25 Most Important Primaries 2022

The 25 Most Important US Primary Elections in 2022 (Pink Tsunami)

Okay, time for a different approach. There are so many progressive candidates running that I don’t think it will be feasible for me to cover them all in the type of detail I wish to. It’s probably a good sign that we are seeing so many capable progressive candidates popping up this cycle, but there’s also the question of how to go about supporting them. I have been tracking the progressive candidates running for office in the US since about 2019, and I’ve learned quite a few things since then. The most blatantly obvious is that most of them fail.

It is because of this that I am taking winnability into account with these specific elections. These are the races that I’d suggest that leftists and progressive candidates focus their energy on the most, in addition to the ones that have the highest risk factor if we end up losing them. Also, just to provide a bit of entertainment value to what’s normally a dreadful topic, I’ll be ranking these in importance, which technically makes this a countdown. The following are the twenty five most crucial primaries for the left to win, and will be taking into account the quality of the progressive candidate, the scuminess of the opponent, the wider implication it has on the left as a whole, and our chances of winning.

#25: Minnesota Congressional District 4 (Amane Badhasso Vs Betty McCollum)

The subject of this list’s first entry is Amane Bahasso, a Democratic organizer and former refugee who is known for working on the “Yes 4 Minnesota” campaign to replace the Minnesota Police Department with a Department of Public Safety. She is now attempting a primary challenge to incumbent Democrat Betty McCollum. It’s worth noting that despite the fact that McCollum’s campaign manager stated that she’s more progressive than Ilhan Omar, Ilhan Omar voted in favor of the Yes 4 Minnesota measure while McCollum refused to take a stance. McCollum, despite normally being in favor of Palestinian rights, refused to defend Ilhan Omar when she was accused of antisemitism for rightfully pointing out the influence that the Israel lobby has on American politicians. McCollum’s campaign manager even went as far as to claim that Omar “derailed a lot of their work.”

Amane Badhasso said she would “raise few if any substantive objections to McCollum’s voting record.” Personally, I disagree. Some of my objections to McCollum’s record voting record include, voting against a resolution to condemn the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, against cutting the Pentagon budget during a pandemic, to send armed forces to Libya without congressional approval, in favor of one billion in funding for Israel’s Iron Dome, in favor of the Patriot Act, to extend sanctions on Iran and Libya, in favor of Trump’s 2019 trade deal, to rollback public health and environmental laws, to prohibit states from requiring companies label what’s in their food, and to block a resolution to remove tropes from Pakistan.

Oh, and she’s currently trying to rig the primary. Classy.

The primary is on August 9th.

Amane BadhassoDonation Link

#24: Nevada Congressional District 1 (Amy Vilela Vs Dina Titus)

Those who have seen the Netflix documentary Knock Down the House may be familiar with Amy Vilela. The documentary told of her 2018 campaign for congress, alongside three other young women. Two of those women, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cori Bush, have since made it to congress. Her campaign was inspired following the death of her daughter in 2015, which occurred after she was turned away from the hospital due to lacking health insurance. Her 2018 campaign may have failed, but in 2020, she acted as the Nevada state co-chair of the Bernie Sanders campaign, where Bernie went on to win in a landslide.

2021 also saw the entire staff of the Nevada Democratic party quitting after Democratic socialists won every seat. This, combined with the fact that Amy Vilela is opting to run in Nevada’s bluest district and her newfound fame, now give her an increased chance of victory against incumbent Dina Titus. Considering how important Medicare for All is to Vilela, you can expect her to be a powerful voice for it if she is elected. Unfortunately, Amy Vilela will have to raise enough money to compete with Dina Titus’s bribes donations from casino and real estate PACs. Dina Titus has also been endorsed by the Pro-Israel Super PAC, Democratic Majority for Israel, which was responsible for boosting Shontel Brown’s campaign in the last few weeks before her election. Expect them to show up in many more races in this article as well.

In case anyone thinks Amy Vilela won’t fight like hell for Medicare for All.

In her career, Dina Titus has voted against cutting the Pentagon budget during a Pandemic, voted with Republicans to immediately lift a moratorium on deep water drilling following the Deep water Horizon Oil Spill of 2010, to eliminate public review of hard rock mining on federally managed lands, to block a resolution to remove tropes from Pakistan, to roll back forest protection policies, and in favor of one billion in funding for Israel’s Iron Dome.

The primary is on June 14th.

Amy Vilela – Donation Link

5/27/2022 Update: Unfortunately, Amy Vilela lost her race with only 17.6% of the vote. The most likely reason is due to very little spending on TV ads.

#23: Michigan Congressional District 11 (Andy Levin Vs Haley Stevens)

So, it’s the first election cycle after redistricting. That means we will see a bunch of states force incumbents to run against each other in primaries as districts are struck from the map. One of these races is in Michigan’s 11th Congressional district, which will see incumbents Andy Levin and Haley Stevens face off against each other. This lead the media to start asking dishonest questions about why “Levin has chosen to primary Haley Stevens“, despite the fact Levin has lived in this district for 16 years, while Stevens carpetbagged her way over a few weeks after the new map was proposed. Consider the tone of this race set.

Polling has the two incumbents neck and neck, so it could go either way. It could go for Andy Levin, a progressive, pro labor incumbent that didn’t require any convincing to sign onto Medicare for All, or it could go for Haley Stevens, who still does not support it. It could go to Levin, who has a perfect score from the League of Conservation Voters, or it could got to Stevens, who voted in favor of Trump’s 2019 USMCA Trade Deal and to block protections for endangered whales. It could go to Levin, who is endorsed by Elizabeth Warren, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and the PCCC, or it could go to Stevens, who is backed by three different Pro-Israel PACs (despite the fact that Andy Levin is Jewish and Stevens is not) and has chosen to endorse racist, transphobic billionaire Mike Bloomberg for President in 2020.

Haley’s comedy is about as bland as her politics.

Oh, and Haley Stevens recently attended a press conference to “raise concerns” about Biden re-entering the Iran Deal right after accusing Levin of “encouraging Israel to make all the concessions” in response to Levin claiming that we should realize the political and human rights of the Palestinians. Stevens also claimed that “our real problem in the region is Iran and Iran’s funding of terrorist groups that wreak havoc on Israel.” It takes a special type of brain worms to start manufacturing consent for war with Iran while we all anxiously wait to hear whether or not Vladimer Putin uses nukes in Ukraine.

The Primary is August 2nd.

Andy Levin – Donation Link

#22: New Jersey Congressional District 8 (David Ocampo Grajales Vs Rob Menendez)

Compared to the other races on this list, there isn’t much information this race aside from the fact that David Ocampo is a progressive candidate. There isn’t any polling, no info on fundraising, and I don’t think Ocampo has received many major endorsements, aside from Marianne Williamson and the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund. Normally, I would assume that Menendez has the race in the bag due to the fact that he received every major party endorsement only four days after incumbent Albio Sires resigned, despite the fact that his only noteworthy trait is being the sperm of Senator Bob Menendez, who has one of the lowest approval ratings in in the Senate.

