AS THE FINAL vote tally came across the TV screens above, Julia Salazar stared off in a daze at the sea of supporters who had crammed into a Bushwick bar Thursday night.

“Oh, my God,” Salazar said aloud to no one in particular as her campaign staff swarmed her. The 27-year-old democratic socialist candidate for state Senate had done what socialists do not typically do in American politics: She’d won, and won big, knocking off longtime incumbent state Sen. Martin Dilan.

Her 18-point victory over the four-term establishment incumbent was another watershed moment for the Democratic Socialists of America, whose rise in American politics in the Donald Trump era went into hyperdrive in June with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s shock victory.

“This is a victory for workers,” said a still-startled Salazar in her short victory speech. “This is a victory for the oppressed, for the marginalized across the state of New York.”

Weeks of intense scrutiny over Salazar’s personal life led to a string of news stories that accused her of misleading voters on her immigration status, Jewish heritage, and socio-economic background while growing up in Florida. The nonstop, high-profile scandals seemed to have had virtually no effect at the ballot box. If anything, her supporters rallied harder for her.