Opinion: What does it mean to be a socialist in 2021?

Jerry Goldfeder is a veteran election lawyer who practices at Stroock LLP in New York City, teaches Election Law at Fordham Law School and hosts Election Connection, a podcast on public radio station WFUV.  Eagle file photo

By Jerry H. Goldfeder

New York now has self described socialists in its State Legislature and, coming next January, the New York City Council.

In the Democratic primary for mayor of Buffalo, a socialist beat the long-time incumbent. Although Buffalo is an overwhelmingly Democratic city, the Democratic nominee – the socialist – may or may not prevail in November because the mayor is waging a write-in campaign to get reelected.

Whatever the result is in Buffalo, all of this is a far cry from 100 years ago when the New York State Legislature actually expelled five duly elected assembly members who were from the Socialist Party.

It was the year 1920. They were seen as having ideas inconsistent with and disloyal to American values.

A special election was held for those vacant seats and all five were elected once again. This time only three of them were expelled and two were allowed to take their seats. In protest however, the two who were now somehow acceptable resigned.

Back to 2021.The real question is what agenda do so called socialist have and how is it so different than public officials who describe themselves as progressive Democrats?

Let’s look at Bernie Sanders when he was the socialist mayor of Burlington, Vermont. He advocated for affordable housing, he supported local businesses and encouraged community engagement in the process of government. Ordinances were passed that outlawed discrimination, increased corporate taxes and increased funding for education.

These ideas seem pretty ho-hum now and were not so out-of-the-box when Sanders took office 40 years ago.

Another socialist mayor, Ron Dellums, the former 11-term congressman, was elected to lead the city of Oakland, California, in 2006. Dellums also advocated for increased educational spending and a raft of anti-discrimination laws, but he also made public safety a cornerstone of his mayority.

The current New York socialists have been outfront about their beliefs.

One new assemblymember has said he “hopes to push for a socialist framework” for policies. By way of explanation, he wants healthcare for all, increased taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers, the Green New Deal and a focus on constituents, not corporate interests.

The co-chair of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America says their platform is simple: “putting people’s needs first.”

Yet another assembly person says their goal is for “everyone to have an opportunity to live, work and thrive in this country and be able to raise their families with dignity.”

Much of this doesn't sound very different from what other Democrats say.

So I return to the question – what does being a socialist in 2021 mean to the people in their districts and what does it mean to the legislative and municipal priorities in New York?

We will be watching. Stay tuned.

Jerry Goldfeder is a veteran election lawyer who practices at Stroock LLP in New York City, teaches Election Law at Fordham Law School. This op-ed was adapted from Goldfeder’s podcast Election Connection, produced by Fordham University’s public radio station WFUV.