Bob Menendez is so hated by the people of New Jersey, that progressive challenger Lisa McCormick managed 37.7 percent of the vote against him in 2018, despite running on a shoestring budget. For comparison, McCormick managed only 10.8% against Bonnie Watson Coleman in 2020. This indicates that David Ocampo will likely receive a boost based solely on hatred towards Bob Menendez. While I can’t tell you about Rob Menendez’s policies due to the fact that he does not have a campaign site, if his policies are anything like his father, then you can expect a lot of hawkishness and corporatism.

The primary is on June 7th.

David Ocampo Grajales – Donation Link

6/27/2022 Update: Sadly, David Ocampo Grajales only managed 10.9% of the vote.

#21: New Jersey Congressional District 11 (Imani Oakley Vs Donald Payne)

For those that are unaware, the New Jersey ballots are designed in a way that effectively rigs primaries in favor of whoever is endorsed by the Party establishment. This effectively means that it is even harder for insurgent candidates to win in New Jersey than in any of the other states. It’s not hard to see why they need to do this, if the quality of the incumbents in the state of New Jersey is any indication. In addition to the aforementioned Bob Menendez, this state is also home to the likes of Josh Gottheimer, Donald Norcross, Albio Sires (though he’s retiring), and Donald Payne. Similarly to that of Rob Menendez, Donald Payne is the son of a former congressmen, and has held the seat since 2012 simply by virtue of being the son of Donald Payne Sr, who himself held the same seat since 1989. Back in my day, was used to call this nepotism. I wonder why we stopped doing that?

Payne’s record consists of him voting against campaign finance disclosure requirements, voting to undermine Flood Insurance reform, to roll back environmental laws, in favor of Trump’s 2019 USMCA Trade Deal, to condemn the BDS movement, and to spend $1,000,000,000 on Israel’s iron dome. Donald Payne also got into an argument with a police officer who gave him a parking ticket, which led to that officer facing retaliation at work. Because clearly Donald Payne just could not afford that parking ticket with the salary of a congressmen, he’s just SO underpaid.

Donald Payne is being primaried by Imani Oakley, a progressive activist who is running on abolishing ICE, ending the death penalty, legalizing marijuana, decriminalizing drug possession, a Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and $19 Minimum Wage, and who has been endorsed by Brand New Congress, Catch Fire, West Orange Young Democrats, Peace Action, the Hunterdon, Montclair, Union County, and Morris County branches of the Sunrise Movement, Maplewood Mayor Dean Dafis, and Black Lives Matter activist Zellie Imani. I think the choice is obvious.

The Primary is on June 7th.

Imani Oakley – Donation Link

6/23/2022 Update: Sadly, Imani Oakley only managed 10.3% of the vote. While the New Jersey ballot may have contributed, she also was struggling to raise money towards the end of the race.

#20: Illinois Congressional District 3 (Delia Ramirez Vs Gilbert Villegas)

Before running for congress, Delia Ramirez served on the Illinois House of Representatives for three years after having held leadership roles in a number of social service agencies. During her tenure as an Illinois state rep, she successfully pressured her fellow lawmakers to increase the size of a tenant relief fund by 90%, and added a provision that made Illinois the first state to provide Medicaid regardless of immigration status. Delia Ramirez has also stated support for Medicare for All, and she has racked up a number of noteworthy endorsements, including Chuy Garcia, a close ally of Bernie Sanders. Considering how well Bernie and progressive issues poll compared to the neoliberal Chicago Mayor and the local police force, Delia Ramirez is a natural front runner. Her status can be further cemented if Bernie Sanders endorses her.

The primary is far from over however. While the latest poll has Ramirez leading neoliberal city councilor Gilbert Villegas by eight points, 66% are also undecided. On top of this, Villegas is outfunding Ramirez three to one as of December 21st. While Ramirez may have the lead now, we saw with Nina Turner in 2021 how much corporate money and media could impact a race. This comparison is even more poignant since, as with Shontel Brown (as well as many other entries on this list), Gilbert Villegas is being backed by the Democratic Majority for Israel. Let’s make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.

The primary is on June 28th.

Delia Ramirez – Donation Link

#19: Pennsylvania Congressional District 12 (Summer Lee Vs Steve Irwin)

Given Pennsylvania’s status as a vital swing state that was the deciding factor in the last few Presidential elections, it was only a matter of time before Justice Democrats threw their weight behind a Pennsylvania congressional candidate. Having spent four years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives following her primary victory over PA oligarch Paul Costa, she announced a run for congress in October of last year.

Initially, I was not pleased to hear this because former 2020 candidate Jerry Dickinson was already running a strong campaign in the same district, but it seems like Summer Lee is a better fit for the newly drawn 12th district anyway, especially since Lee has since received the endorsements of Bernie Sanders, Ayanna Pressley, Ed Gainey, the Working Families Party, Democracy for America, the League of Conservation Voters, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Sunrise Movement. On top of this, Dickinson had a pretty weak response to a question about Israel in the most recent debate, so it looks like Lee is the better progressive anyway.

God took the wrong Steve Irwin.

The only other major candidate is Corporate Dem Steve Irwin. No, he has no connection with the iconic nature program host from Australia, as that would require this guy to contribute something meaningful to the world. Steve Irwin, backed by three different Pro-Israel organizations… is off to a poor start. Not only did a federal Judge say that her name was falsely included Irwin’s petition, but it was also revealed that he lead the Union-busting law firm Leech Tishman.

However, Irwin has corporate money on his side, and he also received the endorsement of the former incumbent Mike Doyle, who has one of the worst records on abortion among House Democrats, and supported the Hyde Amendment as recently as 2019. We’re glad that Mike Doyle is gone, but it would all go downhill if we allow his replacement to take his place.

The primary is on May 17th.

Summer Lee – Donation Link

5/22/2022 Update: In spite of a deluge of corporate money attempting to prop up Steve Irwin, Summer Lee won her primary by only 446 Votes.

#18: New York Lieutenant Governor (Ana Maria Archila Vs Brian Benjamin)

So, it turns out that there are elections that aren’t for US House seats, how about that? Most of the major progressive candidates are running for House seats since Statewide races are often much more expensive, and thus much harder to win. As great as it would be to see Jumaane Williams beat the popular incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul, it’s not likely to happen. The primary for Lieutenant Governor on the other hand, is a different story. Ana Maria Archila is the co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, but it’s more likely that you’ve heard of Marchila for confronting former Senator Jeff Flake over his intention to confirm accused rapist Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, or for being one of the few people to support Tara Reade when she spoke of Joe Biden sexually assaulting her. The fact that she’s running after Andrew Cuomo was forced to resign in disgrace over his own sexual assault allegations is quite significant.

