Left-Wing Candidates' 2026 Midterm Wins Prove the Left Is Electable and Discredit the Argument That Socialist Policies Are Electoral Liabilities
Source: Branko Marcetic. "In Last Night’s Midterms, the Left Proved It Can Win." November 4, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
The author says Democrats' huge midterm wins, especially left-leaning candidates winning in swing and red states, show that left-wing ideas aren't a political liability anymore. He argues the old claim that socialists can't win elections is now discredited, which makes a left presidential run in 2028 look viable.
Conclusion
The 2026 midterm results prove that left-wing candidates and policies can win, so Democrats need not fear leftist ideas, and this bodes well for running a left candidate for president in 2028.
Premises
- Democrats won a historic landslide in the midterms, flipping both chambers of Congress, winning a large majority of governorships, and taking deep red seats and states such as Texas, largely because voters are angry about the economy and prices and blame Trump.
- Abdul El-Sayed won the Michigan Senate race in a purple state by 7 points on a platform of Medicare for All, taxing the rich, and opposition to further US aid to Israel, despite heavy AIPAC spending and sabotage by some members of his own party.
- Republicans did not even attack El-Sayed's core economic policies, instead relying on Islamophobia and race-baiting, which suggests those policies are now widely popular and hard to attack.
- Other progressive or populist candidates, including Troy Jackson in Maine and James Talarico in Texas, won in competitive or red-leaning states with working-class, anti-billionaire messaging and with support from the Left.
- Socialists have already shifted the Democratic Party's rhetoric toward affordability and anti-oligarchy themes (through figures like Mamdani, Sanders, and AOC), and the Left now has its largest congressional presence in decades, giving it influence in the new Congress.
Assumptions
- Candidates' wins can be attributed to their left-wing platforms and messaging rather than to the broader anti-Trump, anti-incumbent environment.
- El-Sayed, Jackson, and Talarico are sufficiently representative of 'the Left' that their wins validate leftist politics generally, even though some are not socialists and some framed themselves as capitalists.
- Republicans' decision not to attack Medicare for All and taxing the rich implies those policies are popular, rather than reflecting a strategic choice.
- Midterm results in a favorable environment for Democrats predict how a left candidate would fare in a 2028 presidential general election.
- Winning Jewish voters and beating AIPAC-backed opposition shows broad voter support for left-wing positions on Israel.