Progressives had a great win in the Midwest on Tuesday with national implications heading into 2024. Mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson's stunning victory in Chicago, where people had previously been doubting the handling of policing and crime in New York, gave liberals confidence in their approach to big cities. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, Janet Protasiewicz used a vacancy on the state's Supreme Court to send an abortion-rights message to voters which won Democrats control of the judicial body for the first time in years. The latest results show left-wing candidates are finding new ways to make headway at state and local levels as their focus shifts beyond Washington DC. The practical barriers of a Republican-controlled House and President Biden's pre-campaign pivot to the center have blunted their influence in Washington, but the latest results show left-wing candidates are finding new ways to make headway at the state and local levels as their focus shifts beyond D.C. Moderate Democrats are playing to a mythical center, but given these election results, success lies in playing to their own base, as Marianne Williamson, a progressive spiritual author, said.