farrell.[77]

In 2022, Street Watch L.A. (SWLA), an anti-gentrification group founded by DSA-LA and the Los Angeles Community Action Network,[78] organized protests against the opening of the high-end Dunsmoor restaurant in Glassell Park.[79]

In 2025, inspired by Zohran Mamdani, DSA-LA pushed for new limits on rent increases in the city's rent-stabilized apartments.[3]

National conventions

# Date Location Notes Voter guide
8 13 April 2025 UAW Region 6 Hall
7 20 April 2024 UAW Region 6 Hall
6 22 April 2023 Los Angeles City College
5 16 July 2022 Los Angeles Trade Technical College
4 16 October 2021 online (Zoom) Remote due to COVID-19.
3 12 September 2020 online (Zoom) Remote due to COVID-19.
2 19 October 2019 Immanuel Presbyterian Church
1 28 April 2018 Friendship Auditorium Over 200 attendees.[80]

See also

References

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