Joe Battenfeld: MAGA meet the Mamdani clones

Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald on Jun 24, 2026

Published in Op Eds

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The takeover of the Democratic Party by extremist socialists is gaining new momentum as candidates in several big cities are celebrating victories – mirroring how MAGA has seized control of the Republican Party.

The old parties are slowly fading away as more and more anti-establishment outsiders are winning races and replacing more moderate elected officials across the country.

The new battle line in America is MAGA vs. Socialists, not Republicans against Democrats.

The pendulum is swinging away from the parties in power, and combined with President Donald Trump’s fading popularity, driving voters toward socialist candidates.

The question becomes are voters ready for socialist government? Will they embrace it in the midterm elections? Is the Democratic Party giving way to socialism? Will Democrats nominate a socialist in 2028?

In Washington, D.C., a so-called Democratic Socialist – the new euphemism for socialist – is set to take over the mayor’s seat just blocks away from the White House, where Trump has warned the feds could take over from a “crazy socialist.”

Janeese Lewis George won resoundingly in D.C. in what she described as “the most diverse coalition in this city’s history.”

“We are Democrats, independents, and democratic socialists,” she said.

In Los Angeles, socialist City Councilor Nithya Raman won second place in the preliminary election, pitting him against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in a November runoff.

And in Maine, Democrat Graham Platner – who has embraced some socialist views – is running against incumbent Republican Susan Collins in a race that could decide which party seizes control of the U.S. Senate.

Never have so many far-left liberals and socialists – a dirty word in politics just a few years ago – been poised to take over so many cities, following Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral win in New York City and Katie Wilson’s mayoral victory in Seattle last year. A confident Mamdani is now backing several socialist Congressional candidates in New York.

In Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu is a “progressive” in name only – her policies and views more closely adhere to socialism. U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley has also embraced socialist views.

The Democratic Party is not the party of the late Ted Kennedy and Barney Frank anymore. That party is long gone.

Would Kennedy, Joe Moakley and Tip O’Neil be aghast at what’s become of the Massachusetts Democratic Party?

The rise of socialism across Massachusetts and America has major ramifications in transportation, health care, and immigration and foreign policy.

Democrats led by socialists are now so anti-Israel it’s reshaping foreign policy. It could be decades before support for Israel recovers.

The rise in anti-Israel views has a strong anti-semitic connection. Jewish voters used to be a powerful Democratic voting bloc. That is changing in a scary way.

Mamdani wouldn’t even go to a pro-Israel parade earlier this year.