How socialists took over the Democratic Party

Progressive Candidates Win Several Democratic Primaries in Stronghold Districts

A series of primary victories by left-wing candidates in New York City, where challengers supported by Mayor Zohran Mamdani defeated sitting Democratic officeholders, reflect a pattern of similar outcomes in other heavily Democratic areas. These results have prompted discussion about the direction of the party ahead of future elections. Republicans have expressed hope that such candidates will face difficulty in competitive districts, while some Democratic strategists have voiced concern about the same prospect. To date, Democrats have nominated few candidates with this profile in swing states or districts. One example cited is Graham Platner’s candidacy in Maine against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), though Mamdani-backed candidates are expected to prevail in their November general elections in safe Democratic territory.

Primary successes in solidly Democratic urban districts do not alter the number of seats needed for Democrats to gain congressional majorities. Because these districts are strongly Democratic, the winners are positioned to take office and retain their seats even in cycles favorable to Republicans. If voters later shift against Democrats, the impact would fall more heavily on candidates in competitive areas than on those in safe seats. Historical patterns from the 1994 and 2010 Republican gains show that more moderate or conservative Democrats in marginal districts suffered larger losses than those in core urban strongholds.

The winners in these recent primaries will participate in internal party decisions, including leadership selections for figures such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Observers have drawn parallels to the Tea Party period more than a decade earlier, when conservative primary challengers defeated some Republican incumbents in competitive races, delaying full Senate control until later in the Obama presidency, while strengthening the party’s position in the House and in safe districts. Multiple Republican House speakers during that era also faced early departures from leadership.

Republican pollster Patrick Ruffini has written that the recent primary results extend beyond conflicts between progressives and party centrists. He argues that they mark the end of a period of Democratic politics associated with the Obama years through the post-2016 opposition period. Ruffini states that participants in that earlier opposition shared a view that existing institutions remained functional and had delivered results for liberals during the Obama administration. Following Donald Trump’s first election, some liberals aligned with elements of the pre-Trump Republican establishment, including support for figures in federal law enforcement and national security agencies. This alignment appeared in Kamala Harris’s 2024 campaign appearances with former Rep. Liz Cheney and references to endorsements from her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney. It was also visible in former President Barack Obama’s 2018 eulogy for Sen. John McCain and the role given to former President George W. Bush at the opening of Obama’s presidential center. Former President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign emphasized continuity with pre-Trump norms.

Ruffini notes that circumstances have changed by 2026. He describes a shift in emphasis among some Democratic activists toward an opposition stance modeled in part on Trump’s electoral successes, focused on altering economic structures that earlier Democratic administrations had not fundamentally changed. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), who previously served as lead counsel in the first Trump impeachment inquiry, lost his primary to a Mamdani-supported challenger by more than 30 percentage points. Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, first elected during the 2018 cycle, trails a progressive opponent in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI). Attorney George Conway placed fifth in his Democratic congressional primary.

Ruffini characterizes the change as a reorientation within segments of the Democratic electorate. Where earlier opposition activity emphasized institutional continuity, current activity draws on Trump’s victories as a template for achieving policy goals through different means. Democrats have responded to Trump’s two presidential wins differently from their response to the three consecutive Republican presidential victories in the 1980s. After losses in at least 40 states across three elections, including the 1984 Reagan landslide, the party nominated Bill Clinton in 1992. Clinton initially pursued certain liberal priorities before shifting toward welfare reform and deficit reduction following the 1994 midterm losses.

In the current cycle, arguments centered on general-election viability have carried less weight inside the party. Harris and Hillary Clinton both lost to Trump, Obama’s successor was Trump, and Biden’s 2020 victory was followed by a loss in 2024. Progressive positions on Israel hardened during the Gaza conflict that began under the Biden-Harris administration. Supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have maintained that earlier opportunities to defeat Trump were blocked by party processes favoring Biden in 2020 and Harris in 2024. Their analysis attributes Democratic defeats to insufficient attention to working-class concerns. Critics of that view point to the 2024 election results on border security, inflation, and cultural issues as additional factors. Progressive candidates have generally de-emphasized immigration enforcement and have argued that spending levels did not drive inflation, while sometimes moderating stances on cultural questions to improve electability. Data on the demographic composition of their support show concentrations in urban and college-educated areas rather than uniform working-class backing.

National polling continues to show Harris leading early 2028 Democratic nomination surveys, with her margin increasing amid the recent primary results. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who is eligible for the presidency unlike Mamdani and is younger than Sanders, ranks fourth in the RealClearPolitics average, behind Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Obama demonstrated that a candidate positioned to the left of the Clintons could win the nomination and the general election. Some progressive strategists now contend that a candidate positioned to the left of Obama could achieve similar results. These primary outcomes remain concentrated in districts that have consistently supported Democratic candidates by wide margins in recent cycles.