A straw poll taken after Cynthia Nixon pitched the NYC-DSA found roughly a third of those present pushing for an endorsement, about a third pushing against an endorsement and a third or so undecided. | AP Photo Socialists divided over Nixon

ALBANY — The New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is split on backing gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, who pitched the group on her left-flank campaign Tuesday night.

Abdullah Younus, the organization’s co-chair, said Nixon and New York City Council Member Jumaane Williams — who is running a parallel campaign for lieutenant governor — spoke to more than 150 people Tuesday evening in Manhattan.


“She told us she is running and now is identifying as a democratic socialist and running on a platform of education reform, housing reform and giving health care to everyone,” Younus told POLITICO on Wednesday. “I think people really appreciated hearing from a gubernatorial candidate. It’s nice to see that our policies and what we espouse are resonating with people running for governor. The landscape is really shifting, and people are noticing it across the state.”

Nixon, an actor who has been nominated by the Working Families Party, told POLITICO on Tuesday that she has embraced the socialist label. The move comes as her challenge to Gov. Andrew Cuomo has linked up with other insurgents, including democratic socialists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who defeated Rep. Joe Crowley of Queens in a Democratic primary, and Julia Salazar, who is challenging state Sen. Martin Malavé Dilan (D-Brooklyn).

Cuomo has not reached out for the NYC-DSA endorsement, Younus said.

Younus said that after Nixon and Williams spoke, there were policy-based questions from the audience and then a discussion among the gathered members. At the end of the night, a straw poll was taken, with roughly a third of those present pushing for an endorsement, about a third pushing against an endorsement and a third or so undecided, Younus said.

The NYC-DSA has an established endorsement process. Younus said it involves six chapters in the five boroughs making individual recommendations, an online advisory poll and a final decision by a citywide advisory committee if at least three chapters recommend endorsement.

“Our electoral process is democracy in action, and when we decide to commit to a candidate, we only do that once we have sufficient buy-in from all of our members and all of their interests, so we’re truly representing the varied interests of the working class,” Younus said.

At least one member argued against endorsing Nixon because, according to a flyer distributed at the meeting, “she’s not a socialist.”

“Seriously. The DSA is not the f---ing Working Families Party (thank god),” wrote Tiffany Berruti, according to a copy of the flyer sent to POLITICO. “We don’t just grant endorsements to progressives who beg us for one. We endorse people who can advance the anti-capitalist struggle. If she won’t even identify herself as a socialist, how can we spread those ideas?”

Attempts to reach Berruti were not successful.

Younus said the NYC-DSA was a “big tent” organization whose members do not universally reject an economy where private enterprise is the driver. However, the NYC-DSA is “anti-capitalist” and stands against “oligarchs” and “parasites at the top of our economy who are sending our children to war.”

“I think democratic socialism is a fight for justice. It’s outlining a vision for a better future, one that has universal housing and health care for everyone. Eliminating ICE, an end to prisons. It’s a future where working-class people work together to build a better future.”

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party gubernatorial candidate, has reached out to the NYC-DSA seeking its endorsement.

“As someone who came up in the McCarthy and Cold War eras, it is fascinating to see the word socialism coming back into mainstream public discourse — if not the distinguishing programmatic feature of the socialist tradition: a new democratic mode of production based on social ownership of the major means of production,” Hawkins wrote in an email that measured recent DSA endorsees’ definition of socialism.

“But I’m happy they have opened up a discussion of socialism,” he said.

Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, the Republican nominee, issued a statement Wednesday calling on Cuomo to reject democratic socialism and stand, as Molinaro does, for cutting taxes.

"New Yorkers deserve to know where their governor stands. He's proclaimed himself a conservative, a liberal and even ‘the government.’ Or, is he now an Ocasio-Cortez socialist revolutionary?" Molinaro asked.

Cuomo has previously run with the support of the Business Council of New York State and was recently endorsed by the New York State AFL-CIO. He has resisted calls to raise income taxes, and touted previous tax-cutting measures.

Cuomo 2018 spokeswoman Abbey Fashouer did not immediately comment.