The secret to defeating a nationally backed, well-financed, progressive candidate

The recent special election in Cleveland attracted only passing national attention, but it deserves a closer look. Its result reveals an important national trend: Progressives have trouble winning elections in which a full cross section of voters is allowed to participate.

The defeat of candidate Nina Turner makes clear that the support of the Justice Democrats, the “Squad,” and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders may handicap Democratic candidates in elections in which a broader swath of the electorate can cast a ballot. More broadly, the result reminds us that state and local voting laws can greatly influence election results — and that so-called voter suppression can apply to blue states as well as those that liberals virtuously denounce.