Bill Scher is a contributing editor to Politico Magazine, and co-host of the Bloggingheads.tv show “The DMZ.”

Are the socialist Jacobins on the verge of purging the corporatist Democrats out of the party establishment? As you probably already know, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, just ousted Rep. Joe Crowley, the fourth-highest ranked member of the House Democratic leadership, in New York’s 14th Congressional District, deep blue territory covering parts of Queens and the Bronx.

Ocasio-Cortez’s victory is unquestionably a sign that democratic socialists are making significant inroads into the Democratic Party, and that deference to Democratic elders is nil among many in the party’s left flank. But let’s not over-interpret the results. Democratic socialism may be here to stay in the Democratic Party for the foreseeable future. But planting a socialist flag in Queens and the Bronx is far from proof it can fly in suburban Omaha or Houston.


It’s hardly the case that the Democratic establishment is running on empty. The party’s official campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has been particularly aggressive in this year’s primaries—far more so in swing districts than in Ocasio-Cortez’s safe New York 14th.

So Ocasio-Cortez’s victory needs to be assessed in a much larger context. First, all of the various power centers within the Democratic Party are winning their share of key primary races, reflecting the diverse nature of the Democratic Party. Second, none of the primary victories helps settle the argument over what ideological direction the Democratic Party should take in its post-Obama, post-Clinton future, because we don’t know how well its candidates will fare in the most competitive districts come November. And third, Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign will have no bearing on that debate, because she is running in the 30th most Democratic district in the country, one that Hillary Clinton won by 58 points.

The shock of Ocasio-Cortez’s upset victory has taken attention away from the rest of the results from Tuesday’s primaries. Corporate attorney Antonio Delgado emerged from a crowded field to earn the right to challenge Republican Rep. John Faso in New York’s swingier upstate 19th District. In Maryland’s rural-suburban 6th, millionaire wine mogul David Trone self-funded his way to a victory over an advocate for single-payer health insurance. And, in Colorado’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, another self-funder, Rep. Jared Polis, successfully beat back opposition from teachers unions that did not care for his background as a charter school entrepreneur.

The DCCC hasn’t batted 1.000 this year. In the reddish turf of Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, the establishment couldn’t stop Medicare-for-all advocate Kara Eastman from denying a comeback bid by “Blue Dog” moderate and former Rep. Brad Ashford. But some of the DCCC’s more provocative plays have worked out. The brazen oppo drop on Berniecrat Laura Moser in the Texas 7th, a Republican-held district in the affluent Houston suburbs that supported Clinton over Donald Trump, appeared to backfire when she made the runoff. But then Moser lost the runoff badly to corporate attorney and establishment favorite Lizzie Pannill Fletcher. The DCCC also went to bat for former Republican/lottery winner Gil Cisneros in the similarly swingy California 39th, helping him overcome the pro-impeachment, pro-single payer Andy Thorburn.

Besides, the battle for the Democratic Party isn’t simply between democratic socialists and the establishment. Rep. Seth Moulton’s “Serve America” operation backs “service-driven” candidates “who put people over politics,” mainly from the ranks of his fellow military veterans. While Moulton has positioned himself as an advocate for new blood in the party leadership, some of his picks dovetail with the establishment’s preferences and some don’t. And Moulton doesn’t have an ideological checklist.

But Moulton’s batting average is mixed, too. Marine pilot Amy McGrath triumphed over Lexington Mayor Jim Gray in the Kentucky 6th primary. In the Texas 23rd, Air Force veteran Gina Ortiz Jones defeated the Blue Dog PAC-backed Jay Hulings. But Navy veteran and former Republican Rachel Reddick came up short in Pennsylvania’s 1st against Scott Wallace, the wealthy grandson of progressive legend and former Vice President Henry Wallace.

So what does all that mean for Ocasio-Cortez? Her victory over Crowley confirms that Bernie Sanders’ surprisingly strong presidential bid in 2016 cannot be dismissed as the result of a fluky cult of personality; it was clearly the beginning of a larger movement. The rise of an electorally viable democratic socialist faction within the Democratic Party is a major development.

And Ocasio-Cortez is now poised to help lead and expand that movement. Sanders spent his political life representing lily-white Vermont and struggled in 2016 to build a multiracial coalition. On Tuesday, the Puerto Rican Ocasio-Cortez won handily in a minority-majority district, albeit in a low-turnout affair.

Regardless of what happens in November, the Democratic Party’s “big tent” just got a little bigger. The challenge ahead for Democrats of all stripes is to make sure there is still room for everybody.