The far left wages an internal fight: Help Democrats or reject the establishment?

A progressive organizer backed by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a good shot at winning a congressional special election in Rhode Island on Tuesday — and some on the left are not happy about it.

The local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America issued an unusual anti-endorsement of former state Rep. Aaron , urging supporters to “reject ‘progressives’ at the polls,” saying Thursday it was “disappointed in AOC and Bernie but not surprised” after the New York congresswoman endorsed Regunberg and the Vermont senator held a rally for him.

The Rhode Island chapter is unusually aggressive, but the local split reflects a larger divide among Democratic Socialists of America and other far-left groups as they debate their forced marriage with the Democratic Party several years after a surge in membership spurred by Sanders’ presidential campaigns made socialism politically relevant in America for the first time in decades.