Progressive Left Wins Nearly One-Third of Blue-District Democratic Primaries, Falters in Battlegrounds
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 4
Progressive Left Wins Nearly One-Third of Blue-District Democratic Primaries, Falters in Battlegrounds
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 4
Summary
Nearly one-third of open Democratic congressional primaries in districts where Kamala Harris won at least two-thirds of the 2024 vote have gone to candidates backed by groups such as Our Revolution, Justice Democrats and the DSA.
Those gains follow a string of high-profile summer victories, but they are concentrated in highly educated, heavily Democratic urban areas where the party's left flank is strongest.
In battleground and red districts, the same progressive endorsements have produced little traction; where they have worked, the winners have often been white, male, blue-collar populists rather than younger democratic socialists.
That geographic limit leaves the activist left short of broader party dominance, because competitive and red-leaning districts still play an outsized role in deciding House control and presidential nominations.