N'Kiyla Jasmine Thomas won Oklahoma's Democratic Senate primary runoff after being outspent $315,000 to $57,000, and faces Rep. Kevin Hern in November. DSA confirmed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rejoined the organization in August 2026 — her 2018 membership had lapsed in 2019 — as chapters in Los Angeles and Atlanta pass resolutions urging her to run for president in 2028. DSA's Los Angeles chapter is voting on whether to endorse Nithya Raman in the November 3 mayoral runoff, with more than 6,000 ballots out, a 60% threshold, and voting closing Tuesday. In Florida, Senate nominee Angie Nixon called for Sen. Ashley Moody's resignation after CBS News Miami published the contents of a sealed grand jury report on the $10 million Hope Florida diversion. Portland City Council was on recess through August 28, so the Portland section runs two items and the balance shifts national.
Portland City Council was on recess August 17–28, so the week produced no roll calls or floor votes; the section runs two items and the balance shifts to the national section.
The Mercury reported that Go Portland Go, which filed as a political action committee with the state in April and calls itself a "grassroots coalition," has received more than $130,000 in contributions, including $32,000 from the nonprofit Partnership for Progress and $25,000 from Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle. The paper reported that Partnership for Progress mailers have blamed the council's four DSA members — Morillo, Koyama Lane, Green, and Kanal — for what the group characterizes as the city's decline, and that the PAC's endorsement criteria include funding police and reducing taxes. Restaurateur Earl Ninsom withdrew his six restaurants from the group's coalition list on August 28 after the Mercury asked about their participation.
The Portland council general election is November 3, 2026.
Multnomah County commissioners voted unanimously on August 27 to delay the scheduled 0.8 percentage-point increase in the Preschool for All income tax from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2028. The program's Technical Advisory Group had recommended a two-year delay; Commissioners Shannon Singleton and Megan Moyer amended Chair Jessica Vega Pederson's resolution to a one-year delay. Economic models presented to commissioners August 20 showed the program can operate during the delay but will eventually require the increase to run at its planned level.
In 2024, commissioners unanimously voted to postpone the same increase from 2026 to 2027.
Nurse N'Kiyla Jasmine Thomas, 31, won the Democratic Senate primary runoff in Oklahoma, defeating attorney and minister Jim Priest, 70, after neither won a majority in the June primary; Priest's campaign spent $315,000 to Thomas's $57,000. Thomas told NBC News she is "a self-proclaimed democratic socialist" but "not yet" a DSA member. She faces Rep. Kevin Hern for the open seat with $456 in her account as of August 5 against Hern's $2.6 million as of June 30.
Trump carried Oklahoma by 34 points in 2024; the seat is open because Sen. Markwayne Mullin became secretary of homeland security.
DSA told members that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez "recently rejoined in August 2026" after her 2018 annual membership lapsed in 2019 and was never renewed. The organization said it disclosed her membership history because chapters are campaigning to draft her as a 2028 presidential primary candidate; DSA chapters in Los Angeles and Atlanta have passed resolutions calling on her to run.
DSA plans to begin its formal presidential endorsement process early next year, and its national leadership is split on whether to endorse her.
Senate nominee Angie Nixon and attorney general candidate Jose Javier Rodriguez called at a joint news conference for Sen. Ashley Moody and Attorney General James Uthmeier to resign, a day after CBS News Miami published contents of a sealed grand jury report finding the DeSantis administration "misappropriated" $10 million diverted into the Hope Florida Foundation. The grand jury wrote that Uthmeier's PAC, Keep Florida Clean, was "the prime recipient of the majority of the $10 million taxpayer funds" and that Moody, then attorney general, authorized her chief deputy to sign the settlement. Moody wrote on social media that her office "had no knowledge of how funds would be spent"; Uthmeier called the report "a politically motivated witch hunt."
The grand jury report was filed under seal with the Leon County Clerk's Office on January 28; CBS News Miami published its contents August 26.
At the Michigan Democratic Party nominating convention Saturday, Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed told the party's Jewish Caucus he "made a mistake" in a video posted after the Temple Israel attack in West Bloomfield, in which he had noted the assailant's family members were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon and said "hurt people hurt people." He said the remark "was not my intention" and "if my statement caused pain, I'm sorry." The attacker drove a vehicle into a synagogue building housing a school and daycare with more than 100 children inside before being shot by security staff.
Rogers and El-Sayed agreed on August 26 to their first debate, hosted by WOOD-TV on October 8.
