A leading centrist Democratic group is launching a new $15 million effort between now and 2028 to discredit democratic socialism, Fox News Digital confirms.
The group, Third Way, says it plans to target the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which they believe poses a "mortal danger" for Democrats.
The move comes in the wake of left-wing candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s victory this week over more moderate Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens in the high-profile and high-stakes Senate primary in battleground Michigan.
El-Sayed's razor-thin win over Stevens, along with DSA-aligned and progressive candidates winning in two congressional primaries in Michigan, come amid earlier victories this spring and earlier this summer, and are emboldening the left in its ideological battle for the future of the Democratic Party.
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"We believe the DSA poses a serious threat to Democrats. Their ideas are dangerous and their politics are toxic. If we are to beat MAGA Republicans, we cannot allow our party to be defined by radicals," Third Way co-founder Matt Bennett told Fox News Digital.
The group says their effort will include opposition research into the DSA, polling, social media programs and educating Democratic activists and leaders, but that their push is not directed at individual candidates, some of whom are now the party's nominees in a growing number of congressional races in this year's midterm elections.
Responding, DSA co-chair Megan Romer told Fox News Digital, "$15 million to tell working class people that a better world isn’t possible? We believe in people power, and our vision for a better future is winning. We will keep building our movement, and they will waste their money."
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A growing concern among moderate Democrats is that nominating far-left candidates in key Senate and House races could endanger the party's midterm effort to win back congressional majorities from the Republicans.
They're also concerned that this year's primary victories by the left-wing at the expense of establishment-backed incumbents and candidates could boost progressive contenders in the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination race, which will get underway after November's elections.
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Referring to El-Sayed's victory in Michigan, which is an early voting state in the 2028 Democratic presidential primary calendar, Bennett said it "gives the 2028 presidential field the wrong idea of how to win the presidential primary in places in Michigan."
News of the Third Way effort was first reported earlier Thursday by the New York Times.
