Democratic Socialists of America membership surges after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s stunning victory

The day after the self-described democratic socialist unseated a long-serving Democratic congressman on Tuesday, DSA experienced a membership surge 35 times larger than normal.

The ramifications of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s stunning primary defeat of longtime Queens Democratic boss and Congressman Joe Crowley (D-NY) extend well beyond the confines of Capitol Hill.

The 28-year-old member of Democratic Socialists of America—who shockingly won in New York’s 14th congressional district on a leftist platform of Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, and a federal jobs guarantee—inspired a major boost in membership for the organization on Wednesday.

According to Lawrence Dreyfuss, a program associate for DSA, the organization saw a surge of 1,152 new memberships on Wednesday—about 35 times more sign-ups than on an average day.

The last major membership bump DSA experienced was in the month following President Trump’s election, during which time they had about six times more sign-ups than in the previous month.

DSA has undergone a renaissance of sorts in the Trump era, ballooning in size from some 5,000 members in November 2016 to 40,000 nationwide.

The left-wing group’s growth has been attributed in part to broader resistance to the new administration and wider acceptability of the “democratic socialist” label championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).