Los Angeles Times · 2026-08-29 · on the DSA-LA endorsement vote in the Los Angeles mayor's race
DSA's Los Angeles chapter is holding an online vote on whether to endorse City Councilmember Nithya Raman, a DSA member, in her November 3 runoff against Mayor Karen Bass; Raman needs 60% of the vote to secure the endorsement, more than 6,000 chapter members received ballots, and voting closes Tuesday. Chapter members have argued both sides in essays in Geese magazine, with opponents citing her vote to confirm Jim McDonnell as police chief and her push to rewrite Measure ULA.
DSA-LA declined to endorse in the June 2 primary but recommended Raman in its voter guide, which did not include access to the chapter's get-out-the-vote operation.
Denver DSA announced Tuesday it endorsed City Council member Shontel Lewis, who is challenging incumbent Mayor Mike Johnston in the April election. The endorsement gives Lewis access to the chapter's field operation, which knocked more than 100,000 doors and made more than 500,000 phone calls before Melat Kiros's June primary win over Rep. Diana DeGette. Nine other candidates are also running, including 2023 DSA endorsee Lisa Calderón, who said she did not seek the endorsement this cycle.
Lewis first won her District 8 council seat in 2023, also with Denver DSA's endorsement.
CNBC interviewed Colorado's two Democratic House nominees: Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old lawyer and DSA member who defeated Rep. Diana DeGette in the 1st District primary in June, and retired Navy Rear Adm. Eileen Laubacher, running against Rep. Lauren Boebert in the Republican-leaning 4th District. Laubacher had $3.6 million on hand as of June 30 to Boebert's $247,000, per FEC filings; Kiros attributed her win to "anti-incumbent energy" and volunteer canvassing.
DeGette has represented the Denver-based district since 1997; the Cook Political Report rates the 4th District solid Republican.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen said Democratic candidates "can be very clear about where they strongly disagree with the DSA, which is probably on most issues," while declining to criticize the group's primary winners. He said Democrats "who are afraid of a healthy debate are missing the point" and that left-leaning voters "want Democrats who are going to stand for something."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said earlier this month on Meet the Press that he does not support the DSA agenda but that its nominees would join the party caucus if elected.
The Drift · 2026-08-25 · on NYC-DSA governance tensions under the Mamdani administration
In The Drift, Piper French reported on NYC-DSA's first eight months with Zohran Mamdani in City Hall, describing disputes inside the chapter over housing policy, policing, and an October 2025 resolution that put supporting the mayor "before the task of critique." The piece said NYC-DSA has more than doubled since the 2024 election cycle began to some 15,000 members, that DSA counts 120,000 members nationally, and that the Socialist Majority and Groundwork caucuses hold 53 of the chapter's 71 citywide leadership seats. French wrote that the chapter issued its first public statement criticizing Mamdani in June, over the police commissioner's announcement that the NYPD would hire 580 new officers; the piece said Mamdani backtracked five days later.
NYC-DSA adopted a resolution in October 2025 putting support for the incoming administration "before the task of critique."
The Free Press · 2026-08-27 · on a Populace–Free Press survey on private opinions of capitalism and socialism
Mene Ukueberuwa presented findings from the second wave of the Honesty Project, a Free Press survey partnership with the think tank Populace that compares what respondents say publicly with what they report privately. The piece reported that 83 percent of Democrats and 82 percent of liberals are privately open to being represented by a democratic socialist, and characterized the results as showing the public feeling down about capitalism while remaining wary of full-blown socialism.
The Center Square's Sarah Roderick-Fitch reported that the outlet's Voters' Voice Poll, conducted by Noble Predictive Insights August 12–16 among 2,533 registered voters, found 63% of Americans concerned with the growth of socialism or communism in American politics against 29% not concerned; among Democratic voters, 49% were concerned and 40% were not. The piece placed the numbers alongside an August CBS News poll, cited by Sen. John Fetterman, that found nearly 60% of Democrats view socialism positively.
The poll's sample of 2,533 comprised 930 Republicans, 930 Democrats, and 673 independents, with a margin of error of ±2.0%.
Hamilton Nolan argued that unions should endorse and back socialist candidates, writing that socialists have been winning elections across the US often without organized labor's support. As evidence he cited the 2025 New York City mayoral race, in which he said only a small number of local unions such as UAW Region 9A endorsed Zohran Mamdani, while 1199SEIU, 32BJ SEIU, and the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council endorsed Andrew Cuomo and the United Federation of Teachers made no primary endorsement.
Nolan is the author of the 2024 book on the labor movement, "The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor."