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How progressives are taking over swing states – and driving fear into Democratic elites (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 16 hours ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

15 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Left-leaning challengers in the Rust belt are throwing chaos into a divided party struggling to rebuild after Trump’s win

From Detroit to Pennsylvania to Buffalo, New York, and here in Ohio, insurgent, progressive Democrats are defeating their long-established colleagues in dozens of school board, city council and mayoral races, throwing the already-divided national party into chaos, even as polls indicate it stands to potentially benefit at next year’s midterm elections due to the Trump administration’s divisive policies.

In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, one of seven swing states whose voters in recent years have decided the country’s presidential election, 37-year-old Jaime Arroyo was elected mayor on 4 November, becoming the first Latino mayor in the city’s 295-year history. In La Crosse, Wisconsin, another swing state, Shaundel Washington-Spivey, the city’s first Black and out gay mayor, beat a fellow Democratic party candidate with extensive local government experience last April.

Candidates such as Turner-Sloss, Arroyo and Washington-Spivey are campaigning on combating rising housing costs and providing better public transit infrastructure at a time when affordability issues and federal government policies are driving many working families into crisis.

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[-] quick_snail@feddit.nl 1 points 4 hours ago

progressive Democrats

That's a contradiction

[-] Sunflier@lemmy.world 5 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Really? Bernie Sanders, AOC, or Illhan Omar aren't a historical representation of progressive Democrats?

[-] prole 1 points 13 minutes ago

Bernie is an independent, he just caucuses with Democrats

[-] quick_snail@feddit.nl 1 points 2 hours ago

Do they call for dismantling the nuclear arsenal and banning all carbon fuels (the two biggest existential threats to all life on earth)?

I'm talking about progressives, not center-left.

[-] Sunflier@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

That's always been the left's weakness: not knowing when a battle not yet* taken constitutes a fundamental undermining of the claim about progressivism. Some battles are going to have to be saved for a future generation. Let's focus on securing the winnable battles today: universal health-insurance (Luigi wouldn't be a folk hero today if it weren't) and decarbonization (that took a huuuge leap in the last few years with how accessible solar power is now). The grandkids can work on de-nucularization.

[-] bluemoon@piefed.social 82 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

this phrasing is biased in a scare-mongering way

no, it's not a monster driving fear into a few true Democrats

it's Democrats with integrity resuming course against oligarch traitors who don't belong in politics after sabotage to the american people time and time again

this is a long time coming and we applaud

[-] Gaja0@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 hour ago

I'm just saying, conservatives don't complain about the nazis as much as democrats complain about progressives

[-] prole 1 points 12 minutes ago

Because they literally agree with the Nazis, even if they don't want to say it out loud

[-] BanMe@lemmy.world 1 points 40 minutes ago

I only ever see it the other way, progressives complaining about democrats not being pure enough, not being hardcore enough, while they don't have to go actually campaign and win votes in those areas to understand why the democrats have to moderate themselves to appeal to actual voters.

[-] Tm12@lemmy.ca 37 points 14 hours ago

“Some democrats aren’t asshole politicians finally. Here’s 17 reasons why that’s bad” - some shit rag in NY probably

[-] velindora@lemmy.cafe 3 points 13 hours ago

They will forget by election season.

[-] Vorticity@lemmy.world 39 points 15 hours ago

I think most democrats have been voting for democrats while wishing they were more left. Voting for democrats hasn't been about liking the candidates. It's been more about disliking the opposing candidates.

[-] tiredofsametab@fedia.io 4 points 4 hours ago

This was indeed me for the last 20ish years. STAR voting or similar now, plz (and an end to gerrymandering)

[-] SereneSadie@quokk.au 4 points 15 hours ago

One side was hammering on about terrorising minorities for years.

So yeah, if its a bad choice to avoid literal death threats from the government, a bad choice is better than death.

[-] aarch0x40@piefed.social 32 points 16 hours ago

Perhaps US can finally get what it deserves, a true left.

this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2025

208 points (100.0% liked)

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