Battle for the soul of Democrats seen through prism of bitter Senate primaries
This is performative politics again.
A renewed power struggle is playing out among Democrats, following a string of off-year overperformances in 2025 after bruising losses in 2024.
The battle for the soul of the party is most acute in a series of contentious Senate primaries that will soon determine whether the establishment’s more centrist candidates will square off against Republicans in November, or whether the party’s more progressive upstarts will.
Rivalry outcomes in battleground toss-ups such as Maine and Michigan will have particular influence over the party’s broader strategy heading into the midterm elections to claw back control in Washington and how it approaches resisting President Donald Trump.
But so too will competitive Democratic contests in states where the general elections are not as competitive, including Senate seats in left-leaning Minnesota and conservative Texas.
“I don’t think the old paradigms really fit anymore. It isn’t really right or left,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a leadership membership who’s backing more progressive candidates in Minnesota and Michigan, told the Washington Examiner. “It’s whether you sort of see the biggest fight as… sort of workers vs. corporations.”
Will voters best reward candidates with more leftist views and blanket Trump resistance, or moderated pragmatism that includes working across the aisle and melding with the establishment?
The party’s campaign arms, in this case the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, tend to bolster more establishment-aligned choices they feel have better odds in the general election, but are also less likely to create headaches for leadership once in Washington.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has landed several top-tier recruits who fit the mold, including Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) in Maine, former Gov. Roy Cooper in North Carolina, former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and former Rep. Mary Peltola in Alaska. Or, as Schumer recently put it to Politico, “the four states we have to pick up to win back the Senate.”
In addition to ideological differences, competitive primaries offer referendums on age. And while Schumer and the DSCC indicate their candidate of choice in Michigan is Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), they’re largely keeping their powder dry in Minnesota and Texas.
“It’s a generational shift,” Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf, whose past clients include former President Bill Clinton and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, described the primaries more broadly. “They’re …
This is performative politics again.
A renewed power struggle is playing out among Democrats, following a string of off-year overperformances in 2025 after bruising losses in 2024.
The battle for the soul of the party is most acute in a series of contentious Senate primaries that will soon determine whether the establishment’s more centrist candidates will square off against Republicans in November, or whether the party’s more progressive upstarts will.
Rivalry outcomes in battleground toss-ups such as Maine and Michigan will have particular influence over the party’s broader strategy heading into the midterm elections to claw back control in Washington and how it approaches resisting President Donald Trump.
But so too will competitive Democratic contests in states where the general elections are not as competitive, including Senate seats in left-leaning Minnesota and conservative Texas.
“I don’t think the old paradigms really fit anymore. It isn’t really right or left,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a leadership membership who’s backing more progressive candidates in Minnesota and Michigan, told the Washington Examiner. “It’s whether you sort of see the biggest fight as… sort of workers vs. corporations.”
Will voters best reward candidates with more leftist views and blanket Trump resistance, or moderated pragmatism that includes working across the aisle and melding with the establishment?
The party’s campaign arms, in this case the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, tend to bolster more establishment-aligned choices they feel have better odds in the general election, but are also less likely to create headaches for leadership once in Washington.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has landed several top-tier recruits who fit the mold, including Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) in Maine, former Gov. Roy Cooper in North Carolina, former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and former Rep. Mary Peltola in Alaska. Or, as Schumer recently put it to Politico, “the four states we have to pick up to win back the Senate.”
In addition to ideological differences, competitive primaries offer referendums on age. And while Schumer and the DSCC indicate their candidate of choice in Michigan is Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), they’re largely keeping their powder dry in Minnesota and Texas.
“It’s a generational shift,” Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf, whose past clients include former President Bill Clinton and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, described the primaries more broadly. “They’re …
Battle for the soul of Democrats seen through prism of bitter Senate primaries
This is performative politics again.
A renewed power struggle is playing out among Democrats, following a string of off-year overperformances in 2025 after bruising losses in 2024.
The battle for the soul of the party is most acute in a series of contentious Senate primaries that will soon determine whether the establishment’s more centrist candidates will square off against Republicans in November, or whether the party’s more progressive upstarts will.
Rivalry outcomes in battleground toss-ups such as Maine and Michigan will have particular influence over the party’s broader strategy heading into the midterm elections to claw back control in Washington and how it approaches resisting President Donald Trump.
But so too will competitive Democratic contests in states where the general elections are not as competitive, including Senate seats in left-leaning Minnesota and conservative Texas.
“I don’t think the old paradigms really fit anymore. It isn’t really right or left,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a leadership membership who’s backing more progressive candidates in Minnesota and Michigan, told the Washington Examiner. “It’s whether you sort of see the biggest fight as… sort of workers vs. corporations.”
Will voters best reward candidates with more leftist views and blanket Trump resistance, or moderated pragmatism that includes working across the aisle and melding with the establishment?
The party’s campaign arms, in this case the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, tend to bolster more establishment-aligned choices they feel have better odds in the general election, but are also less likely to create headaches for leadership once in Washington.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has landed several top-tier recruits who fit the mold, including Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) in Maine, former Gov. Roy Cooper in North Carolina, former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and former Rep. Mary Peltola in Alaska. Or, as Schumer recently put it to Politico, “the four states we have to pick up to win back the Senate.”
In addition to ideological differences, competitive primaries offer referendums on age. And while Schumer and the DSCC indicate their candidate of choice in Michigan is Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), they’re largely keeping their powder dry in Minnesota and Texas.
“It’s a generational shift,” Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf, whose past clients include former President Bill Clinton and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, described the primaries more broadly. “They’re …
0 Comments
0 Shares
170 Views
0 Reviews