Every part of the New York Democratic establishment deserves the blame for covering for Cuomo all this time, and it’s especially important to keep that in mind that Kathy Hochul was Cuomo’s LT while she pretends to be a progressive feminist, but on top of that, Brian Benjamin has a number of his own ethics scandals to contend with. This naturally makes Benjamin particularly vulnerable, and thus a weaker opponent. As for why it is important to oppose both Benjamin AND Kathy Hochul, both of them have recently come out in favor of rolling back crucial criminal justice reforms, a move which is so horrific that Human Rights Watch has come out against it. Thus far, both Jumaane Williams and Ana Maria Archila have received the backing of the Working Families Party, an organization that has a lot of power in New York. This will naturally go further for Archila than for Williams, but both deserve your support.

Update: Brian Benjamin has now been indicted on charges of bribery and wire fraud, and has unofficially withdrawn from the race and stepped down from his position as Lieutenant Governor. This means that the establishment will either need to prop up conservative Democrat Diana Reyna if they have any hope of keeping Ana Maria Archila out. Assume they will do whatever they need to, and don’t get complacent.

The primary is on August 23rd.

5/24/2022 Update: The primary has now been delayed to August 23rd due to the new Congressional Maps, which allowed Kathy Hochul to appoint congressman Antonio Delgado Lieutenant Governor, leaving his congressional seat without an incumbent to defend it, because clearly Kathy Hochul has her priorities in order. Throughout Antonio Delgado’s tenure, he has voted against cutting our bloated Pentagon budget by 10% in the middle of the pandemic, to condemn the BDS movement, in favor of 1 billion in funding for Israel’s iron dome, to block an amendment preventing the transfer of grenade launchers and armed drones to local police forces, and in favor of Trump’s 2019 USMCA trade deal.

Thankfully, several key New York Democratic Party figures have chosen to endorse Maria Archila rather than Delgado, including Congresswomen Nydia Velázquez, Congressman Jamaal Bowman, State Senators Mike Gianaris, Gustavo Rivera, Alessandra Biaggi, and James Sanders Jr, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, and many others. It thankfully seems as if Maria Archila still has a shot at winning this, but we must not grow complacent.

Ana Maria Archila – Donation Link
Jumaane Williams – Donation Link

#17: Illinois Congressional District 6 (Marie Newman Vs Sean Casten)

When progressive incumbents are elected to office, they usually have an easier time getting re-elected than they did the first time. Unless there is an active push to get them out of office, there usually isn’t too much to worry about, and in some cases, even that isn’t cause for concern. This is not the case with Marie Newman, a Justice Democrats backed progressive candidate who toppled anti-gay and anti-choice Democrat Dan Lipinski in 2020. The new district map for Illinois now puts Marie Newman up against fellow incumbent Democrat Sean Casten, who she is tied with in the most recent poll. What further complicates things is that recently, Marie Newman is in hot water over allegedly promising a 2020 primary opponent a job if he dropped out. This is why you shouldn’t engage in any shady behavior if you want to run as a progressive candidate.

Despite this blot of Marie Newman’s record, she’s still an immensely superior option to her opponent. While Sean Casten may not be as conservative as the aforementioned Dan Lipinski, his record is still less than stellar. In his two terms in congress, Sean Casten has voted in favor of Trump’s 2019 trade deal, against cutting our bloated military budget by 10% while we were in the middle of a pandemic, to condemn the BDS movement, and to spend one billion dollars on Israel’s iron dome, This is in addition to the fact that he illegally coordinated with a Super PAC that helped get him elected in 2018, which to be quite frank, is a much worse ethics violation than the one Newman is in trouble for. In his two terms in office, Casten has taken over 120K from the Insurance industry, over 50K from the real estate industry, over 80K from the Security and Investment industry, over 60K from commercial banks, and over 30K from finance and credit companies.

This particular race is important because Marie Newman losing re-election would provide a ton of ammo to neoliberals who claim that progressive candidates are not as electable. The biggest challenge many progressive candidates face is often getting the word out about their campaign. If Marie Newman loses despite having infinitely more name recognition and influence however, the implications would be devastating.

The primary is on June 28th.

Marie Newman – Donation Link

#16: Oregon Congressional District 4 (Doyle Canning Vs Val Hoyle)

Oregon is known for being comparatively progressive to a lot of the country, in spite of the fact that establishment liberals are still running the show. I talked about this when I wrote my 2020 Oregon piece, and most of what I said still applies (although I regret supporting Ibrahim Taher since he is now running a a Republican and embracing far right conspiracy theories about vaccines and the 2020 election). In 2020, I wrote in support of Doyle Canning’s primary attempt to incumbent Peter DeFazio. This time however, DeFazio is retiring, and the district is more left leaning. DeFazio is not too happy about Canning’s attempt to primary him in 2020, so he went ahead and endorsed Oregon Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle, along with both Oregon Senators, and a whole bunch of establishment legislators and groups.

Never bet on someone who quits the moment he has to put in some actual effort to win.

Thankfully, Canning has been mounting a much stronger campaign this time around, and has received the backing of the PCCC, the Progressive Democrats of America, the Corvallis and Oregon branches of Our Revolution, the Eugene, Corvallis, and Rural Oregon branches of the Sunrise Movement, Brand New Congress, the North Curry County branch of Indivisible, the Eugene branch of the DSA, the University of Oregon and Corvallis College Democrats, State rep Khanh Pham, former Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, Blue America, and Common Defense.

Despite establishment media claiming that Val Hoyle is a progressive candidate, Val Hoyle has voted against a bill to require campaign finance reporting in the state of Oregon, and only 5% of her campaign funds come from donations under $200. On top of this, Val Hoyle was a prominent support of the thankfully abandoned Jordan Cove Pipeline that would have crossed over five major rivers and that received massive opposition from land owners, environmental groups, and local tribes. While the project failed, Val Hoyle is still being funded by many of the project’s developers, all while parading herself around as a progressive. Don’t let her fool you. There’s only one real progressive in this race.

The Primary is on May 17th.

Doyle Canning – Donation Link

5/22/2022 Update: Sadly, Doyle Canning only managed 14.4% of the vote compared to Val Hoyle’s 65.8%.

#15: Florida Congressional District 10 (Maxwell Frost Vs Randolph Bracy)

Despite the flood of controversy occurring in Florida, there hasn’t been a ton of opportunities for the left in this cycle. The Gubernatorial race is basically a death march to Ron Desantis winning re-election, and I have very little confidence in Val Demings being able to unseat Marco Rubio. Given that Alan Grayson has decided to drag his feet on running an active campaign despite being outfunded almost 40-1, we likely don’t have anyone else. The upside is that we won’t have Val Demings in congress anymore, which is a good thing considering she’s an absolute ghoul whose record consists of overseeing an especially violent and brutal police force, voting in favor of the anti-immigrant Kate’s Law and the Thin Blue Line Act, voting to block an amendment that would have prevented grenade launchers from being transferred to local police, and ardently defending the Anti LGBT National Prayer Breakfast organization.

Her district now has the chance to elect a real progressive with Maxwell Frost, the former national organizing director for March of Our Lives. Frost is running on a platform that includes Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, ending the death penalty, legalizing Marijuana, decriminalizing sex work, and demilitarizing the police, and has been endorsed by congressman Ritchie Torres, Gun control Activist Fred Guttenburg, The Brady Campaign, the Community Justice Action Fund, Future Generations PAC, the Latino Victory Fund, and the Newtown Action Alliance.

But Maxwell Frost will first need to beat State Senator Randolph Bracy, who previously worked as the Director of Business Development at a Charter school, and is running a campaign backed by the fossil fuel industry, big sugar, and or course, the Democratic Majority for Israel. Randolph Bracy has recently voted to make solar panels more expensive, and voted with Republicans to pass a records exemption that protects employers who violate the Vaccine Mandate. As of December 21st, Frost has out-raised Bracy by 200K, but it’s best to not get complacent.

The primary is on August 23rd.

Maxwell Frost – Donation Link

#14: Illinois Congressional District 7 (Kina Collins Vs Danny Davis)

If one has been paying attention, then they have likely noticed that Justice Democrats has specifically targeted incumbent Democrats that performed especially poorly in their primaries. Incumbent Democrat Danny Davis only won his primary by 61.4% in 2020, which is generally a bad sign since it means that almost 40% of your constituents wanted to replace you. One could only wonder why Danny Davis is under water, when his legacy consists of defending hate groups, dangerous cults, and convicted sex offenders, which doesn’t even take into account his voting record, which is also shit by the way.

Danny Davis has also taken a trip to Sri Lanka that was funded by a terrorist organization, and is one of the founders of the “Team Blue” PAC, a PAC made with the sole purpose of defending Neoliberal incumbents in safe blue districts from progressive challengers. Because to hell with using that many in purple states against the literal fascists, clearly it’s more important we protect our country from the people who want to give us healthcare! Danny Davis has also voted to extend Sanctions on Iran and Libya, in favor of the anti Sex worker bill SESTA/FOSTA, against instating campaign finance disclosure requirements, to cut land conservation programs, to eliminate the President’s Power’s to declare national monuments, and to shield the manufactures of MTBE from liability from billions in damages and cleanup costs.

Danny Davis Jewish Question
This is an actual direct quote from Danny Davis.

Danny Davis’s opponent is Kina Collins, who was also his runner up in the 2020 primary, who has outfunded Davis in every quarter and has secured a number of high profile endorsements, some of which include Indivisible, Justice Democrats, Women’s March Illinois, The People’s Lobby, Peace Action, Black Lives Matter Women of Faith, and the Chicago branch of the Sunrise Movement. Replacing Danny Davis would effectively make an example out of those who try to go against the left, and given his electoral weakness, a loss against him would be an absolute embarrassment.

The primary is on June 28th.

Kina Collins – Donation Link

#13: Connecticut Congressional District 1 (Muad Hrezi Vs John Larson)

Similarly to Amy Vilela, Muad Hrezi was inspired to run for congress after witnessing first hand how corrupt the health insurance industry is. After going to the hospital due to severe pneumonia, Muad was left waiting in the ER for over an hour while he was hounded over his mother’s medical debt. Muad managed to hang on until a team of doctors saved his life, but had things gone differently, Muad could have died due to the corruption of the health insurance industry. It goes without saying that Medicare for All is a major part of Muad Hrezi’s platform, and given the recent frustration about the lack of progress in healthcare reform, candidates like Muad Hrezi and Amy Vilela will be crucial in making the necessary changes to the current system.

In addition to Medicare for All, Muad Hrezi’s platform also includes reinstating Glass-Steagall, raising the minimum wage, repealing the Taft-Hartley Act, a Green New Deal, and legalizing marijuana, and he has been endorsed by Connecticut state house rep Maryam Khan, the University of Connecticut College Democrats, Black Lives Matter 860, the South Windsor and Manchester branches of PowerUp, and the Connecticut branch of the Sunrise Movement. Hrezi’s opponent is incumbent John Larson, who went his entire 20+ year tenure without a primary challenger.

Throughout his tenure in office, John Larson has voted in favor of the anti-immigrant Kate’s Law, voted to ban flag burning/flag desecration three times despite… you know… the first amendment, voted in favor of the patriot act, voted against cutting our bloated pentagon budget by 10% in the middle of a pandemic, voted in favor of Trump’s 2019 USMCA trade deal in spite of his claims to support a Green New Deal, voted with Republicans against a bill to transfer money used for fossil fuels towards clean energy AND against a bill to cut funding to a project to dredge the Delaware river.

Throughout his career, Larson has received over $2,000,000 from the insurance industry, over $800,000 from health professionals, and over $700,000 from the real estate industry. John Larson’s top contributors are Raytheon Technologies, Hartford Financial Services, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance, Travelers Companies, and Guardian Life Insurance, and he is the fifth highest recipient of corporate PAC money among House Democrats.

The Primary is on August 9th.

Muad Hrezi – Donation Link

#12: New York Congressional District 12 (Rana Abdelhamid Vs Carolyn Maloney Vs Suraj Patel Vs Maud Maron)

And here we start getting to the big ones. The next following races will have either the best progressives, the worst incumbent Democrats, or they are in a vital swing districts. While Rana Abdelhamid is an excellent progressive candidate, this race is mainly up this high because Carolyn Maloney is such a wretched human being. Keep in mind that Maloney won her last primary with less than 43% of the vote, which means she’s on thin ice to begin with.

But earlier this year a clip of her wearing a Burqa on the house floor to push for the invasion of Iraq resurfaced. I hope I don’t need to explain why using a Burqa as a prop to promote fear and hatred towards the religion it represents is disgusting, but it’s even worse because it was not only used to promote the Iraq war, but it also put Muslim Americans at serious risk while trying to navigate the culture of violent Islamophobia. And guess what, Maloney thinks she was right to do this, an even had the nerve to say that the war in Afghanistan “helped women” and that “it overall helped the country!”

