It was a rough week for the democratic socialist movement, as one of its rising stars suffered a stunning primary defeat and another found himself caught scrubbing his radical past. But despite the setbacks, the movement’s grip on the Democratic Party appears as strong as ever.
The trouble began Tuesday night in Wisconsin, where state Rep. Francesca Hong—a darling of the Democratic Socialists of America—entered the gubernatorial primary as the clear favorite, leading by more than 20 points in the final poll. But when the votes were counted, she came up short, losing to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley by about 3,000 votes.
Hong had been a polarizing figure, known for her progressive stances on criminal justice, immigration, and other issues. Her loss was a blow to the DSA, which had poured resources into her campaign and seen her as a standard-bearer for the movement’s future.
The defeat was all the more surprising given that Hong had been endorsed by prominent national figures like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—though notably, neither made a late push for her in the final days of the race.
Political analysts were quick to note that while Hong’s loss was narrow, it signaled a possible limit to the appeal of hard-left politics in a key battleground state. Primary voters, even those in the Democratic Party, seemed to prefer a candidate with a more moderate image.
Just a day earlier, the DSA-aligned movement took another hit when CNN’s KFile reported that Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed had quietly deleted or privatized nearly 100 old videos and social media posts. The scrubbed content reportedly included defenses of “defund the police,” criticism of Fourth of July celebrations, and a proposal to replace the Second Amendment with a constitutional “right to health care.”
El-Sayed’s campaign dismissed the posts as old “Woke 1” takes that “don’t reflect his beliefs today.” But the timing of the deletions—days after he won the Democratic nomination—raised eyebrows and prompted accusations of opportunism.
Meanwhile, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez spent the weekend distancing herself from the very movement she once helped build. In an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” she conceded that “Woke 1 was crazy,” a remark widely interpreted as a repudiation of the more extreme elements of the progressive agenda she championed in her early years in Congress.
When asked directly by co-anchor Jonathan Karl whether she was still a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Ocasio-Cortez offered a qualified answer: “Of the New York City chapter.” The response drew immediate criticism from political observers, who noted that DSA membership is not something one can hold only for a local branch—it’s a national organization, and her evasiveness seemed designed to keep her socialist credentials intact while appealing to a broader electorate.
The interview came amid a week of personal headlines for Ocasio-Cortez, including reports that she and her fiancé of four years, Riley Roberts, had split up roughly two years ago. That news, which surfaced via TMZ, contrasted sharply with the congresswoman’s weekend Instagram story series documenting her egg-freezing journey—a contrast that some found emblematic of the disconnect between her public persona and private life.
But for all the embarrassment the week brought to the socialist movement, supporters and critics alike agree that the DSA’s influence is far from over. The infrastructure, the online energy, and the donor networks remain intact, and the movement has proven adept at rebranding itself for successive generations.
As the 2026 midterm elections approach, Republicans are likely to seize on these episodes as evidence of a radical takeover of the Democratic Party. But left-wing strategists argue that the movement’s setbacks are just a temporary pause in a long-term project—one that has already transformed the party’s platform and priorities.
Whether that project ultimately succeeds or stalls may depend on whether voters continue to reward candidates who embrace the full socialist agenda or whether they, like Wisconsin’s primary voters, ultimately opt for a more cautious approach.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/this-week-was-a-gut-punch-to-the-socialists