Tom Suozzi, USA Today

In 2024, Rep. Adam Gray, D-California, and I were the only two Democrats to flip congressional districts that Donald Trump also won.

In early June, even before candidates backed by DSA won Democratic House primaries in New York, Adam and I, working with a group of young Americans, helped launch the Promise to America. Our goal is to build a national, left-of-center Democratic organization, state by state.

Tim Reid, Reuters

Sixty national, state and local Democratic candidates, including 10 sitting members of Congress, have signed a pledge with a new group, Promise to America, declaring "we are capitalist, not socialist."

"This is the first time in my 50 years in politics that Democrats have had to explicitly declare their support for capitalism," said Doug Schoen, a veteran party strategist.

Adam Moore, The State Journal

They are also why the Promise to America caught my attention. Last month, I signed the pledge, joining Democratic leaders across the country around a set of core, practical principles: “we are capitalist, not socialist,” “we want safety, not lawlessness,” “we are fiscally responsible, not reckless,” “we believe government should solve problems, not create them,” and “we are proud, not ashamed of America.”

Sarah Fortinsky, The Hill

Reps. Tom Suozzi (N.Y.) and Adam Gray (Calif.), the only two Democrats to flip Trump-won districts in 2024, helped launch “The Promise to America,” an initiative aimed at moving the party toward the center.

The group’s pledge — which begins by stating “We are capitalist, not socialist” — has since been signed by 10 members of Congress, 12 congressional candidates, about 60 state and local elected officials and roughly 1,000 grassroots activists, according to the group’s director, Felix Frisch

Alexander MacDougal The Times Union

The Democrat is seeking to distance himself from Zohran Mamdani and the democratic socialists as he tries to win district that's been dominated by Stefanik/

Tom Suozzi, The Free Press

Representative Tom Suozzi represents New York’s Third Congressional District, which stretches from northeastern Queens in New York City to a vast swath of suburban Long Island. He’s been an uncompromising critic of his party’s far-left flank, authoring the “Promise to America” earlier this year, with a number of other Democrats, to rebuke socialism and reaffirm what he believes are his party’s core principles. Today, he offers a stark warning to his fellow Democrats on what happens “when a determined ideological movement catches a party divided, complacent, or unprepared.” We hope you read the whole thing

Matt Galka, The National News Desk

A group of moderate Democrats has signed on to the “Promise to America,” a pledge that takes aim at the party’s left wing by declaring, “We are capitalist, not socialist.”

Felix Frisch, the group’s director, said the effort is meant to offer an alternative to the Democratic Socialist movement, which has scored victories around the country.

William Ford, Maryland Matters

A national Democratic centrist group announced Thursday that legislators from six more states, including Maryland, had signed the “Promise to America” pledge calling for common ground solutions

Elizabeth Elkind, Fox News

He was one of several speakers at a media event promoting the Promise To America, a set of principles created in part by two moderate House lawmakers, Reps. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., and Adam Gray, D-Calif., as their party experiences a civil war over its identity and agenda.

The Promise To America is about celebrating "capitalism, safety, fiscal responsibility, effective government, common purpose, and patriotism," according to its website.

Tom Suozzi (OpEd), Long Island Herald

ep. Adam Gray, a California Democrat, and I have known this for years, so it’s no surprise that he and I helped develop — and became the first Democratic elected officials to sign — the Promise to America.

Adam and I know something about talking to voters who don’t always agree with us. We were the only two Democrats in 2024 to flip congressional districts won by President Trump. We didn’t win by lecturing people. We won by listening to them, showing them respect no matter their voter registration, and focusing on the problems they deal with every day.

The Promise to America isn’t a complicated pledge. It’s a common-sense commitment to a fair economy, lower costs, secure borders, safe communities, fiscal responsibility, effective government, free speech, patriotism, and respect for people who may see things differently. It’s a declaration of values from common-sense Democrats:

ABC News
U.S. Rep. Don Davis has announced that he has signed the “Promise to America” pledge, which his office described as a commitment to protecting the economy, values and security of rural and coastal communities in eastern North Carolina.

Elie Honig, POTUS Politics

Guest host Elie Honig speaks with Felix Frisch, director of Promise to America, about the growing battle between centrist Democrats and the party’s progressive, democratic-socialist wing. They debate Mamdani, the DSA, policing, immigration, capitalism, electability and whether Democrats must move toward the center to defeat Republicans—while callers deliver passionate arguments from both sides of the party’s divide.

Tim Balk, The New York Times

Two days after the New York primary, a group of moderate Democrats signed a letter pushing back on the philosophy of the ascendant Democrats. “We are capitalist, not socialist,” said the letter, whose signatories worry that Republicans will find success casting the entire Democratic Party as outside the mainstream.

Roksana Amid, The Long Island Herald

Rep. Tom Suozzi and a coalition of centrist Democrats unveiled an expanded bipartisan-style political initiative Thursday aimed at defining what they describe as the Democratic Party’s mainstream wing, emphasizing capitalism, fiscal responsibility, public safety and patriotism while distancing themselves from both the party’s progressive flank and the political far right.

David Larson, The Carolina Journal

The pushback was not all words. Some centrist Democrats took an additional step and created a pledge — the Promise to America — defending six fairly basic American values.

“We are capitalist, not socialist.”

“We want safety, not lawlessness.”

“We are responsible, not reckless.”

“Government should solve problems, not create them.”

“We are mainstream, not extreme.”

“We are proud, not ashamed of America.”

Many of these six pledge statements directly push back against DSA talking points. The Promise to America quickly got multiple major signatories.

Brigid Bergin, Gothamist

The Democratic lawmaker, who represents Eastern Queens and Northern Nassau County, held a Zoom press conference with a handful of other moderates to announce their “Promise to America,” a set of six principles that Suozzi said defines their centrist lane within the party.

Will Hofmann, The Asheville Citizen Times

They are "capitalist, not socialist," they want "safety, not lawlessness," and they are "mainstream, not extreme." They are signees of "The Promise to America," and Democratic candidate for North Carolina's 11th Congressional District Jamie Ager is one of them.

Peter Savodnik, The Free Press

It is also the subtext of Suozzi’s Promise to America, a pledge to push back against the leftist tsunami engulfing his party. Suozzi formally unveiled it last Thursday, two days after a slate of candidates backed by New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani won Democratic House primaries in New York City. The pledge includes support for capitalism, free speech, and America—and, just as importantly, opposition to socialism, purity tests, and a belief that the country is the root of all evil everywhere.

Leilah Ortega, Nevada Current

“We are capitalist, not socialist,” declares a “Promise to America” signed by Nevada U.S. Democratic Rep. Susie Lee and 14 other centrist House Democrats.  Promise to America created the pledge earlier this month, with the help of New York Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi and California Democratic Rep. Adam Gray. In their first X post, Promise to America says their initiative “is the path forward for the Democratic Party and our Country.” 

Michael Graham, NH Journal

Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., is one of just 10 Democrats who have signed on to the “Promise to America,” a newly launched coalition of centrists pushing back against the party’s progressive wing. The initiative, spearheaded by lawmakers like Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., and Rep. Adam Gray, D-Calif., aims to present a highly visible alternative to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).