Issue 16

First, while I have you, I'm raising money for New Jersey Democratic candidates who are actually putting their money to good use—canvassing to turn out lower-propensity Democratic voters and persuade swing voters, with 60% of the money going directly to contest purple districts currently held by Republicans and the remaining 40% going to turn out Democratic voters in Hudson County. You can donate here; as of this writing, we've already raised $4,000.

Results

The first round of Boston’s nonpartisan municipal elections, called “the preliminary” in Massachusetts parlance, came and went…so badly for Patriots failson Josh Kraft that he announced he was ending his campaign to unseat Mayor Michelle Wu, a vocal Trump opponent and first-term progressive. It’s understandable after the nearly 50-point drubbing Wu dealt Kraft—the mayor won 71.84% of the vote to Kraft’s 23.07%, a margin of 48.77%. There was no way he was coming back from that—so the son of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who has run parts of the family business for years, decided not to waste everyone’s time and money by carrying on to November. Elsewhere, in the only competitive city council race in the city—Roxbury’s District 7—it appears that Said Ahmed and the Rev. Miniard Culpepper will advance, but margins are close; Mavrick Afonso, in third, is not far behind Culpepper, who is in second place.

News

CA-Gov

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s political standing seemed to be quite weak after her administration’s much-criticized wildfire response and a general perception of an out-of-touch City Hall. Then Donald Trump made Los Angeles the first target of his campaign of terror against large, Democratic cities, and Bass, as the default face of opposition, recovered somewhat with Trump as a foil. That makes her endorsement of former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a longtime ally, for governor more valuable than it would have been one year or even six months ago.

CA-04

Bay Area Rep. Mike Thompson has always been a frustrating oddity: a somewhat conservative Democrat and member of the conservative Blue Dog Coalition, despite representing a dark-blue district which contains liberal wine country and UC Davis. He now has a very Bay Area challenger: a young, wealthy former venture capitalist. 34-year-old Eric Jones says he’s frustrated with the Democratic Party’s advanced age, outdated tactics, and—perhaps surprisingly given his professional background—insufficient focus on reducing income inequality. Jones will have the resources to be a threat, raising $1 million in his first 24 hours as a candidate and airing an opening ad on TV (with no mention of the incumbent.) Meanwhile, the Santa Rosa newspaper The Press Democrat had this to say about the incumbent’s response: “For his part, Thompson sounded mildly annoyed at drawing a serious challenger in the June primary.” And it’s true: Thompson’s line is that primaries will unnecessarily divide Democrats. (Has he looked at any polling recently? The division is already there.)

CO-01

University of Colorado Regent Wanda James launched a campaign to unseat Rep. Diana DeGette, arguing “the old politics of caution and careerism cannot meet the moment.” James, who was censured by her colleagues on the Board of Regents for objecting to a cannabis educational campaign she said contained racist tropes while owning a cannabis business herself, is the first Black woman elected to the Board of Regents; she represents the 1st Congressional District, so constituents of DeGette are also constituents of James. DeGette, the dean of the Colorado congressional delegation, already faces one challenger of note, attorney and barista Melat Kiros, who seems to be running a more sharply ideological campaign than James at this early juncture.

DC-AL

Everyone in DC seems to sense that 88-year-old Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s nonvoting voice in Congress, is on her way out, whether or not she’s accepted that reality herself. Whether it’s the never-ending stream of stories about the delegate’s aging and diminished capacity or the newfound willingness of notable Washingtonians to take her on themselves as the District endures military occupation at the hands of Donald Trump, both tell the same story of a legendary politician whose time has, sadly, passed. Two District-wide elected officials have announced plans to challenge Norton since I last wrote (joining DNC member Kinney Zalesne), and a onetime Norton ally, former DNC chair Donna Brazile, took to the pages of the Washington Post to call on Norton to retire.

DC Council Member At-Large Robert White is a leader of the progressive faction on the District’s Council, frequently clashing with Mayor Muriel Bowser even before she became a key ally to Trump’s military takeover of the District. White ran against Bowser in 2022, losing 49-41, and was mulling a rematch—but has now decided to take on Norton instead, saying that the delegate, his former boss, is simply no longer up to the job. And State Board of Education President Jacque Patterson, who holds an at-large seat on the District’s elected but mostly powerless school board, quietly filed with the FEC this week as well.

IL-Comptroller

State Sen. Karina Villa, one of several notable Democrats seeking the party’s nod for Illinois State Comptroller after the retirement of incumbent Susana Mendoza, made headlines recently for going further than most Democrats in fighting the Trump administration—by going door-to-door in her heavily Latino suburban constituency, warning locals of an ongoing ICE presence in the area.