Maloney’s Muslim primary opponent, Rana Abdelhamid, disagrees, and thus makes for the perfect challenger. But this is hardly the only act of corruption Maloney has engaged in. Maloney has also voted in favor of the 1994 Crime Bill, to add $100 million in funding to Charter Schools, to sanction Iran, Libya, and Cuba, to repeal Glass-Steagall, in favor of AEDPA, in favor of the Patriot Act, against the Iran Deal, to undermine standards for safe seafood eating, against closing fracking regulation loopholes, and to cut the Department of Energy out of the approval process for Liquefied Natural Gas exports. On top of this, Maloney has also called Suraj Patel a Trump mouthpiece for believing in Democracy, used campaign funds on Piano tuning, and can’t tell the difference between Dreamers and Puerto Ricans.

(-‸ლ)

Speaking of Suraj Patel, he has catfished potential voters on gay dating apps, has harassed 2020 primary opponent Lauren Ashcraft and stole her campaign signs, owns hotels with years worth of labor violations, is running as “more pro Israel than Carolyn Maloney,” and creeps on underage women. Then there’s also Maud Maron, a transphobic, racist, antivaxxer who thinks she can win while running as a Democrat in New York. In fact, this may actually be to progressives’ advantage given that corporate Democrats often try to win over Republicans when being challenged from the left. With Maud Karen in this race, some of those votes will be siphoned from Carolyn Maloney.

Either way, the message is obvious. Rana Abdelhamid is the only option.

The Primary is on August 23rd.

Rana Abdelhamid – Donation Link

5/24/2022 Update: So the new Congressional map basically threw a wrench in everyone’s plans, basically fucking over everyone who rand in this race. The new map moves Congressmen Jerry Nadler into this district, who had significantly higher numbers in his 2020 primary than Maloney, indicating that Maloney losing re-election is practically inevitable. Unfortunately, this also means that Rana will have to either have to run against BOTH of them, in addition to Patel who is still sticking around for some reason, or she will have to run against Nydia Velázquez in New York’s 7th Congressional District, who is a much more progressive member of congress. Rana has yet to announce which seat she will be running in.

6/27/2022 Update: Due to the fact that the new district no longer contains most of her voter base, Rana Abdelhamid has dropped out of the race. I’d advise New York progressives to put their energy into supporting the campaigns of Ana Maria Archila, Melanie D’Arrigo, Yuh-Line Niou, and Alessandra Biaggi instead.

#11: New York Congressional District 3 (Melanie D’Arrigo Vs Alessandra Biaggi Vs Joshua Lafazan Vs Rob Zimmerman)

So the main character of this race is yet another returning primary challenger from 2020. Last cycle, Melanie D’Arrigo attempted to primary conservative Democrat Tom Suozzi. This year, Suozzi is attempting a vanity campaign for Governor, and it’s going about as well as you’d expect. So thankfully, that’s one less conservative asshole in congress, so now there’s just the question of who replaces him. There are four major candidates in the race, the most progressive of which is Melanie D’Arrigo, who is running on a platform that includes Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, repealing the Hyde Amendment, publicly financed elections, and ending qualified immunity for police officers. Thus far, D’Arrigo has been endorsed by Our Revolution, the National Organization for Women, Matriarch PAC, Brand New Congress, Indivisible, Blue America, Fordham University law professor Zephyr Teachout, and former New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

D’Arrigo initially had the progressive vote locked up until State Senator Alessandra Biaggi decided to enter the race, and received the endorsement of a bunch of state level progressives, including Jamaal Bowman. This is especially frustrating since Biaggi endorsed Bowman’s opponent Eliot Engels in 2020, in addition to having worked for the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016 and having endorsed Elizabeth Warren in 2020. She’s also been shown to agree with the anti Bernie sentiment, and her entry into this race also stopped Hilary from stepping in and endorsing Robert Zimmerman. It’s also worth noting that she shares at least one donor with Eliot Engel, Kyrsten Sinema, Lee Zeldin, John Boozman, and Scott Walker. The latter three of those people are Republicans by the way.

Good to know that Alessandra Biaggi’s support of trans people only extends to just before not supporting mediocre techno artists.

As for the other two candidates, Josh Lafazan is an ex-Republican crypto bro who recently picked a fight with AOC over how the NYPD just doesn’t get enough funding (it’s $5,000,000,000 more than the Ukrainian military), and who literally lives in his Mom’s basement. The other corporate Dem is Rob Zimmerman, who has a history of anti immigration stances and has literally criticized Republicans for not being racist enough. He also praised Jeff fucking Sessions for his positions on immigration, and has been endorsed by accused child molester Gary Ackerman.

Compared to these two assholes, Alessandra Biaggi almost seems appealing. That being said, Melanie D’Arrigo is not only the superior candidate, but has a better shot at winning due to the fact that she has significantly better ground game in this district, while Biaggi isn’t even from Long Island, which makes up most of this district. If Biaggi’s reckless decision to enter this race ends up handing this seat to any of these two DINOs, we need to make sure she never forgets it. For now, the best we can do is to make sure D’Arrigo wins, and that there’s no mess to clean up.

The Primary is on August 23rd.

5/24/2022 Update: So, with the new maps out, Alessandra Biaggi has decided to run in New York’s 17th district to primary Sean Patrick Maloney after his decision to force Mondaire Jones out. While I’m not particular fond of Biaggi, this is a primary that I can get behind, and will be rooting for her unless Jones decided to abandon his quixotic run for New York’s 10th Congressional district. As for D’arrigo, she’s now the only leftist in the race, meaning that the left will likely unite behind her, boosting her overall chances.

Melanie D’Arrigo – Donation Link

#10: Pennsylvania Congressional District 3 (Alexandra Hunt Vs Dwight Evans)

You don’t often come across a candidate like Alexandra Hunt. While she may not have as many high profile endorsements as the other candidates on this list, it’s noteworthy just how much media exposure she has gotten with her provocative and subversive campaign. In response to corporate smear pieces meant to discredit her due to her past as a sex worker, she has taken to embracing this characterization with slogans such as “Elect Hoes,” and “I May Have Danced For Money But I’m No Corporate Whore.” This gets even more brilliant considering that she recently created an Onlyfans account to promote her campaign in response to trolls saying she’ll need one after she loses.

What is really special about Hunt’s campaign is how it’s not only attention grabbing, but also calls out an ever present double standard in politics. The fact that right wing media has relentlessly smeared her for having been a sex worker while defending accused rapists is only going to draw more attention to her platform, especially considering that she’s running in a D+40 district. This means a lot to me on a personal level given how conservative modesty norms regarding women have prevented me from realizing I was trans sooner, and it’s also something that will likely relate to a lot of women who have to deal with sexist men.

Yes, this is real… and I’m probably gonna subscribe to it.

