Municipal socialism is an increasingly popular idea, and not only in New York City, where Zohran Mamdani is favored to become mayor in November. New polling in the Minneapolis race for mayor shows democratic socialist challenger Omar Fateh gaining on the incumbent, Jacob Frey, a centrist Democrat. A new poll shows Fateh only five points behind Frey, up from thirteen points behind two weeks ago. Interviewing Fateh late last week, it was easy to understand why the thirty-five-year-old state senator is breaking through. He may not win, but in a bleak, unstable time, his vision of socialism is hopeful and grounded.

Asked what democratic socialism means to him, Fateh, whose first child was born last month, had a straightforward answer. “It’s pretty clear-cut,” he said. “You want to take care of everyone.”

He sees democratic socialism as a needed corrective to our political system, which tends to be rigged for the elites. “Within the Democratic Party,” he explained, “there are not enough voices for working people.”