“Socialism is not a dirty word anymore!” former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) yelled the night of November 4.
Bowman joined noted leftists Mehdi Hasan and Hasan Piker in an election night stream from Zohran Mamdani’s victory party. Mamdani, a 34-year-old socialist, had just won election as mayor of the most populous city in the United States.
The Democratic Party’s left flank is increasingly boxing out more moderate members to follow the lead of progressives, as seen in the government shutdown or in helping progressives and self-described socialists secure influential positions, one GOP political strategist told The Daily Wire.
“Progressives are fired up and the establishment Dems are trying to do as much as they can to capture it. I mean, a cynical person might say that the government shut down so Abigail Spanberger could win Virginia, right?” the strategist said. “I think that the only reason why the establishment Dems … picked such a difficult battle for them to win policy-wise in the shutdown is to make sure that their progressive comrades are not able to criticize them as much, and that means that the progressives are the tail that is wagging the dog right now.”
The progressive dominance is starkly evident in Maine. Democratic Rep. Jared Golden is known for regularly breaking with his party, sometimes on key votes. He was the only Democrat to vote with House Republicans to pass a short-term continuing resolution to head off the government shutdown that stretched a record 40 days.
Golden announced on November 5, the day after Mamdani’s victory, that he would forgo a run at re-election in 2026.
“I’m confident that were I to run again, I would win,” said Golden in a statement. “Now, I look forward to my next chapter: raising my young daughters with Izzy and spending more time with our family and friends.”
The now-outgoing congressman abandoned his re-election campaign as he was facing significant pressure from his left from Democrat Matt Dunlap, Maine’s former secretary of state. When Dunlap announced his primary challenge to Golden last month, Dunlap’s first move was to characterize Golden as too soft on President Donald Trump.
Dunlap appears to have resonated with voters in Maine’s second district. In a University of New Hampshire poll released last month, Dunlap was leading the incumbent, Golden.
That same poll also showed another progressive Democrat in Maine, Graham Platner, leading the field for the chance to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Maine Governor Janet Mills, known in the state as a more moderate Democrat despite her combative streak with Trump, trails far behind Platner.
Platner is an Iraq War veteran, an oyster farmer, and the harbormaster of the small town of Sullivan. He has a history of working with the climate alarmist Acadia Center, and he has secured endorsements from high-profile progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Last month, he was revealed to have a tattoo of a Nazi symbol, a skull-and-crossbones known as a Totenkopf, on his chest. He clarified he is “not a secret Nazi” and claimed that he had not known where the symbol originated until the scandal blew up. Some doubt about Platner’s story is warranted, though, since a report that the candidate had been referring to his tattoo as a Totenkopf as early as 2012.
Platner’s online history has come up in the campaign, as well. In 2020 and 2021, Platner was in internet posts claiming to be a “communist” while using racist language and gay slurs. While he has called the posts “indefensible,” he has also dismissed them as unserious and jokes.
Platner’s campaign has imploded in recent weeks with multiple high-level departures, including his treasurer and finance director. Platner’s former campaign manager left after four days, excusing the early departure by saying his wife is pregnant. Separately, Platner’s campaign has required staff members to sign nondisclosure agreements, which the candidate has said is necessary in a high-stakes election.
Despite the upheaval, Platner’s political allies, including Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, have stood by the embattled Platner, showing just how durable support can be among the progressives’ favored candidates.
“One reason for that is it’s very clear that the base is furious, riled up, ready to support candidates that they wouldn’t have in the past,” whether for personal or policy reasons, said the GOP strategist, who has worked in Maine politics for more than a decade.
Progressives were reassured recently that voters may not punish them for standing by Platner. In Virginia, Democrats’ pick for state attorney general, Jay Jones, won the election to the office despite past text messages he sent supporting violence against his political opponents and their families.
Jones’ victory in Virginia is “a sad reflection of a discomfiting willingness among voters to prioritize partisanship over human decency,” as The Washington Post editorial board wrote ahead of the November 4 election.
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