{"id":2643785,"date":"2026-08-12T17:28:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T21:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/progressives-ponder-whether-aoc-and-bernie-sanders-lost-wisconsin-for-hong\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T17:32:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T21:32:50","slug":"progressives-ponder-whether-aoc-and-bernie-sanders-lost-wisconsin-for-hong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/progressives-ponder-whether-aoc-and-bernie-sanders-lost-wisconsin-for-hong\/","title":{"rendered":"Progressives ponder whether AOC and Bernie Sanders lost Wisconsin for Hong"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fprogressives-ponder-whether-aoc-and-bernie-sanders-lost-wisconsin-for-hong%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2643785&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Francesca Hong\u2019s narrow defeat in Wisconsin has led to a debate among progressives about the influence of prominent figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders, who campaigned for anti-establishment candidates but did not endorse Hong during her campaign. Some believe their lack of support may have contributed to her loss, with critics arguing they failed to fully back her, which could have impacted the primary outcome. Despite her strong performance without major institutional backing, her campaign\u2019s near victory suggests that grassroots efforts and support from national progressives remain important. Various commentators, including progressive strategists and activists, acknowledge the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >multifaceted factors affecting election results<\/a>, emphasizing that each race is unique and that the dynamics of voter motivation and outsider candidacies play crucial roles. Hasan piker,a socialist surrogate,criticized establishment Democrats and media for undermining grassroots candidates,asserting that more active support from national progressives might have helped Hong. the incident has sparked discussions on the importance of solidarity within the progressive movement and the influence of establishment forces on election outcomes.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Francesca Hong\u2019s narrow loss in Wisconsin has sparked a progressive blame game, with some on the Left arguing that Rep. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/alexandria-ocasio-cortez\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"282\">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/a> (D-NY) and Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/bernie-sanders\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"41\">Bernie Sanders<\/a> (I-VT) could have tipped the Democratic gubernatorial primary in the socialist candidate\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders have campaigned heavily for antiestablishment Democrats this cycle, with their endorsements helping push outsiders, including both Dr. Abdul el Sayed in Michigan and Melat Kiros in Colorado, to primary victories.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4684819\/directly-responsible-progressives-blame-aoc-bernie-sanders-francesca-hong-wisconsin-loss\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>\u2018Directly responsible\u2019: Progressives blame AOC and Bernie Sanders for Francesca Hong\u2019s Wisconsin loss<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4685067\/hasan-piker-dsa-hong-loss-thanksgiving\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Hasan Piker sounds off after DSA-backed Hong\u2019s primary loss: \u2018F*** Thanksgiving\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4685231\/wisconsin-poll-david-crowley-tom-tiffany-governor\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Wisconsin polling has David Crowley up against Tom Tiffany in gubernatorial race<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez stayed out of the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/wisconsin\/\">Wisconsin<\/a> governor\u2019s race, a fact not lost on a number of Democrats in the wake of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4684255\/gop-congressman-says-democrats-stole-election-from-socialist-francesca-hong\/\">Francesca Hong<\/a>\u2018s primary loss Tuesday night.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBernie Sanders and AOC not endorsing \u2026 might\u2019ve cost her the Democratic Nomination,\u201d Christopher Hale, an alumnus of the Obama White House, pointed out on X as the votes were beginning to be counted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our Revolution, a progressive advocacy group founded by Sanders a decade ago, similarly said that \u201cwe cannot build progressive power while gatekeeping our own movement through the eyes of the establishment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSolidarity cannot be something we practice only after someone has proven they can win without us,\u201d the group concluded.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nathan Robinson, editor-in-chief of the left-leaning <em>Current Affairs <\/em>magazine, wrote Wednesday that both \u201cBernie and AOC are directly responsible for Hong\u2019s loss.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4684255\/gop-congressman-says-democrats-stole-election-from-socialist-francesca-hong\/\"><strong>GOP CONGRESSMAN SAYS DEMOCRATS \u2018STOLE\u2019 ELECTION FROM SOCIALIST FRANCESCA HONG<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cInstead of making the case for democratic socialist politics and getting more service workers like herself into office, AOC threw Hong under the bus as \u2018crazy woke 1,&#8217;\u201d he said in a Wednesday morning post on X. \u201cBernie pretended he didn\u2019t know her!