I'm keeping my eyes on Kat Abughazelah running for Illinois 09 district (even if she doesn't live there).
I'd like to do very haram things with her.
Posted on 04/25/2025 6:59:49 AM PDT by Drew68
Progressive groups, emboldened by the Democratic grassroots' extreme dissatisfaction at their party's older establishment, are preparing to go big in their efforts to unseat Democratic lawmakers.
Why it matters: Three months into the new Congress, more than half a dozen House Democrats already are facing primary challengers. That number is about to skyrocket.
DNC vice chair David Hogg, whose group Leaders We Deserve is spending $20 million to primary incumbents to the chagrin of many House Democrats, told Axios: "Some truly generational leaders will be announcing their campaigns very soon." Usamah Andrabi, a spokesperson for Justice Democrats, told Axios the number of House Democrats who ultimately draw serious challengers "could be dozens — it could be a large portion of the caucus." "I have talked to folks who have been thinking about jumping into these primary races who haven't come out yet," said Amanda Litman, founder of Run For Something. "There are more coming."
By the numbers: At least seven House Democrats — nearly all north of 70 years old — are staring down primary challenges from younger insurgents.
In some cases, the age gap is yawning: 85-year-old former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is facing 39-year-old political operative and software engineer Saikat Chakrabarti. Of this group, three incumbents, including Pelosi, have not said whether they will seek reelection in 2026. Reps. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), André Carson (D-Ind.) and Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) are running, spokespeople told Axios. So is Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
What they're saying: Litman said when her group was founded in 2017 — despite it only working on state and local races and not on the congressional level— she "would get a lot of people really mad at me."
"Now, we get almost the opposite reaction," she said. "I think the dam has broken because of [former President] Biden ... so clearly demonstrating the danger that comes with leaders staying in too long." Andrabi told Axios: "The mood amongst the Democratic base is so overwhelming that people don't need an excuse to get in and challenge the sort of 'Do Nothing Democrats' right now." Said Adam Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee: "Anybody who ... sees the only opposition party at a record low approval would want to change the face of the party."
Data: Axios research; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals
Zoom in: Investment analyst Katie Bansil, 33, said she challenged Pallone, 73, primarily over "big differences" in their views on environmental and foreign policy. Now, age is emerging as another "big reason."
"I echo ... a lot of the sentiment lately. The landscape when he first ran in [1988], versus now, is so different," she said. "It's time to turn the page." Everton Blair, a 34-year-old school board member pursuing the seat held by Scott, 79, said he decided to run after a town hall meeting at which Scott brushed off his concerns about combating the Trump administration. "Republicans have actually done a better job than Democrats at creating youth opportunities on their bench ... we need to shift gears," he said.
Zoom out: These primary battles are just the latest front in a generational civil war that has been tearing the Democratic Party apart for the better part of a year.
Biden's withdrawal from the Democratic ticket last July was a watershed moment. That was followed by House Democrats breaking with tradition and pushing out three of their oldest committee leaders, including Scott. Trump's efforts to dismantle the federal government have kicked things into overdrive, with activists all but writing off any Democrat who they think isn't meeting the urgency of the moment.
Yes, but: Those in this new crop of insurgents — many of whom are political neophytes and, in some cases, outsiders to their districts — will have to prove they can replicate the success of The Squad.
That includes raising the kind of money they will need to overcome the outside help many establishment Democrats are likely to receive. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), in a Sunday appearance on ABC's "This Week," said he looks forward to "standing behind every single Democratic incumbent." Some challengers appear to be raising the necessary cash: Kat Abughazaleh raked in nearly $379,000 in just eight days after the 26-year-old launched her campaign against Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who is now expected to retire.
The bottom line: "Even in April, a year out from a Democratic primary ... we're at seven [primary challenges], and none of those are ours," said Andrabi.