But let’s not act as if this is the only reason Hunt’s campaign is significant. Alexandra Hunt is also running on a platform that includes ending the death penalty, ending the war on drugs, decriminalizing sex work, Medicare for All, demilitarizing the police, abolishing ICE, repealing the Hyde Amendment, ending military aid to Israel, and a Green New Deal. In the last quarter, Alexandra Hunt has outraised incumbent Dwight Evans, which is always a good sign for progressive candidates, especially considering that the majority of Evan’s support comes from PACs, and only 5.58% comes from donations under $200.

As for Dwight Evans’ record, he was mentioned by RootsAction as having a 65% disagreement rating with progressive causes, and has been called a “progressive in name only” due to his refusal to co-sponsor Medicare for All or a Green New Deal. This is further exemplified by the fact that he voted in favor of a voucher program for Charter Schools, voted in favor of Trump’s 2019 USMCA Trade Deal, voted to roll back environmental protection laws, against local and tribal governments having a say in Nuclear waste transportation, to prioritize power companies during hydropower licensing, to condemn the BDS movement, and in favor of the anti sex worker bill SESTA/FOSTA. On top of this, Dwight Evans also founded a non-profit organization that has made millions due to his position as a state rep, and said organization has also been investigated by the FBI. And we’re supposed to be offended by the Onlyfans.

The Primary is on May 17th.

Alexandra Hunt – Donation Link

5/22/2022 Update: Sadly, Alexandra Hunt only managed 16.6% of the vote in comparison to Dwight Evan’s 79.3%.

#9: Georgia Congressional District 13 (Vincent Fort Vs David Scott)

We are now at the point on the list where we have progressive candidates running against people who make you wonder, “why in the name of fuck this person is a Democrat?” David Scott is one of those people. David Scott is also one of those people who has held elected office for almost fifty years, and is one of the main reasons so many people want term limits. Even before that, businesses owned by Scott’s family were found to have owed more than $150,000 in back taxes and penalties as of 2007. According Citizens of Responsibility and Ethics, who named David Scott as one of the 25 most corrupt members of congress, David Scott’s campaigns paid his companies more than $500,000 from 2002 to 2010, “including expenses for office rent, printing, T-shirts, and other services.”

David Scott is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a caucus that consists of the most conservative, corrupt, and corporate friendly Democrats in congress. A total of nine former blue dogs have since become Republicans, some of which include former Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, and New Jersey Congressman Jeff Van Drew. It is also worth noting that Kyrsten Sinema was a blue dog before she was elected to the Senate. David Scott’s record is perfectly in line with all three of these people.

David Scott has voted in favor of Anti-LGBT legislation as recently as 2006, when he voted to constitutionally define marriage as “One Man, One Woman.” David Scott also voted to ban government funding for needle exchange programs, to ban flag desecrationtwice, to approve the Keystone Pipeline, against the Iran Deal, to block a bill ending financial assistance to Saudi Arabia’s ongoing genocide in Yemen, and has voted in favor of expanding illegal NSA and FBI spying powers every time he’s had the opportunity to do so (as of 2013 at least).

In 2020, Scott only won his primary with 52.9% of the vote, which was split between three other challengers. This year, Scott also has three challengers, the most high profile of which is state Senator Vincent Fort, a Bernie Sanders ally who is running on a platform that include Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, ending the filibuster, raising the minimum wage, and canceling student debt. Given Scott’s previous electoral weakness, this race is a significant opportunity for progressives to rid themselves of one of the most corrupt Democrats in congress, and to replace him with a true progressive.

The Primary in on May 24th.

Vincent Fort – Donation Link

6/27/2022 Update: Sadly, Vincent Fort has only 8.9% and David Scott has bypassed a runoff with 65.7% of the vote.

#8: Oregon Congressional District 5 (Jamie McLeod-Skinner Vs Kurt Schrader)

So Jamie McLeod-Skinner may not be as progressive as some of the other candidates featured in this list, namely given the lack of detail on her policies, but she does at the very least seem allied with the progressive flank of the party. After having the best performance against former Republican incumbent Greg Walden in his entire career, and an unsuccessful campaign for Secretary of State in 2020, McLeod-Skinner is now attempting to primary one of the most conservative Democrats in congress, Kurt Schrader.

So how bad is Kurt Schrader, one may ask? Well, he’s the type of person who would vote against a ban on cyber bullying for one. I wasn’t even aware there was another side to this issue, but okay I guess. He was also the most vocal House Democrat in opposition to Build Back Better. He voted to kill a bill to decrease drug prices, voted against $2,000 stimulus checks, and against a minimum wage increase in 2019 and in the Covid relief package.

Schrader has also participated in illegal insider trading, voted to block a ban on transferring grenade launchers to local police, voted in favor of the Thin Blue Line Act, voted to authorize the Keystone Pipeline, voted against cutting our Pentagon budget by 10% in the middle of a pandemic, voted against the Dream Act, voted against additional funding for the Cash for Clunkers program, voted against the Dodd Frank Consumer Protection Act, has referred to the second Trump Impeachment (the one after the attempted coup) as “a lynching,” and on top of all this, he doesn’t even live in Oregon.

What also needs to be talked about is Schrader’s abysmal record on the environment. Kurt Schrader has the 4th lowest lifetime League of Conservation Voters rating among house Democrats, with only Sanford Bishop, Jim Costa, and Henry Cuellar having worse records. For the sake of comparison, David Scott is tied for the 17th worst. I am currently keeping a list of shitty things incumbent Democrats have said, done, or voted for, and Kurt Schrader takes up two full pages with environmental votes alone.

In addition to the aforementioned Keystone pipeline vote, some of Schrader’s most egregious climate votes include voting in favor of the Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act of 2017, voting to privatize federal infrastructure projects, voting to repeal clean water safeguards, voting against refunding the EPA after Trump de-funded it, voting to mandate the use of dams that would harm endangered salmon, and… I think you get the point. The plus side is that Jamie McLeod-Skinner has obtained so many high profile endorsements, that it’s hard to imagine her losing this. But still, don’t get complacent.

The Primary is on May 17th.

Jamie McLeod-Skinner – Donation Link

5/22/2022 Update: Jamie McLeod-Skinner has won her primary with a near 20 point lead over Kurt Schrader. McLeod-SKinner managed 56.9% of the vote compared to Schrader’s 42.7%.

#7: Ohio Congressional District 11 (Nina Turner Vs Shontel Brown)

Yeah, this one is obligatory. I’ve already wrote about this race back in 2021, and I wrote about it in my Ohio Elections piece a few months ago. A quick summary for the uninitiated is that Nina Turner is very based and would likely be one of the strongest forces the left has if she is elected to congress. While a lot of the Justice Democrats have started to lose their edge due to years of lies and gaslighting from establishment Democrats, the corporate wing of the party knows it will be harder to control Turner, which is why they were absolute desperate to stop her from getting elected last year.

