Democrats Step Back From the Brink — for Now

The defeat of state lawmaker Francesca Hong in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Wisconsin is a positive sign for all of those who seek to slow the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America. Ms. Hong was bested by a moderate, David Crowley, whom some polls had trailing by as many as 25 points. Politico calls the outcome a “wild reversal” in a state that President Trump narrowly won in 2024. Then again, the Democrats are on a long march leftward.Ms. Hong was, by any measure, a flawed candidate — or at least was reckoned to be by Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. They both failed to endorse her. During Covid, Ms. Hong took to Twitter to call Thanksgiving a “colonizer holiday” and “the original superspreader event that killed Indigenous folx and women.” Those absurdities became liabilities during the final days of the campaign.Ms. Hong told CNNs Kaitlan Collins last week that “Thanksgiving is also a time that’s incredibly painful for many people in our communities” before walking back those comments and explaining that she is “kind of a curmudgeon when it comes to holidays in general.” The Atlantic called her campaign “pure crack for disaffected leftist Millennials” and reckoned that her campaign operated as if it had “never heard” of the existence of swing voters.For all of Ms. Hong’s outré positions, though, the election was a nailbiter. Mr. Crowley suspended his campaign early last month, only to jump back in ten days later. He won by less than a single percentage point. Watchers of the Badger State point to the intervention of the outgoing governor, Tony Evers, a well-liked state pol who endorsed Mr. Crowley after initially indicating that he would sit the race out.Such adult supervision at the local level was lacking in, say, Michigan, where Dr. Abdul El-Sayed defeated Haley Stevens in what amounted to a triumph of the insurgent left over the Democratic establishment. Senator Elissa Slotkin, who is both Jewish and a Democrat, dawdled on the sidelines. Polls projected that Dr. El-Sayed, who has run on a virulently leftist and anti-Israel platform, would trounce Ms. Stevens. He won by less than a point.The polls’ overestimation of both Ms. Hong and Dr. El-Sayed could suggest that the far left is being overrepresented in surveys. The waxing strength of that faction, in any event, is hardly a mirage. Mr. El-Sayed won, and Ms. Hong nearly won purple state races in the Midwest. The conservative commentator Ben Shapiro reckons that the “DSA is driving the car, choosing the direction. The normie Dems are just negotiating over the speed.”For the moment Democratic primary voters appear ready to gamble their chances of retaking the Senate on leftist candidates in at least three states. In Michigan Dr. El-Sayed will take on the Republican, and erstwhile Congressman, Mike Rogers, while in Maine the liberal logger Troy Jackson is trying his luck against Senator Susan Collins. In Minnesota the Democratic primary for Senate was won by Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, a leftist.This ideological battle within the Democratic Party is shaping up to be one of the great political storylines ahead of the 2026 midterm elections — and the 2028 presidential one. We are keeping an eye on Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who this week announced that she was freezing her eggs and also averred that “Woke One was crazy.” Reports emerged on Tuesday that she has separated from her fiance. Is she eyeing a run for the White House?

Democrats Step Back From the Brink — for Now

Democrats Step Back From the Brink — for Now

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