By Connor Juracek, Staff Writer

This midterm cycle has been unlike any other. Members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and other progressives have caused a political earthquake, with another upset coming almost every week. Their hyper focus on the working class and their grassroots, volunteer-forward approach to campaigning has secured win after win.

The same cannot be said, however, for the grassroots campaigns on the far right, primarily due to their unpopular, hateful rhetoric and their failure to deliver on what Americans need. The two races that best demonstrate the stark difference between grassroots organizing on the left and right are Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and James Fishback in Florida.

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed ran a grassroots’ populist campaign from the beginning. His campaign originally gained traction when he held a rally with progressive streamer Hasan Piker. Built on individual volunteers and small-dollar donations, his platform focused on campaign finance reform, opposing all military aid to Israel and passing Medicare for All. His opponent, Representative Haley Stevens, was the pick made by the Democratic party establishment.

Despite having major endorsements and $60 million dollars spent on Stevens’ behalf, primarily from corporate Political Action Committees (PACs) and subsidiaries of American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Dr. El-Sayed won the primary by one percentage point. He is currently one to seven points ahead of the Republican challenger in the most recent polls. He is the greatest example of grassroots organizing

on the left this election cycle, as seen by his incredible uphill battle and historic mobilization of young voters.

The most notable right-wing equivalent to a campaign like El-Sayed is James Fishback, who ran as a far-right Republican in the Florida gubernatorial primary. Like the Democratic Socialists of this cycle, his campaign was built on individual volunteers, small-dollar donations and unprecedented mobilization of young voters, primarily young, white and male voters.

Similarly to El-Sayed, his campaign initially gained traction from his collaborations with online streamers. James Fishback associated himself with the likes of neo-Nazi streamers Asmongold, Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate. These were also his most notable endorsements. Fishback had a campaign that, though striking a particular chord with young, isolated white men, was an absolute flop on election day. He had many populist goals, such as opposition to Flock cameras, homeowner associations (HOAs) and AI data centers.

In addition to these policies, Fishback includes not-so-normal policies that really expressed how delusional and anti-social his movement is. Fishback called for a 50% tax on revenue earned by OnlyFans (OF) content creators, which he called a “Bop Tax” in his interview with online figures Sneako and Clavicular. His intention was, in his own words, to “create a tax so high that they don’t want to do [OnlyFans] anymore” and “to stop them from doing it.”

There were a lot of new faces this campaign cycle, and with that comes the risk of unvetted candidates with reprehensible pasts. When populist insurgents on the left are credibly accused of violent crimes such as abuse, it gets addressed. The most notable example is former Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner. When the accusations of sexual assault came out in July, Platner was dropped and replaced within a week. His replacement, Democratic Socialist and Democratic state senator Troy Jackson, is currently polling ahead of Republican senator Susan Collins.

When the likes of James Fishback are accused of assault, in his case, the alleged grooming of a 17-year-old, the campaign continues like nothing ever happened. There are many such cases in Republican politics. Where Platner was quick to drop out and apologize, Fishback went on the offensive. When confronted by a black man asking Fishback, “Never gonna smash a minor again?” Fishback immediately responded, “then why haven’t I been arrested? You should be lynched. You should be lynched for lying about me like that.” And the campaign continued, driven by his army of groypers, until he secured third place in the primary with 10.5% of the vote.

Progressives and far-right conservatives power their campaigns in similar ways, but the contrast could not be clearer. The populism on the left has delivered upset victory after upset victory, whereas the populism on the right has plummeted. The DSA won big from California to Michigan to Maine over this cycle, and polling suggests they will continue their momentum into the general election, while the creatures like Fishback die out in the primaries. The DSA speaks to the average American who cannot afford groceries; meanwhile, our government sends billions overseas to fund illegal wars and give sweetheart deals to the ultra-rich.

The far-right can attempt to serve the same goals, but a coalition built on society’s worst will be sure to fail again and again. After the 2026 midterms are said and done, America will see what happens when the populist left and right each make their cases for holding power.