How Are Progressive Democrats Doing In Their Primaries?
In 2018, now-Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley shocked the political world by unseating 20-year incumbents in their Democratic primaries. And in 2020, we saw similarly shocking upsets, with now-Reps. Marie Newman, Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush also ousting long-serving congresspeople in their Democratic primaries.
As we wrote in 2020, thanks to an increasingly powerful progressive campaign apparatus, the Democratic Party’s left wing is now an established player in the party’s primaries, and in 2022 that apparatus is back at it.
One of the most endangered Democratic incumbents tonight is in Oregon’s 5th District, where attorney Jamie McLeod-Skinner is challenging seven-term incumbent, Rep. Kurt Schrader. McLeod-Skinner has a number of crucial endorsements, too, from progressive groups like Our Revolution, Indivisible and more. Plus, she has local party support.
Progressive Democrats see an opportunity to add another member to their caucus in this district, as they’ve argued Schrader is out of step with the party. Schrader, who is 70, earned the ire of progressives in Congress earlier this year by backing a plan to split up Democrats’ infrastructure package and voting against Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill. He also compared Trump’s second impeachment to a “lynching.”
Even so, Schrader actually received Biden’s first 2022 primary endorsement. That’s notable because the president, unlike his predecessor, hasn’t jumped into many primaries. So far he’s backed just one other candidate: Rep. Shontel Brown in Ohio’s 11th District, who won her primary on May 3.
Races like these — that pit a notable progressive against a more establishment-friendly Democrat — can serve as evidence of a referendum on the future direction of Democrats or represent a battle for the party’s soul. That said, we’ve also found that many of these races ultimately boil down to something much less sexy — which group is better organized, or has a deeper bench in the state. Whether McLeod-Skinner is able to pull off an upset today remains to be seen.
We’ll also be watching other factional-style Democratic primaries happening today, like those in North Carolina’s 1st and 4th districts, as well as the race in Pennsylvania’s 12th District, where organizer, attorney and state legislator Summer Lee, attorney Steve Irwin, and assistant professor Jerry Dickinson are all facing-off. That last race is an important one, as Lee might be the best-positioned progressive to win tonight. She has the backing of prominent progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, Justice Democrats, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Sunrise Movement, and EMILY’s List.
I’ll be following these races, and a few more, closely tonight:
How progressives are doing tonight
Senate, House and governor candidates endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Indivisible, Justice Democrats, Our Revolution, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Sen. Bernie Sanders or the Sunrise Movement in Democratic primaries in Idaho, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania, as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern
| Candidate | Office | % Reporting | Vote Share | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Booker | KY Sen. | 5% | 81.5% | ✓ Won |
| Attica Scott | KY-03 | 8 | 33.7 | Trailing |
| Erica Smith | NC-01 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Nida Allam | NC-04 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Doyle E. Canning | OR-04 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jamie McLeod-Skinner | OR-05 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Summer Lee | PA-12 | 0 | 0.0 | — |