List of socialist members of the United States Congress

The following is a list of members of the United States Congress who have declared themselves to be socialists or have been a member of a socialist organization in the United States.

History

In the 1890s-1910s, most socialists who won election ran on the Populist or Socialist Party of America (SPA) ballot lines. While SPA won a few federal elections, SPA's electoral power was much greater in local and state elections, and briefly held over 1,000 local offices.^[1] During the First Red Scare, the House of Representatives twice refused to seat socialist Victor Berger, who would be convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and again won his seat.^[2]

A very small number of members of Communist Party USA (CPUSA) ever won federal office, and never as open Communists. The Second Red Scare and McCarthy era resulted in persecution of socialists, removal of socialists from unions, and weaker socialist electoral outcomes.^[3]

Starting in the 1980s, a small number of social-democratic and socialist Democrats affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). After the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign and explosion of DSA membership, DSA rapidly gained half a dozen seats in the House. In 2021, there were more socialists in Congress than any point in US history,^[4][5] most of whom are members of DSA.^[6] After Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman lost re-election and Greg Casar and Summer Lee lost DSA endorsement, that number shrank again.

Members elected as socialists

The table below lists members of the US Congress who were open socialists or open members of a socialist organization during their time in office.

As of September 15, 2024^[update]:

Member	Photo	Chamber	Term start	Term end	State	Party		Ref
Greg Casar		House	January 3, 2023	Incumbent	Texas		Democratic Party (DSA member, former Austin DSA endorsee)	[7][8]
Summer Lee		House	January 3, 2023	Incumbent	Pennsylvania		Democratic Party (former DSA member and former endorsee)	[9]
Cori Bush		House	January 3, 2021	January 3, 2025	Missouri		Democratic Party (DSA member and endorsee)	[10][11]
Jamaal Bowman		House	January 3, 2021	January 3, 2025	New York		Democratic Party (DSA member and NYC-DSA endorsee)	[12][13][14]
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez		House	January 3, 2019	Incumbent	New York		Democratic Party, Working Families Party (DSA member and former endorsee; NYC-DSA endorsee)	[5][15][16]
Rashida Tlaib		House	January 3, 2019	Incumbent	Michigan		Democratic Party (DSA member and endorsee)	[5][2]
Bernie Sanders		Senate	January 3, 2007	Incumbent	Vermont		Independent (Endorsed in Democratic Party primaries, caucuses with Democrats)	[17][18][19]
Danny Davis		House	January 3, 1997	Incumbent	Illinois		Democratic Party (former New Party member and DSA member)	[a]
Bernie Sanders		House	January 3, 1991	January 3, 2007	Vermont		Independent (won most Democratic Party votes)	[17][18][19]
Major Owens		House	January 3, 1983	January 3, 2007	New York		Democratic Party (DSA member)	[2][24]
David Bonior		House	January 3, 1977	January 3, 2003	Michigan		Democratic Party (DSA member)	[25][26]
Ron Dellums		House	January 3, 1971	February 6, 1998	California		Democratic Party (DSA member)	[2][27]
John Conyers		House	January 3, 1965	December 5, 2017	Michigan		Democratic Party (DSA member)	[28]
Leo Isacson		House	February 17, 1948	January 3, 1949	New York		American Labor Party	[29]
Hugh De Lacy		House	January 3, 1945	January 3, 1947	Washington		Democratic Party (Communist Party USA member)	[30]
Bolívar Pagán		House	December 26, 1939	January 3, 1945	Puerto Rico		Republican Union (Socialist Party member)
Vito Marcantonio		House	January 3, 1939	January 3, 1951	New York		American Labor Party	[29][31]
Thomas Ryum Amlie		House	January 3, 1935	January 3, 1939	Wisconsin		Wisconsin Progressive Party (ideological socialist)	[32]
Vito Marcantonio		House	January 3, 1935	January 3, 1937	New York		Republican Party	[29][31]
Santiago Iglesias		House	March 4, 1933	December 5, 1939	Puerto Rico		Socialist Party
Thomas Ryum Amlie		House	October 13, 1931	March 3, 1933	Wisconsin		Wisconsin Progressive Party (ideological socialist)	[32]
Fiorello LaGuardia		House	March 4, 1927	March 3, 1933	New York		Republican Party (former Socialist Party of America candidate and self-identified socialist)	[33]
Fiorello LaGuardia		House	March 4, 1925	March 4, 1927	New York		Socialist Party of America and Progressive Party	[33]
Fiorello LaGuardia		House	March 4, 1923	March 4, 1925	New York		Republican Party (future Socialist Party of America candidate and self-identified socialist)	[33]
Victor Berger		House	March 4, 1923	March 3, 1929	Wisconsin		Socialist Party of America	[2]
Meyer London		House	March 4, 1921	March 3, 1923	New York		Socialist Party of America	[2]
Victor Berger		House	March 4, 1919	November 10, 1919	Wisconsin		Socialist Party of America	[2]
Fiorello LaGuardia		House	March 4, 1917	December 31, 1919	New York		Republican Party (future Socialist Party of America candidate and self-identified socialist)	[33]
Meyer London		House	March 4, 1915	March 3, 1919	New York		Socialist Party of America	[2]
Victor Berger		House	March 4, 1911	March 3, 1913	Wisconsin		Socialist Party of America	[2]
Freeman Knowles		House	March 4, 1897	March 3, 1899	South Dakota		People's Party (United States) (future Socialist Party of America member)	[34]
Haldor Boen		House	March 4, 1893	March 3, 1895	Minnesota		People's Party (United States) (future Socialist Party of America member)	[35]
Kittel Halvorson		House	March 3, 1891	March 4, 1893	Minnesota		People's Party (United States) (future Socialist Party of America member)	[36]
Lewis Featherstone		House	March 5, 1890	March 3, 1891	Arkansas		Labor Party
Henry Smith		House	March 4, 1887	March 3, 1889	Wisconsin		Union Labor Party	[37]
Horace Greeley		House	December 4, 1848	March 3, 1849	New York		Whig Party (United States)	[38]
Robert Dale Owen		House	March 4, 1843	March 3, 1847	Indiana		Democratic Party	[39]

