lpetrich
Contributor
Democratic Exodus From Congress Could Supercharge the Squad -- 'Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, predicted Democratic primaries will get “pretty nasty,” with moderates spending “big money” to try and prevail.'
Starting off with Rep. Mike Doyle of Pittsburgh PA. After more than 20 years, he is now retiring, and when he did so, a progressive State Rep, Summer Lee, announced her candidacy.
Then progressive Kentucky House Rep. Attica Scott not waiting for Rep. John Yarmuth to retire.
Starting off with Rep. Mike Doyle of Pittsburgh PA. After more than 20 years, he is now retiring, and when he did so, a progressive State Rep, Summer Lee, announced her candidacy.
Like diluting the progressive vote among multiple candidates. When Jamaal Bowman ran for office, his campaigners convinced another Eliot Engel challenger, Andom Ghebreghiorgis, to withdraw from the race rather than risk losing from vote splitting.But while an open primary paves the way for a surefire changing of the guard and allows progressives to run without the tricky politics of challenging an incumbent, vacated seats also come with their own downsides: they often attract the political masses, sparking competition.
Shows how awful first-past-the-post is.Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of the progressive organizing group Our Revolution, said he thinks “there’ll be a greater opportunity for progressives to prevail in these races given that the incumbent Democrat and the established machine isn’t necessarily going to be united early on behind one candidate.”
But, Geevarghese added, “the challenge for progressives is to try to coalesce quickly around the most viable progressive who’s going to be in the race,” in order to not split the base and let a moderate take a plurality simply because a bunch of progressives jumped in the race.
Then about how the party establishment supported Shontel Brown against Nina Turner for OH-11. I may add supporting Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown's sore-loser campaign against India Walton.Still, while insurgent progressive campaigns against longtime incumbents have become more frequent in recent years, their success is far from guaranteed. Often, even if the seat is open, more established or moderate politicians who have waited their turn are quickly elevated by party leadership.
Then progressive Kentucky House Rep. Attica Scott not waiting for Rep. John Yarmuth to retire.
I recall AOC stating in an early interview that she was annoyed with politicians thinking of themselves as waiting in line for seats to open up.But after Yarmuth retired, the opening quickly appealed to a number of established politicians. Kentucky state Sen. Morgan McGarvey, for one, launched his campaign within minutes of Yarmuth’s retirement announcement. While Scott was elected to the state Legislature in 2016, McGarvey was elected in 2012 and now serves as the top Democrat in the state Senate.
The former chair of the Kentucky Democratic Party, Jennifer Moore, and state Reps. McKenzie Cantrell and Josie Raymond are also considering a run, according to The Courier-Journal.
“A safe Democratic seat comes up, like, once in a generation…” a progressive operative told The Daily Beast. “Every single state legislator in America has pictured themselves in Congress.”
Some Democrats argue those politician pipelines serve as a reason for not waiting for vacancies in the first place.
He succeeded his father when his father died in 2012, and Donald Payne Sr. first got elected in 1989. Much like Lacy Clay and Dan Lipinski, who succeeded their fathers when their fathers retired. They in turn were succeeded by Cori Bush and Marie Newman.Imani Oakley, a progressive running against incumbent Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-NJ) in 2022, told The Daily Beast in a statement that she doesn’t want to show deference to “the corrupt party machinery that chooses successors.”
Like what we saw against Nina Turner and India Walton.“He inherited the seat from his father and he’s intent on holding it until he can anoint a successor. That’s aristocracy, not democracy,” Oakley argued. “The only option to protect my community from the ravages of climate change, housing instability and healthcare inequality: challenge Payne Jr. on my own timetable.”
Geevarghese also suspects that corporate interests are going to be especially interested in boosting more moderate Democrats this election, because “it is not in their interest or the establishment’s interest to have a stronger Congressional Progressive Caucus.”
“I anticipate, you know, the primary season is going to get pretty nasty pretty soon between the two wings. And on the moderate side, I think you’re going to see a lot of big money get involved,” he forecasted.