NEW YORK CITY — Crystal chandeliers. Marble columns. As much security as the airport. I walked into the New York Democrats' election night watch party at the Hilton in midtown, knowing I could only be there for a few minutes.
With multiple parties happening across the city on Nov. 3, I would have had to clone myself to be everywhere I needed to be to watch as Democrats ushered in their blue wave. Would I go to the smaller Democratic Socialists of America's gathering or stay to watch as the establishment Democrats toasted success? I chose to check in on the DSA.
Election night was more than a clear indication that voters are tired of MAGA. It was more than a clear message that Democrats won over voters.
It was also a reminder that Democrats need
to figure out how to work together. Progressives and moderates alike. Nothing made that clearer than their New York watch parties.
One election night, two very different Democratic victory parties
I started at the Manhattan hotel room where Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia Jameswould make their victory speeches.
“Tonight, the people of New York have sent a message that will be heard far beyond our state lines,” Hochul said later in the evening, following her victory over Republican Bruce Blakeman.
For an hour, I watched as news outlets readied their cameras and Democratic staffers led me from one location to the next. It was one of the most formal events I’ve ever attended as a journalist. I told myself that this is what it looks like when the Democratic Party is well-funded and winning.
After milling about for an hour, I left the ballroom, got on the B Train and headed up to Harlem, where future U.S. Rep. Darializa Avila Chevalier was having a watch party of her own.
I walked onto the patio of Harlem Tavern to the sound of Daddy Yankee playing through the loudspeakers, surrounded by hand-painted signs that said “Free Palestine” and “Tax the Rich.” On the tables were QR codes for guests to scan if they were interested in joining the Democratic Socialists of America, whose organizing led Avila Chevalier to victory over incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the June primary.
Later in the evening, Avila Chevalier took the stage in a keffiyeh, addressing the crowd in Spanish first before delivering her remarks in English.
“I want you to look around, and to really look around, because this is what a movement looks like,” Avila Chevalier said after her race had been called. “Not a machine, just people.”
Although she won as a Democrat, the differences between her election night watch party and the state Democratic Party’s event could not have felt starker. One was full of wealthy donors who had supported the establishment. The other was full of neighbors and DSA organizers who had led their candidate to victory, despite all odds.
Now, the two must come together to advance the Democratic agenda in Washington for any hope of undoing Republican policies and proving voters made the right choice.
Democrats have two years to prove voters chose correctly
In New York City, elections are decided during the June primaries. In her acceptance speech on Nov. 3, Avila Chevalier noted that naysayers didn’t believe she could beat Espaillat, who received huge financial support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Avila Chevalier is an outspoken supporter of the Palestinian people.
Yet Palestine was not the only thing Avila Chevalier ran on. Her Day 1 Agenda for Congress includes Medicare for All, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, expanding Social Security and funding affordable housing.
She and the DSA members who canvassed for her understood that these beliefs were not mutually exclusive. Both were necessary for her to win her district in June, and again in November. Now, she will be one of the democratic socialists representing New York in Congress.
It is affordability where establishment Democrats and the DSA can find common ground.
Hochul’s primary focus on the campaign trail was affordability. It’s one of the areas where the governor and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani have been able to work together, like when they delivered no-cost childcare to New York City residents earlier this year. These areas of agreement are why Mamdani campaigned with Hochul in the days leading up to the election, and they are why the mayor attended the establishment victory party instead of one of the smaller DSA gatherings.
The sooner moderate Democrats realize they have more in common with the DSA than their Republican counterparts, the faster things will get done in New York and across the nation.
The establishment can no longer choose to ignore the democratic socialists – not when New York’s most popular Democrats come from the DSA. Medicare for All, building affordable housing, alleviating costs for the working class – these are all things that the two factions of the Democratic Party can agree on, even if their ideologies differ.
I wove through the dance floor at Avila Chevalier’s party to exit. The music followed me down the block into the underground subway station, as I thought about what I’d seen from both parties, and the way the celebrations felt so different.
It’s clear that neither group can accomplish their goals without the other. Democrats must learn to accept the DSA for what it is, and welcome its members to their ballrooms with open arms. It's the only way they'll all be at the same celebration in 2028.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on Bluesky: @sarapequeno.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrats, DSA have to get along for blue wave to matter | Opinion
