Why did progressive leaders like Bernie Sanders not endorse Francesca Hong in the Wisconsin Senate primary?
Several overlapping factors converged to leave Francesca Hong without the progressive endorsements she might have expected. Chris Hayes describes it as a "comedy of errors" within the Wisconsin Democratic Party: Mandela Barnes dropped out of the race, then Sarah Rodriguez exited after misconduct involving her finance director — leaving the field in disarray before national figures could coalesce behind a candidate.
Beyond the organizational chaos, Hayes highlights a stark financial asymmetry: no Democratic-aligned entity spent money on television ads in the Wisconsin primary, while a Republican super PAC invested $5 million specifically to boost Hong's profile. This dynamic made endorsing Hong a strategically fraught proposition — progressive leaders were, in effect, being asked to validate a candidate who was being amplified by the opposition for its own purposes.
There is also the question of political positioning. Hayes points to Hong's now-infamous answer on Thanksgiving as a concrete illustration of a broader pattern. Even Hassan Piker — himself a prominent voice on the progressive online left — criticized that response, leading Hayes to conclude that political actors across the spectrum "actually understand that there's a penalty for ideological extremism." The Wisconsin result, in his reading, is a reminder that a Democratic primary electorate is not a monolith, and that perceived extremism carries real electoral costs even in safe progressive spaces. You can hear Hayes unpack the full context of these primaries on Pod Save America via Listenly.
"There is no universe in which he would have emerged victorious two, four, six years ago. Like something is obviously happening among the Democratic primary electorate, which is a different electorate than the general electorate."
— Chris Hayes, Pod Save America · "Is the Progressive Takeover Real?" (August 2026)About Chris Hayes
Chris Hayes is a host and anchor at MSNOW (MSNBC), where he covers American politics with a focus on institutional dynamics, electoral trends, and the ideological currents shaping the Democratic Party. He is brought onto this episode of Pod Save America specifically to analyze the results of the 2026 Michigan primary and assess what the rise of progressive candidates means for the broader Democratic coalition. Host Alex Wagner introduces him as someone "wise, but also just ballsy enough to say what they really think" — a characterization that speaks to Hayes's reputation for directness on contested political questions. His analysis of the Wisconsin primary draws on his familiarity with the structural forces at play: party infrastructure failures, the strategic decisions of outside spending groups, and the way that online progressive discourse can diverge sharply from what general electorates are willing to reward.
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According to Chris Hayes, yes — the Michigan primary result was a significant win for progressives. Abdul El-Sayed, a self-described progressive who had previously lost a gubernatorial primary by 20 points, emerged victorious in conditions that would have been unthinkable a few years earlier.