"There's going to be a lot of people across the country that we may not get involved in that are just like, 'I don't give a s**t, I don't need organizational support, I'm here to primary this person because this person sucks.'"
Grabbing the popcorn. Can't wait for these far left commies and Hamasniks to be the face of the party rolling into 2026.
“David Hogg has already been told to knock it off by Dem leaders.”
The monster Frankenstein created didn’t listen to him, either.
L
MS-13ocrats just are not radical enough.
The current Dem leaders are the past.
The young crazies are the future of the party.
Hoggboy will be out of that job by Memorial Day
These Democrats, by going full Marxist, are marching into a suicidal midterm election where they may lose 50 seats or more. Are there any rational people left in the party?
Their insane Trump Derangement has destroyed any ability to think. The American people are sick and fed up with their destructive policies.
All in safe (D)istricts, undoubtedly. Nothing more than a tempest in a teapot, if it even happens at all.
They aren’t nearly stupid enough to send loony leftists out to primary incumbent Democrats in marginal districts.
Or...Terrorocrats
Remember what the left did to the Democrat Party in the late 1960s?
By the time they were done trashing it they had George McGovern as a Presidential candidate.
Without Watergate and a pathetic Gerald Ford they could have been in the wilderness for decades after that.
The hard left is the heart and soul of the grass roots of the Democrat Party.
It would be a major mistake to underestimate them.
I’m going to donate to a bunch of them.
EC
The DemonRAT Molotov cocktails are being “passed” as we speak. Out with the ancient, in with the Marxist thugs and bullies.
Which pretty much ushered in the power of the "Super Delegate" at the presidential level to keep the crazies from winning the primaries.
It's really amazing that Obama survived this roadblock his party put in place.
That’s it. Hogg things that Democrats just haven’t gone far enough left.
The “Super Delegates” and party leaders overplayed their hand with their Politboro Kamala move.
The crazy lefties are screaming that the old timers created the disaster and cannot longer be trusted.
They have a point.
We need to stop allowing Deep State to pick our candidates for us.
We need to run Donald Dems in Dem primaries.
Run MAGA candidates in Pubbie primaries.
Right now Deep State wins no matter the letter after the name because the only people being run are Deep State.
And what a party it shall be. Nightly riots, burning down large parts of mainly “blue” cities, and sharply increased attacks on police and even National Guard posts, in an effort to “change the minds and hearts of the PEEPLE”.
The intifada has just begun.
I'm keeping my eyes on Kat Abughazelah running for Illinois 09 district (even if she doesn't live there).
I'd like to do very haram things with her.
Best case scenario is that this internal warfare causes some Rats in tossup districts to move to the left out of fear of a primary, thus enabling their GOP opponents to use that against them in the campaign.
It won't happen because Democrats are highly adept at doing exactly the OPPOSITE: allowing vulnerable members to pose as "moderates" as elections approach, in order to defuse attacks from Republican opponents. Most of the time, it works well for them, as you can see here (from 2024):
Incumbent House Democrats: Running Scared or Just Faking Toward the Center?
You are correct—so far.
However the leftist loonies are just getting started.
I do not see the Hogg appointment as an aberration but rather the beginning of a new trend in the party.
The old guard is getting burned out and tired and without national power they can’t buy off anyone.
The trend is what I am looking at—and that trend suggests the party is about to go completely insane—across the board.
I hope you are correct. The old-timers in safe (D) seats are being weeded out, certainly to be replaced by newbies who are far more radical (like that Arab hottie who is running in the suburban Chicago Hebrew district; the self-loathers will adore her).
But when the radical organizations start going after tougher foes, they will find that the Rat establishment still has a lot of pull and a ***LOT*** of money.
It’s like when we prefer more conservative candidates to face RINOs in GOP primaries, and we find out that the GOPe adds some “paper” conservatives to the ballot to split the right-wing vote, and we also find out that the GOPe has all the money while the insurgents have squat. It just may work that way on the far left, too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.