Members who were or would be socialists

The table below lists members of the US Congress who were, at some point in their life, socialists or members of a socialist organization, but not while they held Congressional office.

As of September 15, 2024^[update]:

Member	Photo	Chamber	Term start	Term end	State	Party		Ref
Jerry Nadler		House	November 3, 1992	Incumbent	New York		Democratic Party (former DSA member and former endorsee)	[40][41][42]
William H. Meyer		House	January 3, 1959	January 3, 1961	Vermont		Democratic Party (future Liberty Union Party founder)	[43]
George M. Rhodes		House	January 3, 1949	January 3, 1969	Pennsylvania		Democratic Party (former Socialist Party of America member)	[44]
Andrew Biemiller		House	January 3, 1949	January 3, 1951	Wisconsin		Democratic Party (former Socialist Party of America member)	[45]
Andrew Biemiller		House	January 3, 1945	January 3, 1947	Wisconsin		Democratic Party (former Socialist Party of America member)	[45]
Henry Teigan		House	January 3, 1937	January 3, 1939	Pennsylvania		Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party (former Socialist Party of America member)	[46]
John Bernard		House	January 3, 1937	January 3, 1939	Minnesota		Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party (future Communist Party USA member)	[47][48]
Jerry J. O'Connell		House	January 3, 1937	January 3, 1939	Montana		Democratic Party	[49][50][51][52]
Jerry Voorhis		House	January 3, 1937	January 3, 1947	California		Democratic Party (former Socialist Party of America member)	[53]
Homer Bone		Senate	January 3, 1933	November 13, 1944	Washington		Democratic Party (former Socialist Party of America member)	[54]
George Lunn		House	March 4, 1917	March 4, 1919	New York		Democratic Party (former Socialist Party of America member)	[55]

Notable progressive but not socialist members

The list below includes members who have sometimes been described as socialist, but are / were not ideological socialists or sincere members of a socialist organization:

