Might You Already be a Democratic Socialist?
A Conversation with Socialist City Councilor Jesse Brown
This piece originally appeared on Fran Quigley’s Substack We Can Do Better: Ending Poverty in Our Time on July 17, 2026.
In this episode of We Can Do Better, we interview Jesse Brown, the first openly socialist candidate ever elected to the city council of Indianapolis in the heart of Republican-dominated Indiana. Jesse won his seat in 2023, with the endorsement of the Democratic Socialists of America , DSA, by defeating the sitting vice president of the council.
Since then, democratic socialists have been on a roll. Zohran Mamdani in New York City and others are winning major mayoral elections and are poised to win more this year. Already in 2026, democratic socialists are defeating incumbents and winning open seats in primary wins that will likely yield a growing number of socialist members of Congress.
Many of us want to see our government respond much better to the struggles of everyday people. And we want wealthy individuals and corporations to hold far less riches and regular people to hold far more political power. Does that mean we are democratic socialists?
Also, what is “sewer socialism” and how does that service-focused history guide the new wave of elected socialist mayors like Mamdani? How does democratic socialism intersect with the care-for-others religious principles at the core of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other religious and moral traditions?
We engage with all these questions with Jesse Brown. Jesse is a former high school teacher, which seems to be good preparation for educating us about what democratic socialism is and is not.
He shares with us how his single mom’s financial struggles and his family’s Christian faith led him to socialism, how he thinks democratic socialists are speaking to the same frustration that has led many voters to embrace Trump in the past, and how the democratic nature of socialism should prevent him or any other elected official from thinking they have all the answers for a community’s needs.
You can listen to and/or watch our conversation at our podcast channels on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.
A few articles and resources referenced in the episode:
“Democratic Socialists are Winning in U.S. Cities With Message of Getting Stuff Done,” The Guardian
Jesse Brown’s Weekly Newsletter
Religious Socialism: Faith in Action for a Better World (Orbis Books)
Thanks for reading and listening!