So they decided to prop up the 2nd place candidate in the polls by dumping a ton of media and corporate dollars into the race, and spreading dishonest information meant to smear Nina Turner as a Republican ally while, ironically enough, courting the support of actual Republicans. The corporate wing of the Democratic party manufactured support for Shontel Brown because she was incapable of competing with Nina Turner in a fair campaign. Now Nina Turner is running again, and the corporate PACs have to spread out their spending on more than one candidate, while Turner has been shown to break records in terms of small dollar donations.

Shontel Brown Misgender
You can always spot a fake progressive by how they speak about trans people, and I know this because these types are always the quickest to turn on women like me.

While Shontel Brown may not be as conservative as people like Bobby Scott, Kurt Schrader, and Henry Cuellar, she is every bit as corrupt and dishonest. As a Cuyahoga County Councilor, she voted to give 32 million dollars in taxpayer contracts to a company connected to her boyfriend and voted to give herself a $7,000 pay raise. During the campaign, she included a fake endorsement from a Garfield Heights councilman who endorsed Nina and used a pre recorded applause sound effect at a rally.

Since starting this campaign, Shontel Brown has also falsely stated that Nina Turner was supported by dark money in the last election, joined a press conference to raise “concerns” about Biden re-entering the Iran Deal despite basing her campaigning on supposed loyalty to Biden’s agenda, and falsely took credit for obtaining district project money that was secured by Sherrod Brown. I guess she thought people wouldn’t notice because they had the same last name. Getting Nina Turner into congress would be a major victory for the left, and losing to Shontel Brown a second time would do drastic harm to the left’s credibility.

The Primary is on May 3rd.

Nina Turner – Donation Link

5/3/2022 Update: Nina Turner lost again unfortunately, with 36.6% to Shontel Brown’s 63.4%. If any of you are disappointed, please direct your energy to the other races on this list.

#6: Texas Congressional District 28 Runoff (Jessica Cisneros Vs Henry Cuellar)

Jessica Cisneros

And here’s another race I’ve already written about this year. So yes, Jessica Cisneros good, Henry Cuellar bad, we all get it right? No, no you don’t. Going into this piece, I’ve had the chance to research the records of incumbent candidates, and discovered that Cuellar was even worse than I thought. But first, let me refresh you all on Cuellar’s record.

The FBI raiding Cuellar’s home.

Now then, here’s the update on the story. Henry Cuellar’s home was recently raided by the FBI, and federal agents were seen carrying things out of Cuellar’s home. I think it goes without saying that this is not a good look for Henry Cuellar. This new development practically assures us that if Jessica Cisneros does not beat Cuellar in the runoff, the Republican nominee will capitalize on it.

Some may be concerned because Cisneros had less votes than Cuellar in the primary, when everyone expected her to win outright. This becomes less worrisome when you take into account Cuellar lead by an even smaller margin than in 2020, despite the fact that fellow progressive Tannya Benavides also obtained 2,289 votes, which counted towards 4.7% of the total vote. On top of this, the California Nurses Association has started phone banking for Cisneros, and Cuellar was one of only two House Democrats to vote against legal marijuana. This gives Cisneros even more ammo, despite the fact that she already had plenty to work with. But remember, don’t get complacent.

The runoff is on May 24th.

Jessica Cisneros – Donation Link

6/27/2022 Update: In what might just be the most infuriating result this cycle, Jessica Cisneros lost by only 289 votes, after Pelosi, Clyburn, and Steny Hoyer went all in on helping him win re-election, this occurred just a few weeks after the memo stating that the Supreme Court will overturn Roe Vs Wade was leaked. Never forget this betrayal, and let this motivate you to further support progressive challengers to corporate Democrats and Republicans alike.

#5: Texas Congressional District 15 (Michelle Vallejo Vs Ruben Ramirez)

The top five elections in this list are all going to be swing districts that involve heated primaries. I have decided this because Republicans are almost universally worse than Democrats, and if you disagree with this, you are a bad person. It is absolutely imperative that we keep as many Republicans out of power as possible, and the ideal solution is to run strong, progressive candidates who can win over disaffected voters with the right messaging and policies. Unfortunately, progressive candidates running in swing districts are often at a severe disadvantage.

In blue districts, getting past the primary is the hard part because you will inevitably win the general due to partisanship if you get the nomination. In red districts, you will usually have an easy time winning the primary, but you have everything stacked against you in the general. In Swing states though, progressive candidates will have a grueling primary against a corporate Democrat who is given all of the mainstream media endorsements and corporate cash, and then you have to run against a well funded Republican with a lot of money and media exposure as well. Most of the time, the corporate Democrat wins the primary, and whether or not they win the general election depends on the current President’s approval rating. Just a reminder, Biden’s approval rating is absolute shit.

This is Monica De La Cruz calling for Texas state legislator to be locked up for protecting abortion rights. Just to remind you of how much of an authoritarian nutcase she is, and how much is at stake.

Texas’s 15th Congressional district is one of only two swing districts in Texas’s new congressional map, the other being the 28th district. The Republican nominee is Monica De La Cruz, who narrowly lost to incumbent Dem Vicente Gonzales in 2020, despite the expectation being that Gonzales would win in a landslide. Monica De La Cruz is not only a far right nutjob who believes the 2020 election was stolen and was endorsed by an insurrectionist, but is also a domestic abuser who has abused her 14 year old daughter, and has received campaign contributions from viral racial profiler Edward Brennan.

The Democratic nominee will be determined by a runoff next month. The progressive candidate in this race is Michelle Vallejo, who was recruited by LUPE Votes to run on progressive values, and has since been endorsed by Senator Elizabeth Warren, state Senator Wendy Davis, the Hidalgo County Tejano Democrats, the Texas Working Families Party, the Texas College Democrats, the United Farm workers Union, and Congresswomen Sylvia Garcia and Veronica Escobar. Her opponent is Ruben Ramirez, who is backed by the Blue Dog Coalition’s PAC, and of course, the Democratic Majority for Israel. According to an internal poll, Vallejo is leading Ramirez by 10 points, but don’t get complacent, unless you want Monica De La Cruz to do to this country what she did to her daughter.

The Runoff is on May 24th.

Michelle Vallejo – Donation Link

6/27/2022 Update: Michelle Vallejo won her runoff by only 30 votes, making this an extremely close race. She will be advancing to the general election.

#4: New York Congressional District 11 (Brittany Ramos DeBarros Vs Max Rose)

New York’s 11th Congressional District is one of many districts that flipped blue in 2018, and flipped back to red in 2020. The commonality between most of the districts that Democrats lost in 2020 was that they were all occupied by either corporate centrists or conservative blue dogs. Establishment media will constantly feed us the lie that corporate Democrats are more “pragmatic” or “electable” than progressive candidates, and we see time and time again that this is false. While it isn’t as simple as “more leftist equals more win” either, a progressive candidate could at least push the overton window in the right direction. There’s no good that comes to electing conservative blue dogs in swing districts.

