Socialist and DSA-backed candidates have enjoyed a wave of House primary victories in recent weeks in states like New York and Colorado amid a rise in popularity among Democratic voters for socialism and for candidates who unapologetically embrace the socialist label.
Between that and the mayoral victories of Zohran Mamdani in New York City, Seattle’s Katie Wilson, and the frontrunner status of D.C. councilwoman Janeese Lewis George in the city’s mayoral race, it’s caused a panic among Democrat establishment types who fear the far-leftward lurch is going to not only expose the party but cost them in the general election in purple districts and states where the races are competitive all the way up until election day.
Such a scenario has played out over the last week or so in Wisconsin, where Democrats rushed to pull a candidate who had dropped out of the gubernatorial race back into it after scandal-plagued Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez suspended her campaign on Friday, leaving two extremist candidates, including a DSA member, to vie for the nomination in a state President Trump won in 2016 and 2024:
After a weeklong scramble to unsuccessfully contain the financial and political damage [Rodriguez] dropped out of the race on Friday, declaring in a video that her money issues were an “ongoing distraction” and that she didn’t want it to “become a cloud over an election that Democrats need to win.”
Her downfall has thrown the Democratic primary field into upheaval less than a month from Election Day. “This race is now in chaos,” said Mitchell Stough, a now-former Rodriguez campaign staffer.
Democratic socialist state Rep. Francesca Hong is surging, alarming centrist Democrats who fear her unabashed leftism may torpedo what should be a winnable race against Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany in a key swing state. The only other frontrunner, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, lost a 2022 Senate campaign after facing relentless attacks for past progressive positions — a fact that’s giving Democrats pause.
That led to this:
Which led to this:
Wisconsin’s Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has also done his part:
The Democratic establishment in Wisconsin has reason to be worried:
The presumptive GOP gubernatorial nominee, Rep. Tom Tiffany (WI-07), has to be loving the latest Dems in Disarray moment:
The Wisconsin primary is August 11th.
– Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via X. –
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