In the lead-up to this year’s midterm elections, the Democratic Party has been experiencing a reckoning of sorts. In various primaries leading up to the general election, it is evident that in solidly blue Democratic strongholds, the party’s voter base disapproves of the party’s establishment and is willing to nominate insurgent, progressive, and often socialist candidates who do not always align with the party’s center-left tilt.
Take New York, for instance. Last Tuesday, all three candidates that New York City Zohran Mamdani endorsed won their primaries. In New York’s 7th congressional district, state assemblymember and democratic socialist Claire Valdez won the Democratic nomination over Brooklyn borough president Antonio Reynoso, who had the backing of the district’s retiring congresswoman Nydia Velázquez and the Working Families Party. In New York’s 10th congressional district, former New York City comptroller Brad Lander defeated two-term congressman Dan Goldman. The biggest upset of Tuesday was perhaps New York’s 13th congressional district, where Darializa Avila Chevalier, who in the past has called for abolishing borders, the police, and prisons, ousted five-term congressman Antonio Espaillat, who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
This is part of a broader trend that has been developing throughout solidly blue areas in the nation thus far. In Pennsylvania, democratic socialist Chris Rabb won the Democratic nomination in the solidly blue 3rd congressional district, based in Philadelphia, and is unopposed in the November general election. In New Jersey, progressive Analilia Mejia won the open 11th congressional district seat formerly held by current governor Mikie Sherrill in a special election, while progressive Adam Hamawy secured the Democratic nomination for the solidly blue 12th congressional district. In the Democratic stronghold of Washington, D.C., democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George won the Democratic primary for mayor, all but assuring she will be elected mayor in November. In Los Angeles, California, DSA candidate Nithya Raman advanced to the general election in November to take on current mayor Karen Bass. In Maine, first-time political candidate and oyster farmer Graham Platner, endorsed by prominent progressives such as Bernie Sanders, won the Democratic nomination to take on Senator Susan Collins (R), despite being dogged by scandal and facing a field that included the state’s current governor. Down the road, there are at least five other Democratic incumbents in solidly blue congressional districts who are in trouble due to facing more progressive challengers.
This trend, at least in solidly blue areas, proves that Democratic primary voters are not only tiring of the establishment but have soured on Israel. In the 10th and 13th districts, Lander and Avila Chevalier criticized their opponents for taking money from the pro-Israel lobbying organization AIPAC. AIPAC’s reputation among Democratic primary voters has soured in recent times due to Americans’ increasingly negative views of Israel and the conduct of its wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
While this recent trend of the left rising in the Democratic Party has proven to apply in solidly blue areas, it is too soon to see whether it can happen outside of these areas. DSA-backed candidates have yet to pull off a win outside a major city. Moderate and more establishment-aligned candidates have still seen success in other primaries that have been held throughout the country, such as in Utah’s 1st congressional district, where Democrats backed a moderate former congressman over more progressive candidates, and in Maryland’s 5th congressional district, where a more Israel-friendly candidate won the Democratic nomination. This has also occurred in other races where Democrats had the opportunity to advance more progressive candidates, like in California, Illinois, and New Jersey.
The big lesson here is that the Democratic establishment has been out of touch with the voter base in solidly blue cities and districts for some time, and that voters in these areas are clamoring for younger, more progressive candidates. However, just because a progressive or left-wing message succeeds in a solidly blue district does not mean it is applicable nationwide. America is a large and politically diverse country, and Democrats must not only try to rile up its voter base in urban areas but also appeal to suburban voters, independents, and working-class communities. In this battle for the soul of the Democratic Party, the establishment wing needs to understand that they are out of touch and need to be more in line with what most voters want. At the same time, the progressive and insurgent wing of the party needs to recognize that just because they are winning in solidly blue urban strongholds does not mean such a strongly left-wing strategy is applicable nationwide.
Thus, the soul-searching of the Democratic Party continues.
Emil Ordonez, a political science major at Fordham University, is the founder and editor-in-chief of Polinsights. He has been deeply passionate about politics and history since learning every U.S. President at the age of five. He was compelled to start this blog after meeting many people who were misinformed or had become apathetic about how society worked. He hopes to provide factual knowledge and insights that will encourage people, especially the young, to get more engaged in their respective communities. In his free time, he edits for Wikipedia and makes maps for elections. He aspires to work in Congress or even the White House in the future.
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