At a critical moment in the political landscape of the United States, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has reached the historic milestone of 100,000 members nationwide. Our column spoke with Hayley Banyai-Becker, a member of the DSA’s National Political Committee. Read the interview below.

Q. Hayley, thank you very much for the interview. Could you please start by introducing yourself?

A. I’m Hayley Banyai-Becker, a current member of DSA’s National Political Committee from Portland, Oregon DSA. I joined DSA in 2019 after running the field program for a U.S. Senate candidate, Lorena Garcia, who was endorsed by all four Colorado DSA chapters.

Since joining DSA, I’ve served as a campaign manager or field director for over six nationally endorsed DSA candidates, led an organizing campaign to unionize the nonprofit I was working at with a fellow Denver DSA comrade, served two years as a national staff organizer for DSA, and one year simultaneously on the Portland DSA Steering Committee and the National Electoral Commission Steering Committee. In August 2024, I moved to Portland and transitioned into the role of Field Director for DSA’s nationally endorsed campaign for Tiffany Koyama Lane for Portland City Council. These days, I am a staff organizer at AFT-Oregon, representing 18,000 education workers across the state.

Q. DSA has just reached 100,000 members nationwide. What is the significance of this for socialists in the United States?

A. DSA reaching 100,000 members is a monumental milestone for us! We attempted to reach this number previously through a coordinated membership drive during Joe Biden’s presidential term, which ended with our peak only reaching 93,000 members. Following this period, our organization went through a period of decline in membership, which I believe was mostly due to the feeling that our country’s issues were because of the Trump administration and that this was now in the past.

Between chapters and DSA leaders being very publicly present in mobilizations against Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, Trump being re-elected, DSA remaining clear and steadfast in our commitment to the abolition of ICE, and a democratic socialist being elected to the highest office of the largest city in the United States, the times of our decline are long behind us.

Our membership has been increasing steadily since Trump’s re-election in November 2024 and surged to our highest number to date—95,000 (prior to now)—following Zohran Mamdani’s election in November 2025, our anti-war campaign in regard to U.S. aggression in Venezuela, and Twin Cities DSA’s immediate organized response to ICE and DHS taking over their neighborhoods.

Our membership numbers fluctuate depending on current events, but reaching 100,000 is monumental because it is our all-time peak, and we are now the largest socialist organization in the U.S. in the last century. We still have some work to do to reach the peak that the Socialist Party had back in the day, but I feel confident that our organization will continue to scale up and our membership numbers will increase until we are large enough to create the country and world we want to see!

Q. You currently serve as a member of DSA’s National Political Committee. How do you see the most important tasks facing DSA in the current political moment?

A. Boiling down our most important tasks in this current political moment has been difficult for the NPC because everything is literally on fire! I personally believe the most important task in front of us at the immediate moment is our organized response to the Trump administration’s attacks, both domestically and abroad, such as organizing for the abolition of ICE and rebuilding the anti-war movement to build clear opposition to U.S. interference in other countries.

In terms of a more long-term strategy, I see organizing the working class toward a mass general strike by May Day 2028, or preferably earlier, as a very important task for us. We are in a unique position, with 100,000 working-class members across the country—many of whom are in organized labor unions or working to organize their workplaces—to be able to bring unions and other organizations together to make this happen.

We are aiming to create a “road map to May Day” for DSA members across the country that includes making connections with unions and other groups, holding public political education events, and forums to build momentum around the project. Lastly, coming off of the NYC mayoral win, we need to harness that energy to build the national infrastructure to elect more democratic socialists to Congress!

Q. You are based in Portland, which is one of the most mobilized cities against ICE, the federal administration’s crackdown, and in solidarity with Minneapolis. What has this experience been like?

A. Portland DSA’s response to ICE, the attempted takeover of our city by federal troops, and our solidarity with Minneapolis has given me hope—something I haven’t felt in a long time. Our chapter mobilized a massive rally with two hours’ notice after DHS shot two people in Portland last month, just a couple of days after the shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis. In a moment when we were already organizing in solidarity with them, our own city was suddenly at the forefront of the fight as well. Even so, we have donated $5,000 as a chapter to Twin Cities DSA as a show of material solidarity. Based on reports, we fear that Oregon may be targeted by the Trump administration like Minneapolis, and I am hopeful that our chapter will be able to meet the moment, just as TCDSA is doing.

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