When Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, Grace Mausser had just graduated from college.
“I was very much a part of the liberal establishment — more on the progressive side — but totally believed that Hillary Clinton was going to win,” said the 31-year-old Houston native. “Like millions of other people, I was totally shocked and really dismayed.”
Searching for a way to turn her disappointment into action, Mausser recalled the energy behind Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign that year — and how he referred to himself as a democratic socialist on the campaign trail.
Mausser found the Democratic Socialists of America and became involved in her local New York City chapter, where she met then-New York State Assembly candidate Zohran Mamdani, who has been a member of DSA since 2017…