Counterpoint | The future of the DFL isn’t democratic socialism

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I work in Minneapolis politics. I’ve knocked the doors, made the calls and stood in the cold trying to elect real Democrats who know how to govern, not just posture. And from where I sit, the rise of candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America is not the start of some political revolution. It is a symptom of what happens when online organizing, procedural loopholes and national donor networks overrun local politics. If we in the DFL Party let this moment define who we are, we’ll be surrendering the very coalition that made us strong in the first place.

Let’s take a hard look at what just happened in Minneapolis. Omar Fateh, a sitting state senator who has built a career taking shots at his own party, was endorsed by the DFL for mayor. That endorsement didn’t come from a wave of voter enthusiasm. It came from a chaotic convention that most voters weren’t a part of. A system of electronic voting and poor credentialing created confusion and excluded many. The result was not a groundswell. It was a technical victory for a well-organized group that thrives in low-participation environments.

Fateh is often held up as an example of this new wave of “progressives,” but there’s a pattern worth noting. He’s made a name for himself by attacking fellow Democrats, not Republicans. He routinely undermines statewide DFL priorities while painting himself as the only one with moral clarity. And despite claiming to speak for marginalized communities, he often skips the hard votes and avoids doing the actual work of governing. You don’t get to ignore the process and then pretend to represent the people left to live with the results.

After Gov. Tim Walz vetoed an early rideshare bill, Fateh didn’t look for a path forward. He went after the administration, saying they had “not one conversation” with drivers before making the decision. In the final stretch of the 2024 session, as the Senate worked to close out its agenda, he used the rideshare issue as a bargaining chip, signaling he was willing to stall other DFL priorities until he got the outcome he wanted. And when the Senate passed a $24 million emergency EMS funding bill with unanimous bipartisan support, Fateh didn’t cast a vote at all. That is not principled independence; it is walking away from the job of governing when the work doesn’t fit his own script.

This is not the politics of building something. This is the politics of tearing it down.

That mindset doesn’t win in Minnesota. I’ve worked campaigns from Minneapolis to the Iron Range. I’ve talked to working-class families, Black parents in north Minneapolis, Latino renters in Richfield and Somali voters in Cedar-Riverside. They want affordable housing, safe neighborhoods, good jobs and decent schools. They want leaders who will listen, deliver and be accountable. They don’t care about being a part of a national movement. They care about whether their elected officials are present, honest and effective.

The DSA’s strategy doesn’t scale outside a handful of wards. They may win endorsements in hyperlocal contests, but they alienate the very voters Democrats need in the suburbs, in greater Minnesota and even in parts of Minneapolis. They talk a lot about justice, but they treat Black and brown moderates with open hostility if they don’t fall in line. They speak the language of equity but practice exclusion.

This is not a new left. It is a loud one.

If the DFL wants to stay relevant, we cannot keep letting this faction hijack our identity. The goal is not to win Twitter. It’s to win elections. It’s to pass laws, fund services, protect people’s rights and make lives better. That takes organizing. It takes compromise. It takes knowing that slogans don’t fill potholes or build housing.

The truth is, there are a lot of young people who care about the future of this city. They are hungry for something real. The DFL can offer that. But only if we stop being afraid to draw clear lines. We don’t have to abandon our values. We have to protect them from being distorted by those who confuse disruption with progress.

We need to remember that. We need to act like it. Because if we don’t, we’ll wake up one day and find the party we built has been replaced by something that looks familiar, but works for no one.