Since November, a popular joke among progressives has been to solemnly state, “Bernie would have won.” While Sanders, of course, lost the Democratic primary, the premise is that a more populist, progressive candidate could have defeated Donald Trump in the general. The lesson is that the party should put forward more such candidates in 2018 and beyond.

Zephyr Teachout was one of those candidates. A 45-year-old law professor running for Congress on an anti-corruption, anti–free trade agenda, her campaign was built on grassroots mobilization and small-dollar donations. Many on the left believed that she could pull out a win for liberal populists in New York’s 19th District, one of the country’s rare swing districts. Instead, she ended up losing to her Republican opponent, John Faso, by nine points.

Teachout’s loss complicates the notion that a more populist Democratic Party can win back power. On the one hand, her election result can be attributed to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump: A Daily Kos analysis found that 95 percent of people in the district likely voted straight down the party line. On the other hand, Teachout outperformed Clinton in all but two counties; on some lawns, you could find both Teachout and Trump signs.

Another factor was money. The district was among the highest in the country in terms of outside spending—traditional party super PACs raised over $2 million for each candidate, but $6 million was spent to oppose Teachout. Just two people—Wall Street moguls Paul Singer and Robert Mercer—donated over $1 million to a super PAC backing Faso.

I sat down with Teachout at Jeanie Bean, a family deli in Clinton Corners, New York, where she lives, to talk about the lessons she learned from the campaign, how to fight big money in politics, and the future of the Democratic Party. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.