After hot DSA summer comes the fall.
Democratic socialist Francesca Hong’s unexpected defeat in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary on Tuesday highlighted the limitations of the far left’s influence, challenging the narrative of a rising insurgency.
In contrast, progressive Peggy Flanagan won comfortably by 20 points in Minnesota’s Senate primary, and Abdul El-Sayed narrowly advanced in Michigan’s Senate race last week. However, Hong, positioned further left than her counterparts, lacked significant national backing and failed to advance.
The deflating result in Wisconsin came as a blow to a movement buoyed by recent primary victories, including the Democratic Socialists of America’s successes in New York and Colorado. This led to immediate blame-shifting within the far left. Some staunch democratic socialists criticized those who didn’t support Hong, while more institutional-leaning progressives pointed to her candidacy flaws and insisted her loss shouldn’t reflect on the broader movement.
“She got clobbered by the national media, didn’t respond as deftly as Abdul and didn’t have time to build a counter-narrative,” said Cenk Uygur, founder of The Young Turks and co-founder of Justice Democrats. “The negative publicity of the last two weeks seems to have taken its toll.”
Some mainline progressives attempted to differentiate far-left democratic socialism from the broader progressive movement, citing figures like Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who has won statewide by prioritizing kitchen table issues and avoiding so-called woke battles.
“I wouldn’t equate progressive and DSA,” stated a Wisconsin Democratic operative, speaking anonymously. The operative added regarding the outlook for democratic socialists in Wisconsin ahead of 2028: “I do think there is a ceiling at this point.”
Notably, Baldwin did not endorse any candidate in the primary, nor did other prominent Wisconsin progressives like Rep. Mark Pocan.
Leading national figures such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also maintained distance from Hong, withholding endorsements. Observers who viewed Hong as unlikely to win the general election believed the results confirmed their concerns.
“Bernie, AOC, and most national groups stayed out,” said a progressive Democratic strategist anonymously. “Abdul El-Sayed was a great foot forward, Graham Platner was not, and we didn’t need our political reputation hanging on this race.”
“There’s a reason the institutional left mostly stayed away,” commented a Democratic operative involved in progressive campaigns, who also spoke anonymously. “The people who made those calls are relieved.”
Hong’s unexpected loss diverted attention from the left’s significant win of the night, where Sanders-backed Flanagan decisively overcame moderate Rep. Angie Craig in the Minnesota Senate primary. Additionally, a progressive candidate succeeded in the race to replace Craig, and Sanders-backed Rebecca Cooke won a primary in Wisconsin’s competitive third district.
A donor adviser working with progressive candidates nationwide suggested Hong’s defeat was beneficial for the movement, indicating voter interest in progressive ideas while underscoring the importance of candidate quality, particularly in a battleground.
“This is a far better outcome, and says that it is so close that a progressive who doesn’t say the dumbest shit in the world, [like] Thanksgiving should not exist, would have won,” the donor adviser remarked.
Others criticized Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez for not participating in the race, arguing their support might have secured a win for Hong.
Other rising DSA stars, such as Melat Kiros and Chris Rabb, who had recently campaigned in other states, also bypassed Wisconsin.
“This movement will fail if we see more letdowns at the critical moment, like we saw in this race,” said Nathan J. Robinson, editor-in-chief of Current Affairs magazine. “Especially if AOC wants to be taken seriously as a national leader of the left movement, she needs to actually support the candidates out there who have a chance to notch victories.”
Neither Sanders’ nor Ocasio-Cortez’s teams responded to requests for comment.
Some within the movement downplayed Hong’s performance as a misstep rather than a defining moment, noting that a first-time statewide candidate came close to defeating the governor’s preferred candidate in a key state.
They also highlighted that Hong’s support was diminished in key areas by another progressive candidate who refused to exit the race, with State Sen. Kelda Roys garnering over 7 percent of the vote.
Organizers observed a stark contrast with Michigan, where a national volunteer effort helped El-Sayed secure a narrow victory, while Hong was largely left unsupported in Wisconsin.
“Wisconsin being this close is very frustrating because folks like AOC and Bernie Sanders stayed out. If they just did one rally in Wisconsin for Hong, that would have probably wrapped it up for her,” said Deep Singh Badhesha, a DSA political operative who had campaigned in previous primary states.
Our Revolution, a progressive group originating from Sanders’ 2016 campaign but no longer affiliated with him, indirectly criticized those who didn’t publicly back Hong, seemingly including Sanders himself.
“We cannot build progressive power while gatekeeping our own movement through the eyes of the establishment,” the group stated on X. “Solidarity cannot be something we practice only after someone has proven they can win without us.”
