Democratic socialists hit a ceiling, but it’s higher than Democrats think

The verdict on Michigan’s and Wisconsin’s Democratic primaries wrote itself: The progressive, socialist left, ascendent all summer — back to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s win last year — had finally hit its ceiling. Yet, while progressive and democratic socialist aligned candidates do have a ceiling, it’s seemingly higher than what moderates should be comfortable with. 

Start with Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed inched out a much closer than expected win over centrist Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich). The five latest pre-election polls on RealClearPolitics showed El-Sayed with double digit leads, and his betting market odds were 98 percent the day before the election. 

In the end, El-Sayed won by less than 1 point — a victory, to be sure, but not one which suggested a mandate for progressives.

After Michigan came Wisconsin, where the left’s ceiling truly revealed itself. In the Badger State, socialist candidate Francesca Hong came within roughly 4,000 votes of winning, despite being a deeply flawed candidate.

She is openly socialist, and pushed extreme policies like abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, supporting sanctuary cities and government-run grocery stores. In the election’s closing weeks, her old social media posts also resurfaced, with calls to cancel Thanksgiving and defund police, and racist comments about “old white people.”

Moreover, Hong came so close without endorsements from progressive heavyweights like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Only Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) publicly backed her.

It is true that progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D) won Minnesota’s Senate primary by 20 points over moderate Rep. Angie Craig........

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