Socialism is growing in North Carolina. Don’t dismiss it | Opinion
I expected the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center to be packed when I arrived for the City Council’s vote on a data-center moratorium. What I didn’t foresee was who showed up.
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Rather than the neighborhood groups you might expect, the chamber was dominated by red- and black-clad socialist activists hoisting signs bearing the closed-fist emblem and slogans such as “For the Struggle.”
Suffice it to say, the council ultimately voted unanimously to approve the 150-day moratorium.
In big-city North Carolina, it is easy to dismiss the socialist movement as a sideshow. Places like Charlotte, Asheville and Durham have activists of every ideological stripe.
But socialism is no longer confined to predictable enclaves. The scene at the Government Center looked less like an aberration than an early flex of political muscle. Republicans would be making a mistake to write it off.
The word “socialism” carries a lot of baggage, and it means wildly different things to different people inside this movement.
For some, it resembles Franklin Roosevelt-style politics built around strong unions, an expansive safety net and greater attention to the working class. In its official platform, the Democratic Socialists of America goes further, arguing that capitalism must ultimately be replaced, though it pursues that goal primarily through elections and labor organizing.
At the far end is the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Marxist-Leninist party represented at the Government Center. Its program calls for revolutionary change and the end of “capitalist rule.”
A lot of these ideas have circulated within Democratic politics for decades, but the “socialist” label itself has gained new momentum since Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign in New York City showed that an unapologetic adherent could defeat the Democratic establishment.
This year, socialist-friendly candidates have won Democratic primaries across the country, most notably Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate nomination in swingy Michigan.
The important change is not simply that these ideas are winning. Candidates can now embrace the socialist label, challenge the Democratic establishment and prevail well beyond the safest blue enclaves. What once looked like a protest movement is becoming an organized faction inside the Democratic Party.
The label is gaining ground in North Carolina as well. DSA organizations are active in Charlotte, the Triangle, Asheville, Winston-Salem and Wilmington. A new Catawba Valley chapter is organizing in conservative Catawba County.
A list of local chapters does not by itself amount to political power. But a new Elon University Poll shows just how mainstream the movement has become.
Researchers found that 29% of North Carolina adults said “democratic socialist” described them at least somewhat well. Among Democrats, the figure was an astonishing 56%.
That does not mean 29% of North Carolinians want a Marxist revolution or have even read DSA’s platform. It does mean “socialist” has lost much of the sting Republicans assume it carries.
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There is a school of thought among Republicans that the right should celebrate this burgeoning movement. Every time a socialist activist knocks off an older-school Democrat, the argument goes, Republicans get an easier path to victory.
We should be careful with that.
I do not expect socialists to make a major impact on North Carolina’s 2026 elections. If anything, this year may reinforce the idea that the socialist left produces unserious candidates who are easy for Republicans to mock.
Consider LeVon Barnes, the Democrat challenging state Rep. Dennis Riddell in now-purple Alamance County. Republicans circulated a podcast clip in which Barnes was asked whether he supports defunding the police. He said he believes in “allowing the community to police itself.”
Candidates like Barnes reinforce the comforting Republican view of the socialist left. They appear unserious, badly matched to their districts and remarkably easy to dunk on.
That may be all this movement amounts to in 2026. A few fringe candidates will attract attention, lose races and give Republicans plenty of material.
It would be a mistake to assume that is where the story ends.
The more consequential test comes in 2027. Charlotte will have an open mayoral race, every City Council seat on the ballot and low-turnout Democratic primaries in which a small but disciplined organization can exercise tremendous influence.
I recently spoke with Councilman JD Mazuera Arias, who told me he considers himself a DSA member, although he does not agree with every position it takes.
Besides speaking to everyday concerns, Arias told me their advantage is not sheer size but dedication. They knock doors, attend council meetings and organize around specific issues while most voters are paying little attention.
“Five hundred organized people who knock doors, show up at council and organize around specific issues can have significantly more influence than 500 passive voters,” he said.
The first generation of socialist candidates may be easy to dunk on, but the next generation is likely to be better funded, more disciplined and more careful about how it presents its ideas. Even losing candidates can pull the Democratic Party in their direction.
Socialism is seductive to far more North Carolinians than conservatives want to believe, as the Elon poll shows. Republicans will not be able dismiss socialists as fringe radicals for long.
The activists at the Government Center were not simply putting on a sideshow. They were getting ready for what comes next.
Andrew Dunn is a regular freelance columnist for the Charlotte Observer and News & Observer of Raleigh. Dunn is the publisher of the Longleaf Politics newsletter, which offers thoughtful analysis of North Carolina politics and policy from a conservative perspective. He can be reached at [email protected].
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This story was originally published August 28, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