\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two veteran progressive strategists, however, downplayed the endorsement question to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, arguing that while some DSA or progressive candidates pull off establishment upsets, not all are guaranteed winners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m not sure if it would have made the definitive difference in the result, but we have to imagine that it would have made some difference, right?,\u201d Randy Jackson, a veteran of Andrew Yang\u2019s 2020 presidential campaign, explained. \u201cThat\u2019s not to say that Bernie and AOC are obligated to jump in for every progressive running in every corner of the country. But that is to say that it\u2019s hard to imagine their support wouldn\u2019t have made some impact. Whether that means, you know, a change in the outcome or not, it\u2019s hard to say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jackson added that, even without national endorsements, \u201cas close as it was,\u201d Hong\u2019s performance \u201cshould continue to worry establishment politicians and establishment forces.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis was a campaign that, in its own admission, had some communications challenges and could\u2019ve handled some things differently, but still, almost won a statewide primary, again without a lot of that institutional help, and so again, I think what that means is that the Democratic establishment continues to find itself on the outside looking in to what is motivating many voters across the country,\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second strategist argued that just because some \u201cleft-flank\u201d candidates win in some races doesn\u2019t guarantee all will perform to a winning level.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEach one of these races are uniquely different,\u201d that person suggested. \u201cIt comes down to voters being tuned in different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-26\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hasan Piker, an avowed socialist whom people have <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4685008\/hasan-piker-campaign-surrogate-hong\/\">referred to as the top surrogate<\/a> for Hong\u2019s campaign, similarly argued on his post-election night stream that Tuesday\u2019s result was more so a positive reflection on the grassroots efforts of volunteers than an indictment of \u201cnational\u201d progressives who didn\u2019t offer endorsements.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Furthermore, he blamed establishment Democrats, including Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI), and the media for the loss.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese motherf*****s undermined us,\u201d he stated. \u201cThey talk big s***. They\u2019re gonna keep doing it. By the way, they\u2019re going to call us terrorists. They\u2019re going to call us anti-Semites. They\u2019re going to call us idealists, and eventually we\u2019re gonna win. F*** them. We have one another. Let them chirp. They have no vision. They got no b*****s. They got no movement. They got the electability argument. And ultimately, in the grand scheme of things, this is not a bad thing. Because let\u2019s be real, you know. [Milwaukee executive David] Crowley still, if he wins, is going to defeat [Rep.] Tom Tiffany (R-WI), and that\u2019s a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4684255\/gop-congressman-says-democrats-stole-election-from-socialist-francesca-hong\/\"><strong>GOP CONGRESSMAN SAYS DEMOCRATS \u2018STOLE\u2019 ELECTION FROM SOCIALIST FRANCESCA HONG<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, Piker did seem to suggest that national progressives shared some of the blame for the result.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes, this is part of why we came close to a victory but ultimately lost. I should never be the biggest surrogate of a campaign,\u201d he quote-tweeted a claim from former Biden White House official Neera Tanden suggesting that Piker\u2019s own support hurt Hong in the long run. \u201cNational progs wouldve <em>[sic]<\/em>  alleviated some of the \u2018electability\u2019 concerns of hong <em>[sic]<\/em>  which were overstated &#038; outright weaponized in the last week blitz.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Progressives blame AOC and Bernie for Hong\u2019s Wisconsin loss<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2645,"featured_media":2643786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25136813414702.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[8334,32175,33017,11763,4124],"class_list":["post-2643785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-aoc","tag-bernie-sanders","tag-political-analysis","tag-progressives","tag-wisconsin"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25136813414702.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2645"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2643785"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2643789,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643785\/revisions\/2643789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2643786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2643785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2643785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2643785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}