The House adopted House Resolution 1490 denouncing socialism "in all its forms" on a 220–192 vote September 1, with eight Democrats in favor and two voting present. In Massachusetts's September 1 primaries, Rep. Marjorie Decker defeated Boston DSA-endorsed Evan MacKay 4,104 votes to 3,599 in their rematch, while Erika Uyterhoeven won the open 2nd Middlesex state Senate primary with 38% of the vote. In Portland, the council continued both the Zenith–ISQ franchise transfer and a resolution opposing NDAs in data-center talks to September 9, and Portland DSA announced a six-candidate endorsed slate for the November 3 election. DSA-LA endorsed Nithya Raman for Los Angeles mayor, with the vote crossing the chapter's 60% approval threshold.
Portland City Council · 2026-09-02 · on the Green–Morillo amendment to the Zenith–ISQ franchise transfer
The council took up consent to the franchise transfer from Zenith Energy Terminals Holdings LLC to ISQ Springer Holdings, LLC (document 2026-263) on September 2. Councilors Mitch Green and Angelita Morillo moved amendment "Green-Morillo 1," which Morillo said would let affected residents ask the courts to enforce the franchise if ISQ violates its terms and the city fails to act. The vote was not called, and the item was continued to September 9 at 9:30 a.m.
Green wrote in a September 1 newsletter that he voted no on the transfer in committee, where it passed out of the Committee of the Whole with 7 yes votes and 5 no votes.
The Housing and Permitting Committee voted 4–0 to advance a resolution introduced by Councilors Angelita Morillo, Tiffany Koyama Lane and Mitch Green urging City Administrator Raymond C. Lee III not to enter nondisclosure agreements with data center builders. Koyama Lane submitted an amendment stating that the council "intends to pursue moratorium or zoning restriction on all hyperscale data centers at the earliest time and to consider additional approaches for large-load data centers." The resolution does not ban data centers or legally prohibit NDAs; the item was added to the September 9 council agenda.
Six Democratic state legislators proposed a statewide three-year moratorium on large-scale data centers in August, with the bill to be introduced in 2027.
Willamette Week reported that Portland water rates rose 8.1% and sewer and stormwater rates 5.15% beginning July 1, increases the Water Bureau attributed in part to Gresham and the Rockwood Water People's Utility District leaving the Bull Run customer base. The Bull Run Filtration Project is now expected to conclude by 2029 at a cost of $2.58 billion. A correction to the article states the council vote authorizing additional debt for the project was opposed by Councilors Angelita Morillo and Mitch Green and Council President Jamie Dunphy; Green posted September 3 that he voted no because household water rates "will go up about 10% for several years."
The Tualatin Valley Water District, Portland's largest wholesale customer with 166,000 residents, is next scheduled to leave the city's water system.
Portland DSA · 2026-09-04 · on Portland DSA's endorsed slate for the November 3, 2026 election
Portland DSA announced its endorsed slate for the November 3 general election: incumbent Councilors Mitch Green (District 4), Tiffany Koyama Lane (District 3) and Angelita Morillo (District 3), plus Tammy Carpenter for Oregon House District 27, Farrah Chaichi for Oregon House District 35 and Nathan Ong Norris for Multnomah County Commissioner District 2. The chapter said candidates are endorsed by vote of dues-paying members at its monthly general meetings.
All three endorsed incumbent councilors were first elected in November 2024.
Portland's city elections officer and the Oregon Secretary of State's Elections Division dismissed complaints alleging Councilor Mitch Green improperly used public resources on an Instagram video posted around August 11. City Elections Officer Louise Hansen wrote that sharing the video did not constitute an in-kind contribution because it was an official message containing information about city business; the state division declined to investigate. The complaints were filed August 17 by T.J. Anderson, a District 4 council candidate running against Green, and Deian Salazar.
The Oregonian reported the complaints on August 24, one week after they were filed.
The House adopted House Resolution 1490, denouncing socialism "in all its forms," by a 220–192 vote, with eight Democrats — Castor, Cuellar, Davis, Golden, Gonzalez, Gluesenkamp Perez, Soto and Vasquez — voting in favor and two voting present. The resolution also states support for the stalled SAVE America Act, which Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries cited as his reason for voting no. Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar called Golden's and Gluesenkamp Perez's votes for the procedural rule "a significant breach of trust" and asked the Committee on Caucus Rules to take the matter up.
CBS News reported the SAVE America Act has been stalled in the Senate for months, where it lacks simple-majority support.
Incumbent state Rep. Marjorie Decker defeated Boston DSA-endorsed labor organizer Evan MacKay in the Democratic primary for the Cambridge-based 25th Middlesex District, 4,104 votes to 3,599; the AP called the race Wednesday morning and MacKay conceded. MacKay lost the same race by 41 votes in 2024. Outside groups put more than $100,000 into the district, including more than $140,000 spent by Progressive Cambridge, an independent expenditure committee formed in July to back Decker.
Boston DSA said its field program knocked almost 50,000 doors and made over 100,000 phone calls for MacKay.
WBUR · 2026-09-02 · on Sen. Ed Markey's primary win over Rep. Seth Moulton
Sen. Ed Markey, 80, defeated Rep. Seth Moulton in the Massachusetts Democratic Senate primary, taking 65% of the vote to Moulton's 35% with 95% of ballots counted; Moulton had centered his campaign on Markey's age. It is the second consecutive primary in which Markey defeated a younger challenger, after his win over Joe Kennedy III. Markey has pledged that this will be his final term if he wins in November.
Markey faces Republican nominee John Deaton, who lost to Sen. Elizabeth Warren in 2024, in the November 3 general election.
