Are The Democratic Socialists Winning or Losing? episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 13, 2026 · 29 MIN

Are The Democratic Socialists Winning or Losing?

from The Daily · host The New York Times

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. 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. Guest: Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The New York Times. Background reading:  Dr. El-Sayed’s triumph against an establishment-backed candidate in Michigan was a big win for the left. Ms. Hong’s defeat in Wisconsin defied expectations and may have shown that the democratic socialist wave cannot reach beyond urban centers. Photo: Nick Hagen for The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 13, 2026

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Progressive Democrats have been gaining ground in primaries across the country, but recent wins and losses in Michigan and Wisconsin show the strength and the limits of the movement.

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Are The Democratic Socialists Winning or Losing?

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