IL-07

Reed Showalter, a former federal antitrust enforcer and competition policy expert, is trying out a new kind of competition: the electoral kind. Showalter is the latest candidate to enter the race for the 7th congressional district, a Chicago seat left open by the retirement of Rep. Danny Davis; a number of notable candidates are already seeking the seat, including state Rep. La Shawn Ford (Davis’s pick), Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins, real estate heir Jason Friedman, Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, SEIU Illinois leader Anthony Driver Jr., and former Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin, but Showalter is the first noteworthy candidate who strikes me as a progressive. Unfortunately, Showalter is also white—and in heavily segregated Chicago, a white candidate such as Showalter is going to struggle mightily to win over the heavily Black primary electorate in the plurality-Black 7th.

IL-08

Former Rep. Melissa Bean will seek to reclaim her old seat, which she lost in the 2010 wave to Tea Party darling Joe Walsh (who is now an anti-Trump Democrat, bizarrely.) Bean retreated from the public eye after her 2010 loss, but at 63 she’s not much older than the median House Democrat today. Back in 2004—when yours truly was in kindergarten—Bean made national waves by unseating Republican Rep. Phil Crane in what was then the Chicago area’s GOP heartland, and made her mark over three terms as a fiscally conservative Democrat who got a long leash from leadership due to her difficult district. However, the Chicago suburbs are now solidly blue and additionally gerrymandered in Democrats’ favor; there’s no need for a former member of the Blue Dogs—the 2000s Blue Dogs—in a district that voted for Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris by margins never narrower than the mid-single digits. Bean joins a crowded field that includes a number of current and former elected officials such as Hanover Park Trustee Yasmeen Bankole and Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, and it doesn’t seem like any of them are inclined to step aside for someone who’s been out of the game for so long—attorney Dan Tully attacked Bean’s entrance by swiping at her role in watering down the landmark Dodd-Frank Wall Street reforms.

IL-09

Enough. Stop it. There are too many of you. Economist Jeff Cohen became the latest candidate to jump into the race for retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s open North Side-based House seat; there are legitimately too many to list here. His pitch seems to be that he’s an economist, which I’m gonna be honest I don’t think is gonna go anywhere.

However, I will note that multiple IL-09 candidates have participated in protests against ICE’s Broadview, IL facility, the base of operations for ICE’s ongoing Chicago crackdown; Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, journalist/influencer Kat Abughazaleh, and Skokie school board member Bushra Amiwala were among those hit with tear gas and pepper balls, and agents singled out Abughazaleh for multiple beatings, one of which was approvingly televised on Fox News.

MA-Sen, MA-04, MA-06

79-year-old Sen. Ed Markey may face an opponent to his right next year, but it won’t be Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a favorite of centrist Democratic megadonors and the cryptocurrency industry. Auchincloss took himself out of the running in an interview with the Boston Globe. However, a different media-hungry centrist in the Massachusetts congressional delegation sounds a lot more interested: Rep. Seth Moulton, who won’t shut the fuck up about trans kids, was spotted with a film crew in his hometown of Salem. While Markey is too old for reelection, better him than that ghoul (and in MA-06, better challenger Beth Andres-Beck than Moulton.)

ME-01

State Rep. Tiffany Roberts is considering a primary challenge to longtime Rep. Chellie Pingree, who represents the state’s liberal coast, including Portland. Roberts, 46, who is term-limited from her state House seat, sounds like a downgrade from Pingree, 70; Roberts describes herself as a centrist, and emphasizes bipartisanship and the state’s new semi-open primary system in a preview of her campaign pitch to Maine Public Radio.

MI-13

For now, state Rep. Donavan McKinney is the only candidate challenging eccentric multimillionaire Rep. Shri Thanedar. That’s because former state Sen. Adam Hollier, a more moderate Democrat than McKinney, has switched over to the race for Michigan Secretary of State. (McKinney, a progressive labor organizer, is backed by Justice Democrats and local Rep. Rashida Tlaib; Hollier was once backed by AIPAC for this seat, though the organization now loves Thanedar after the congressman did an about-face on the issue of Israel.) McKinney may not have the field to himself for long, however; Detroit City Councilwoman Mary Waters, who lost to Thanedar 55-34 in 2024, tells the Detroit News she’s mulling a rematch.

NH-01

A new poll from Saint Anselm College shows former Portsmouth City Councilor Stefany Shaheen, best known for who her mother is (Sen. Jeanne Shaheen), easily leads the field with 22%, with New Hampshire Democratic Party vice chair Maura Sullivan at 9%, state Rep. Heath Howard—who I have not previously mentioned—at 4%, Hampton Select Board Member Carleigh Beriont and Biden administration attorney Christian Urrutia tied at 2%, and nonprofit leader Sarah Chadzynski at 1%.

