Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has a veteran socialist heavyweight managing her campaign finances, raising eyebrows about just how deep the progressive agenda runs in her inner circle.
Since her first congressional bid in 2018, Ocasio-Cortez has employed Frank Llewellyn, a former national director of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), as treasurer for both her campaign and her political action committee, Courage to Change, with payments exceeding $250,000 for various expenses, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Fox News reported that Llewellyn isn’t just any leftist—he led the DSA for over a decade from 2001 to 2011, played a key role in founding the Democratic Socialists of America Fund, and remains a “lifetime member” active in the Queens branch of NYC-DSA.
During his tenure as DSA national director, Llewellyn celebrated major wins for the socialist cause, including Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) groundbreaking 2006 Senate election.
“A self-declared socialist has won a seat in the United States Senate,” Llewellyn proudly wrote in DSA’s magazine at the time, clearly thrilled at the milestone for their movement.
But let’s not get too starry-eyed—while Sanders’ rise was a feather in the DSA’s cap, it also signaled a growing comfort with far-left ideals in American politics that many still view with skepticism.
Fast forward to 2018, and Llewellyn was right there on Ocasio-Cortez’s payroll, handling everything from salary payments of about $1,281 every two weeks to petty cash for cellphone and travel stipends as small as $77.50.
This isn’t pocket change—over $250,000 in disbursements shows a long-term commitment to someone whose career has been defined by pushing socialist policies, which doesn’t exactly scream “moderate” to the average voter.
Meanwhile, Llewellyn’s social media activity reveals his ongoing passion for the cause, regularly hyping Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders, and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a current frontrunner leading by double digits.
Llewellyn’s support for Mamdani isn’t just lip service—in a 2021 Facebook post, he declared, “Very pleased to vote for Queens DSA endorsing [Mamdani],” showing his personal investment in expanding socialist representation.
That enthusiasm raises questions about whether these endorsements are less about individual candidates and more about a coordinated push for a broader, state-level progressive overhaul—something many Americans, per a recent Fox News survey, aren’t fully sold on despite mixed feelings about taxing the wealthy.
DSA’s fingerprints are all over Mamdani’s campaign too, with members openly discussing their role in shaping his platform, a collaboration that could signal a troubling trend for those wary of centralized, anti-capitalist policies gaining ground.
Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders, both outspoken democratic socialists, have thrown their weight behind Mamdani as well, with a joint rally planned for an upcoming Sunday alongside their broader “Fighting Oligarchy” tour earlier in 2025, which drew over 300,000 attendees across 20 states.
Yet, for all their populist rhetoric against “corporate greed,” the duo faced sharp criticism for racking up hefty bills on private jets and boutique hotels during the tour—hardly the optics of champions for the working class.
DSA’s broader stances, like criticizing ICE and advocating for city control over properties from neglectful landlords, only fuel concerns that their influence in campaigns like Ocasio-Cortez’s and Mamdani’s could steer policy further from mainstream American values, even if their intent to protect tenants is understandable.
