“Progressives are like a superstar young athlete that is supposed to be coming into his prime but has still not established himself as a starter, let alone an all-star,” said Max Berger, the former director of progressive outreach for Warren’s presidential campaign. “We had a better showing this past year than we’ve had in a long time, but it’s still much worse than we might have hoped.”

In interviews with nearly a dozen left-wing elected officials, activists and aides, progressives described 2020 as a mixed bag. They are deeply disappointed by the fall of their standard-bearers in the presidential race and lack of swing-seat trophies in Congress. But they also consider it a serious accomplishment that the so-called Squad in the House is growing and that they proved the upset by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) two years ago was no fluke…

Justice Democrats, which recruited Ocasio-Cortez to run in 2018, did not turn any red districts blue in Congress. The same is true for Our Revolution, the political organization founded by Sanders in the wake of his 2016 presidential bid, and the Sunrise Movement, a group of young activists working to address climate change.