NJ-09

Convincing absolutely no one, Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh claims no knowledge of a recent poll, paid for by a super PAC he’s raised money for in the past, testing his name against first-term Rep. Nellie Pou in a hypothetical Democratic primary. Sayegh differs from Pou in his stance on the war in Gaza (this heavily Arab and Muslim district contains a neighborhood known as Little Palestine, straddling the border of the cities of Paterson and Clifton), and at 51 he’s 18 years Pou’s junior. This district, newly competitive after shockingly flipping to Donald Trump in 2024, will be a top attraction for New Jersey political observers in November of next year regardless of what happens in the primary—but this is the latest sign, following Sayegh’s sharp criticism of Pou’s partial absence during Paterson’s recent water crisis, that there may be an even sooner contest to watch.

NY-10

New York Rep. Dan Goldman, a moderate Democrat representing downtown Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn, is a top target of the national and New York City left, and he may soon face a rematch with an old foe. Former Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou has reportedly informed supporters she intends to run against Goldman, who narrowly defeated her in 2022 with less than 30% of the vote amidst a field of more progressive Democrats like Niou and City Council Member Carlina Rivera. Goldman proceeded to get just 65% of the primary vote in 2024 against token opposition, indicating serious weakness within his own party. Whether or not the NYC left thinks Niou is the right pick to take him on remains to be seen, but someone fitting Niou’s profile will almost certainly oppose Goldman in June 2026.

NY-12

Parkland survivor Cameron Kasky, a bombastic media commentator currently hosting a podcast for the Bulwark, is considering a bid for the open Manhattan House seat of retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler. The field has stayed largely frozen with the exception of Nadler protégé Micah Lasher, an assemblyman representing the Upper West Side; Kennedy family failson Jack Schlossberg, who is annoying; and Gen Z nonprofit founder Liam Elkind, the choice of centrist LinkedIn billionaire Reid Hoffman, as potential candidate after potential candidate takes themselves out of the running, but this state of affairs is untenable—there’s no way the race to represent Midtown Manhattan stays this quiet for long.

RI-Gov

Former CVS executive Helena Buonanno Foulkes, who came close to unseating conservative Democratic Gov. Dan McKee four years ago, has announced she’ll seek a rematch—but don’t celebrate. Foulkes is just as conservative as McKee, and is more representative of establishment frustration with the deeply unpopular governor than of anything grassroots in nature; she is also bogged down by a federal lawsuit against CVS for its role in overprescription of opioids. It remains to be seen whether someone more liberal than Foulkes and McKee will run; rumored potential candidate Joe Shekarchi, the state House Speaker, is not much of a liberal or progressive himself.

NYC Mayor

The top leadership of the Democratic Party in Congress is, coincidentally, a pair of New Yorkers. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries both hail from Brooklyn. Nevertheless, they’re leaving the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York out in the cold, rebuffing countless requests to endorse Queens assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim and a democratic socialist, since his landslide victory over disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June’s Democratic primary. Even as Cuomo, now running as an independent, openly courts the right, and the Trump administration seeks to intervene against Mamdani, Schumer and Jeffries remain on the sidelines—and seem inclined to mock anyone who thinks they should be doing anything different, with a staffer for Jeffries snarking “Chris Van Who?” after Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen criticized Democratic leadership for their unwillingness to back Mamdani. Almost immediately after Jeffries’s staffer made that crack, Gov. Kathy Hochul, a moderate Democrat herself, released a New York Times op-ed forcefully endorsing Mamdani as New York City’s first line of defense against Donald Trump, even as the op-ed noted the governor’s disagreements with Mamdani. The top Democrats in both houses of the New York state legislature joined Hochul within days, as did Brooklyn Rep. Yvette Clarke. Meanwhile, Schumer in particular continues to agonize, with a New York Times story exposing his deliberations. It’s hard not to conclude that both Schumer and Jeffries prioritize their own personal Islamophobia and opposition to democratic socialism over the existential threat of Donald Trump; what remains to be seen is whether they’ll pay a price for their betrayals.

(An amusing sideshow ensued after Hochul’s endorsement in the form of New York State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs, a conservative from Long Island, saying he’d resign if Hochul endorsed Mamdani—leaving him stuck mulling resignation after Hochul went and endorsed Mamdani over Jacobs’s objections.)

Providence Mayor

Democratic socialist state Rep. David Morales, 27, announced he would challenge Providence Mayor Brett Smiley in the September 2026 Democratic primary. Despite his youth, Morales is in his third term representing parts of Providence in the state House. Like other progressive mayoral candidates who have seen recent success, most notably Zohran Mamdani, Morales is focusing on affordability and targeting his message at renters and immigrants.