Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) said Friday that talk about the Democratic Party taking a hard-left turn is “frankly overblown,” comments that came after notable wins by democratic socialists in Democratic primaries.

“I mean, there are a lot of other people, like me, who won our elections on Tuesday who don’t take those kinds of positions. And I got to say, too, you know, Bernie Sanders has been in the Senate for — I think I still had hair and none of it was gray — he’s been around that long, and somehow the republic has managed to survive,” Ivey told NewsNation’s Connell McShane on “NewsNation Live.”

“Somehow, the Democratic Party has continued to move forward with AOC and others on our team,” he added, referencing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a democratic socialist herself. “So, I think it’s frankly overblown. I think what this is going to turn into, quickly, is, these House seats are going to be, you know, district by district.”

Democratic socialists have stepped more into the national political spotlight in recent years, touting left-of-establishment ideals and rattling mainstream Democrats via big wins before November’s midterms.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) brought attention to democratic socialism 10 years ago with his run for president, eventually ushering in a broader movement that resulted in the election of Ocasio-Cortez.

Last year, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) elevated the democratic socialist movement further on the national stage with his election.

Another democratic socialist, Janeese Lewis George, is on track to be the next mayor of Washington, D.C., with another, Nithya Raman, advancing to this fall’s mayoral runoff in Los Angeles. Two Mamdani-backed democratic socialists also won their congressional primaries in New York last week.

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