Iowa has never been shaped much by radical politics.

But on Monday, the state propelled the most progressive presidential candidate the country has seen in decades — proving social democracy can sell in Middle America, and that pronouncing oneself a socialist isn’t electoral suicide. In churches and schools and homes across the state, thousands of Iowans stood in front of their neighbors and announced themselves supporters of a candidate that has called for single-payer health care and attacked the power of high finance.

While a decisive win for Bernie Sanders could have transformed the Democratic primary — generating the momentum he needs to tilt the race in his favor in early contests like Nevada and South Carolina — the Vermont senator leaves the Hawkeye State having nearly bested one of the party’s most powerful politicians. Speaking at a victory rally Monday night, even Hillary Clinton admitted she was “breathing a big sigh of relief.”