Midwest shows DSA Left could take over the Democratic Party

Published August 12, 2026 2:04pm ET | Updated August 12, 2026 2:04pm ET



It’s worth poking around the entrails of the returns for the agonizingly close — and, given pre-primary polls results — surprising results of recent Democratic primaries in the key swing Midwestern states of Michigan and Wisconsin, with a side look at Minnesota.

These results highlight a basic split between the constituencies that have suddenly come to dominate the Democratic primary electorate, neither of which much resembles the white working class demographic, the memory of which Democratic politicians invoke nostalgically, though its members mostly vote for Trump Republicans these days.

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