NEW YORK (AP) — The progressive movement may already have hit its high point in the 2026 midterms. Or this may be the beginning of a much more powerful shift as voters, eager for change, decide to embrace far-left populism on a national scale.It depends upon who you ask within a Democratic Party that is undeniably locked in a tug-of-war between emboldened progressives demanding radical change and the party’s pragmatic establishment. Progressives expect their newest candidate in Maine, former state lawmaker Troy Jackson, will clinch the Democratic nomination Saturday to replace Graham Platner on the November ballot, giving the party a chance to recover from Platner’s downfall earlier this month. Next up will be August Senate primaries in Michigan and Minnesota — contests that put the intraparty divide on clear display less than four months before the midterms are decided. All three states will be important in the fight for Senate control, raising the stakes over who Democrats should nominate. “We’re seeing the pendulum shift from right to left. That’s ultimately what this midterm election is about,” said Joseph Geevarghese, who leads Our Revolution, the progressive organization founded by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders a decade ago. “We’re in a transitional moment in national politics.”