Reuters interviewed more than two dozen activists, strategists and community leaders on whether DSA-aligned nominees can win Black voters in November, reporting that some voters want candidates focused on housing, healthcare and living costs rather than on Gaza or policing. The piece reported that Angie Nixon overcame a more-than-16-to-1 fundraising disadvantage against Alex Vindman while running up large margins in Black communities, and that Republican nominee Mike Rogers ran unopposed in Michigan and has built a $4.5 million campaign fund. DSA national co-chair Ashik Siddique said the group focuses on "economic solutions that bring people together across identity differences."
State Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven won the Democratic primary for the open 2nd Middlesex state Senate seat covering Somerville and Medford after all three active opponents conceded on election night; she had 38% of the vote with 81% of ballots counted. She led second-place state Rep. Christine Barber by 2,050 votes per the Associated Press, with Burhan Azeem at 15% and Matthew McLaughlin at 14%.
No Republican is on the general-election ballot for the seat; incumbent Sen. Pat Jehlen is retiring.
Fox News reported that William Lawrence, a DSA member running for Congress in Michigan who has campaigned with Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, said on a podcast that he wanted to inspire a sense of abundance "while frankly, destroying the American way of life," and that El-Sayed was scheduled to appear September 5 at the Islamic Society of North America's annual convention. The piece reported El-Sayed spoke at six events held by DSA chapters between 2017 and 2020, including as keynote speaker at a 2019 fundraiser, while saying he is not a socialist. El-Sayed spokesman Cole Wozniak responded that Rogers has staffed his campaign with people who defended a group chat containing praise for Hitler.
Democratic Left · 2026-09-01 · on Michael Lachenmeyer's primary loss to Rep. Angelo Puppolo in the 12th Hampden District
River Valley DSA endorsee Michael Lachenmeyer lost the Democratic primary for the Springfield-area 12th Hampden state House district to incumbent Angelo Puppolo, trailing 1,878 to 3,544 when the Associated Press called the race. Lachenmeyer's statement called it the chapter's first endorsement in a state-level race and said members organized seven canvasses and knocked on 2,806 doors between August 5 and August 31. Puppolo had not faced a primary opponent since first winning the seat in 2006.
The chapter's co-chair said it endorsed after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court removed a rent control question from the 2026 ballot in July.
Democratic Left · 2026-09-06 · on DSA-LA's endorsement of Nithya Raman in the Los Angeles mayoral runoff
DSA-LA voted to endorse City Councilor Nithya Raman for Los Angeles mayor in her runoff against incumbent Karen Bass, with the vote crossing the chapter's 60% approval threshold. The chapter also endorsed candidates for the Burbank and West Hollywood city councils, the Inglewood and Centinela Valley school boards, and Angela Gonzales-Torres in her U.S. House runoff. The same roundup reported Chicago DSA is running six candidates — four incumbents and two challengers — in the February 23, 2027 Chicago City Council election.
The Los Angeles Times reported on the chapter's internal debate over the Raman endorsement on August 29.
In the Guardian, Alice Speri reported that left-of-center candidates in the 2026 midterms differ in their relationships to DSA, sorting them into longtime organizers such as New York's Claire Valdez, non-members who share the group's priorities such as Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed, and longtime socialists who joined only recently such as Colorado's Melat Kiros and Pennsylvania's Chris Rabb. The piece cited DSA membership of 120,000 and a poll it said found one-third of Democrats identify as "socialist." It reported that after DSA candidates won nine of ten races the group contested in New York City in June, Third Way announced a $15 million effort against them.
The Conversation · 2026-09-03 · on DSA-affiliated members' prospective leverage in the next Congress
Political scientists SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor of the University of Virginia and Charlie Hunt of Boise State University argued that the influence of DSA-affiliated lawmakers in the next Congress — with at least a half-dozen candidates they described as all but guaranteed seats — will depend on party margins, bloc cohesion and leadership's institutional advantages rather than on numbers alone. They cited the Freedom Caucus as precedent, including Kevin McCarthy's 15-ballot speaker election, and noted median model predictions giving Democrats House control by as many as 30 seats.
The Hill reported that Democratic strategists worry the party's association with democratic socialism is hampering efforts to win back Hispanic voters lost since 2024, particularly older voters with roots in Cuba and Venezuela. It cited a Pew Research Center survey finding 20 percent of Democratic and Democratic-leaning Hispanic voters view political leaders who identify as democratic socialists favorably, compared with 21 percent of Black Democrats, 30 percent of Asian Democrats and 40 percent of white Democrats. Strategists quoted in the piece said the label could persist into the 2028 presidential race even if Democrats prevail in the midterms.
The Pew survey the piece cites was conducted January 20–26, 2026.
In Jacobin, sociologist Vivek Chibber argued that organized labor is the only viable mass base for the socialist left, and that socialists supply a direction unions lack; he said that without a revived labor movement, progressive legislation will stay within limits employers find acceptable. He cited overall union density just below 11 percent, private-sector density around 6 percent and public-sector density around 33 percent, against union approval he described as the highest since the 1950s.
The piece is adapted from an episode of Jacobin's Confronting Capitalism podcast, in which Chibber was interviewed by Cale Brooks.
2026-09-09 — Zenith–ISQ franchise transfer returns to Portland City Council at 9:30 a.m., continued from September 2–3 (source)
2026-09-09 — Data center NDA resolution, as amended by Koyama Lane, before the full Portland City Council (source)
2026-11-03 — Oregon general election: Portland council Districts 3 and 4, Multnomah County Commission District 2, Oregon House Districts 27 and 35 (source)
2026-11-03 — Massachusetts general election, including the Markey–Deaton U.S. Senate race (source)
2027-02-23 — Chicago City Council election, in which Chicago DSA is running six candidates (source)