• Maxwell Frost (2025–, FL-10) is a progressive and the first Generation Z member of Congress. Frost explicitly does not identify as socialist, saying "my family fled that".^[56]
• Shri Thanedar (2021–, MI-13) is a Democrat and expelled DSA member. Thanedar is not considered a socialist or reflective of the values of the organization.^[57][58]
• Ilhan Omar (2019–, MN-5) is a member of "The Squad". In 2019, Donald Trump insulted Omar as an "America-hating socialist" while a crowd chanted "send her back".^{[59][60][61][62]} Omar has never identified as socialist or endorsed socialism. Omar was not endorsed by DSA and is not a DSA member,^[63] though DSA called her a "friend of DSA".^[64] In 2020, Jacobin described her as "one of the leading lights of the democratic socialist movement".^[65] In 2019, an Omar staffer claimed: "[S]he is proud to call herself a democratic socialist".^[66]
• Ayanna Pressley (2019–, MA-07) is a member of "The Squad". Pressley explicitly does not identify as socialist.^[67][68]
• Raúl Grijalva (2003–, AZ-7) was a member of the left-wing Raza Unida Party in his youth.^[69][70]
• George Crockett Jr. (1980–1991, MI-13) was a National Lawyers Guild member who attended the DSA founding conference, but never joined the group itself.^[71]
• Allard K. Lowenstein (1969–1971, NY-5) was aligned with many New Left causes and was supported in his campaigns by DSA members such as Ron Dellums but never identified as a socialist himself.^[72]
• Will Rogers Jr. (1943–1944, CA-16) was one of the few current, former, or future members of Congress to openly support the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War.^[73]
• Smith W. Brookhart (1922–1926, 1927–1933, IA-Sen) was one of the few current, former, or future members of Congress to openly support the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War.^[74]
• Robert M. La Follette (1885–1891, WI-3; 1906–1925, WI-Sen) aligned himself with Socialist groups but never identified as a Socialist himself.^[75]

See also

• History of the socialist movement in the United States
• The Squad (United States Congress)
• Congressional Progressive Caucus
• Millennial socialism
• Other lists:
  • List of elected socialist mayors in the United States
  • List of Democratic Socialists of America public officeholders
  • List of Green politicians who have held office in the United States
  • List of Communist Party USA members who have held office in the United States
• American Labor Party–Democratic Party fusion candidates:
  • United States senators:
    • Robert F. Wagner (1927–1949)
    • James M. Mead (1938–1947)
  • United States representatives:
    • Emanuel Celler (1923–1973)
    • Joseph L. Pfeifer (1935–1951)
    • Arthur G. Klein (1941–1945, 1946–1956)
    • Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (1945–1971)
• End Poverty in California supporters and endorsees:
  • United States senators:
    • Sheridan Downey (1939–1950)
  • United States representatives:
    • Charles J. Colden (1933–1938)
    • Thomas F. Ford (1933–1945)
    • John S. McGroarty (1935–1939)
    • Byron N. Scott (1935–1939)
    • Edouard Izac (1937–1947)
    • Lee E. Geyer (1939–1941)
    • Ellis E. Patterson (1945–1947)
    • Augustus Hawkins (1963–1991)
• Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party members:
  • United States senators:
    • Henrik Shipstead (1923–1941); later became a Republican
    • Magnus Johnson (1923–1925)
    • Elmer Austin Benson (1935–1937)
    • Ernest Lundeen (1937–1940)
  • United States representatives:
    • William Leighton Carss (1919–1921, 1925–1929)
    • Ole J. Kvale (1923–1929)
    • Knud Wefald (1923–1927)
    • Paul John Kvale (1929–1939)
    • Henry M. Arens (1933–1935)
    • Magnus Johnson (1933–1935)
    • Ernest Lundeen (1933–1937); also served in the Senate
    • Francis Shoemaker (1933–1935)
    • Rich T. Buckler (1935–1943)
    • Dewey Johnson (1937–1939)
    • Harold Hagen (1943–1955); later became a Republican
• Nonpartisan League members:
  • United States senators:
    • Edwin F. Ladd (1921–1925)
    • Lynn Frazier (1923–1941)
    • Gerald Nye (1925–1945)
    • William Langer (1941–1959)
  • United States representatives:
    • John M. Baer (1917–1921)
    • James H. Sinclair (1919–1933)
    • Thomas Hall (1924–1933)
    • William Lemke (1933–1941, 1943–1950)
    • Usher L. Burdick (1935–1945, 1949–1959)
• Washington Commonwealth Federation members:
  • United States senators:
    • Lewis B. Schwellenbach (1935–1940)
    • Monrad Wallgren (1940–1945)
    • Warren Magnuson (1944–1981)
    • Henry M. Jackson (1953–1983)
  • United States representatives:
    • Marion Zioncheck (1933–1936)
    • Monrad Wallgren (1933–1940); also served in the Senate
    • Knute Hill (1933–1943)
    • Martin F. Smith (1933–1943)
    • Warren Magnuson (1937–1944); also served in the Senate
    • John M. Coffee (1937–1947)
    • Henry M. Jackson (1941–1953); also served in the Senate

Endnotes

1. Although Davis was endorsed by the New Party^[20] and Chicago DSA^[21] in 1996, Davis has since moved rightward. Chicago DSA endorsed candidates primarying him from the left in 2020^[22] and 2022.^[23]