ROOKE: Socialism Is So Hot Right Now. But One Candidate Seems Too Toxic For Even Them

The left is all in on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates in deep-blue strongholds, but the movement’s biggest names are silent in a genuine battleground state.

Wisconsin state Rep. Francesca Hong sits on the verge of a historic nomination, and one election away from becoming the first Democratic socialist governor in American history, in the state President Donald Trump carried in 2024. Still, despite being one of the most talked about gubernatorial candidates of the 2026 cycle, the most prominent elected members on her side want nothing to do with her. Their indifference or calculated move could reveal the limits of the socialist boom in the U.S.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s victory sent far-left organizers into overdrive, ushering in similar surges in other liberal cities and districts. Several DSA candidates have won primaries in deep-blue areas as the base begins showing its might against the party establishment and they convince themselves that the party has shifted permanently leftward.

“…As a political organization, [DSA] punches far above its weight, and my hope is that Mamdani’s extraordinarily buzzy win…inspires a wider swath of Americans to consider democratic socialism. What better time than now?”https://t.co/YP8f0yhsqw

And to an extent, socialism is having a moment in the U.S. These candidates have been able to tap into the residual anti-establishment energy from the Trump era to capture the frustrations young voters and the working class have after years of inflation and stagnant wages. However, Wisconsin is a true purple state where margins are measured in the tens of thousands of votes, and the true test of whether the DSA has an electability problem among swing voters is set to play out should Hong take the nomination. (Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!)

The left will be closely watching Hong’s race as a test run for 2028 presidential ambitions and potential validation that their politics can travel beyond its coastal enclaves. Progressive Democrats of America Executive Director Alan Minsky told Politico that Hong’s potential governorship is similar to Mamdani’s mayoral victory, predicting voters will quickly embrace the results.

Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna have shown up or endorsed her campaign. Still, Hong’s biggest problem is that she seems to be too radioactive for even its most ardent elected supporters.

Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren are noticeably absent from Hong’s campaign trail. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have refused to endorse Hong’s campaign, and Warren has even gone as far as to claim she doesn’t know who Hong is.

Their reluctance is hard to track on paper. Hong supports all of their wishlist items like universal childcare, a $20 minimum wage, higher taxes on millionaires and businesses, expanded unions, and, of course, protections for so-called gender affirming care. She has the Madison, Wisconsin-area DSA endorsement. Marquette Law School polling showed her with double-digit leads over her Democratic opponent David Crowley, including large shares of undecided voters, as the Aug. 11 primary approached. Hong even built a strong grassroots volunteer army thanks to help from far-left socialist streamer Hasan Piker.

This is exactly the kind of candidate the post-Mamdani left should be celebrating. And yet the actual standard-bearers of the movement have stayed away. Sanders has said he will not endorse her, according to people close to him speaking anonymously to Politico. They described Hong as less vetted and less sharp on messaging than other candidates that Sanders has backed. Sanders apparently still feels burned after endorsing failing Senate candidate Graham Platner in Maine. This hasn’t stopped Hong from using Sanders’ name and ideology on the campaign trail.

Ocasio-Cortez is taking a less forward approach. While she has openly declined to endorse Hong, she claims her decision is due to her singular focus on winning back control of Congress. It’s Warren’s “I don’t know her” comment made to Politico that is almost comically dismissive, considering the Massachusetts senator has long been the embodiment of the far-left brand that Hong supports.

Still, it’s not a mystery as to why these three are refusing to back Hong. Her past social-media posts have resurfaced, forcing Hong to make a series of walk-backs. She once called for canceling Thanksgiving dinner because it was a celebration of colonialism. She then claimed that this was a bad take and that Thanksgiving was actually her favorite holiday. Hong has attacked Valentine’s Day and Christmas trees.

She also advocated for abolishing the police, writing that they only exist to uphold white supremacy. She even supported the idea of a society without prisons. She now claims that she has learned from those views and promised not to defund law enforcement. Hong was also one of only six Wisconsin state Assembly members to vote against AB 677, a bipartisan bill that created felony penalties for grooming children through patterns of seductive conduct. Legislators introduced and passed the bill to prevent adults from engaging in grooming behavior with minors through a legal loophole.

In a state decided by fewer than 30,000 votes in 2024, Hong’s views seem to be too radical for swing voters. A July Marquette poll found that the term “democratic socialism” carried a net negative rating among registered voters.

It’s not that Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, and Warren are refusing to lend their endorsement because they don’t support these ideas as well. They are all on record espousing similar views on a combination of these topics. The more honest reading of them sitting out of this race is risk aversion to the broader brand. Hong is less polished and more likely to become a Republican attack ad factory. A loss in Wisconsin would not just cost Democrats a governorship; it would hand establishment Democrats a concrete example proving the democratic socialism remains toxic outside deep-blue cities. This would severely diminish their hopes to scale it for a 2028 presidential election, especially for someone like Ocasio-Cortez who is expected to be a front-runner for the Democratic nomination.

If Hong is a test case for Ocasio-Cortez’s presidential viability, supporting her only for her to lose would be too politically dangerous. Because of this, they will not put their personal brands on a candidate who could define the next cycle’s narrative about the left. (RELATED: ‘DSA Is Our MAGA’: The Democratic Establishment Faces A Reckoning)

Democratic socialism has momentum where the electorate already leans left. It has not yet proven it can convert in places that decide presidential elections. Hong’s candidacy forces them to come face to face with reality about whether voters are ready to give the far-left power. Right now they have only had to battle an inter-party ideological purity test in the safety of their base’s districts. By keeping their distance, Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, and Warren have signaled their willingness to celebrate DSA infrastructure and grassroots energy. But they will not actively support candidates who force a referendum on whether socialism can survive contact with swing-state reality.

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