Are The Democratic Socialists Winning or Losing?

About this episode

<p>This week, Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist running for governor in Wisconsin, suffered an upset after a double-digit lead in the polls. Last week, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive, pulled off a stunning victory in Michigan against his well-funded opponent.</p> <p>Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The New York Times, makes sense of what happened in Wisconsin and Michigan, and what it might tell us about the future of the Democratic Party.</p> <p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/nate-cohn" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Nate Cohn</strong></a>, the chief political analyst for The New York Times.</p> <p>Background reading: </p> <ul> <li>Dr. El-Sayed’s triumph against an establishment-backed candidate in Michigan was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/upshot/democrats-michigan-progressives-left.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a big win for the left</a>.</li> <li>Ms. Hong’s defeat in Wisconsin <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/12/us/elections/david-crowley-wisconsin-governors-primary.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">defied expectations</a> and may have shown that the democratic socialist wave cannot reach beyond urban centers.</li> </ul> <p>Photo: Nick Hagen for The New York Times</p> <p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" rel="noopener noreferrer">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p> <p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>