The perfect case study for this is Max Rose, who lost re-election in 2020 by roughly the same percentage he won 2018 by, despite the fact that he raised almost three times as much as his Republican opponent. And now, Max Rose is running again, and despite the fact that redistricting has made his district much more Democratic, I can’t say for certain that he’ll win. And with this uncertainty in mind, his horrific record is all the more jarring. During his term, Max Rose was a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, and the right wing Problem Solvers Caucus. When he was elected, he said that he wanted the Democratic party to be “The Party of Kyrsten Sinema, and not the Party of Beto O’Rourke.”

Good, now go stand with him over by the guillotine.

He clearly said this because Sinema won in in 2018 and Beto didn’t, despite the fact that Beto’s campaign mobilized an unprecedented number of voters and is the reason Texas is now considered a swing state, and that Kyrsten Sinema went on to be one of the most hated members of congress. His tenure also saw him vote against the Heroes Act, the For the People Act, and the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act, in addition to defending the Iraq War, endorsing racist oligarch Mike Bloomberg for President, and saying that police should get a pay raise. His re-election strategy consisted of him pandering to Republicans by calling Bill De Blasio the worst Mayor New York has ever had (keep in mind, both Michael Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani were NYC Mayors), and by bragging about how he “Stood by Trump” when Democrats rightfully criticized him for assassinating a prominent Iranian General.

So if if he wins, we lose, and if he loses, we lose even harder. Thankfully, he’s not the only candidate in this race. Brittany Ramos DeBarros has run a strong campaign against Max Rose, and has secured a large number of high profile endorsements, including the Working Families Party, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Move On, Brand New Congress, Barbara Smith, Gloria Steinem, Barbara Ransby, Mark Ruffalo, Alysia Reiner, Abdul El-Sayed, NY State Senator Gustavo Rivera, Assembly Member Marcela Mitaynes, and NYC Councilors Shahana Hanif, Sandy Nurse, and Alexa Aviles. The Democratic establishment is clearly worried, enough so that they brought our old pal Jim Clyburn in to endorse Max Rose. This just shows why we can’t get complacent.

The Primary is on August 23rd.

5/24/2022 Update: The new Congressional map has sadly, made this district significantly more conservative than before, effectively nullifying the chance of either Max Rose or Brittany Ramos DeBarros winning the general election.

Brittany Ramos DeBarros – Donation Link

#3: North Carolina Congressional District 1 (Erica Smith Vs Don Davis)

Before I talk about about the primary, I need to discuss what is at stake with this particular election. You know how I talked about how Monica De La Cruz was endorsed by an insurrectionist? One Republican candidate in this race IS an insurrectionist, as in, they have confirmed they were at the January 6th Capitol Riot. So you may be thinking, “oh, they’re some fringe candidate who will never win right” hehehe no, she’s the front runner, and she was also the nominee for this district in 2020. She also came closer to unseating incumbent Democrat G.K. Butterfield than anyone else in his tenure. And keep in mind, the redistricting made this district less Democratic!

So, we have two choices for the Democratic nominee, and much like the previous entry on this list, it’s a progressive Democrat against a conservative one. The conservative Democrat is Don Davis, a State Senator whose record consists of voting to defund Planned Parenthood, to fund anti abortion “Crisis pregnancy centers,” and voting in favor of Republican’s “born alive” legislation. Don Davis has also stated as recently as 2008 that he believes same sex couples should not be allowed to marry, that pharmacists should be allowed to “conscientiously object” to dispensing emergency contraception, and that he supports abstinence only sex education programs. This is in addition to him voting in favor of unregulated Charter School expansion and allowing guns in schools and churches.

Republican Sandy Smith bragging about being present at an attempted coup, and another reminder of what’s at risk.

The progressive candidate in this race is Erica Smith, who initially ran for Senate in 2020. Fun fact, she actually out polled Cal Cunningham initially. That changed once the establishment manufactured approval for Cunningham by dumping millions into his campaign, which lead to him losing the general election despite the fact that polls predicted him winning in a landslide. Thankfully the Democratic Party learned that running a generic corporate goon who has no personality but can raise a lot of money isn’t the best strategy, so they did it again, only she’s a black woman this time!

It’s already insulting enough that Dems will pretend to care about the rights of vulnerable women and minorities while also railroading dickheads like Kyrsten SInema and Joe Manchin into re-election, but everything is even more insulting when we have a literal fucking terrorist running for congress, and they can’t bring themselves to do something other than the usual clown show. And they want us to vote for an Anti-choice Democrat while abortion is being criminalized in some states? It’s not hard to see why public opinion is turning against Democrats. One thing is for sure, someone named Smith is going to win the General Election, let’s make sure it’s Erica.

The Primary is on May 17th.

Erica Smith – Donation Link

5/22/2022 Update: Sadly, Erica Smith list with 30.9% of the vote to Don Davis’s 63.5%. If this makes you angry, put your energy into Jessica Cisneros’ race to stamp out the last incumbent Anti-choice Democrat in congress.

#2: Wisconsin US Senate (Mandela Barnes Vs Alex Lasry)

US Senate elections are inherently important, given the length of a term combined with the power and influence given to the position. It is because of this that we have yet to see a non-incumbent progressive candidate win election to the Senate since the founding of Justice Democrats. Throughout the Trump and Biden administration, it’s pretty much just been Bernie Sanders, or Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey on a good day. There have been plenty of attempts to get progressive candidates into the Senate, but the same problem I mentioned in the number five entry is even harder to overcome here, because incumbent Senators will often get several millions worth in campaign funding. This basically means a progressive candidate can only get elected to the Senate with high levels of name recognition. Thankfully, we may finally have an opportunity to do so, and in two vital swing states with Republican incumbents at that.

The Incumbent Republican is some corrupt, partisan shithead named Ron Johnson who will shamelessly go along with whatever will get him elected, whether that includes defending the insurrection attempt, vaccine misinformation, denying that Biden won the election, voting to repeal Obamacare 2 days after pledging not to, denying climate change, hating trans people, calling Social Security a Ponzi Scheme, hating black people, restricting abortion rights, or any of the other stupid shit that Republicans do. What can I even say at this point, other than that this asshole needs to be kicked out of DC and into prison, though the latter part will never happen because rich, corrupt assholes never face consequences, so we need to settle for getting him out of the Senate.

For the Democratic nominee, the two front runners are lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, and Alex Lasry, the senior Vice President of the Milwaukee Bucks. We sure do have a great track record with rich businessmen trying to buy their way into congress don’t we? I’m being sarcastic by the way, which should go without saying but no one can really tell anymore. Mandela Barnes has a history as one of the leading progressives in the Wisconsin state legislature, and already has experience winning in a state wide ticket with Tony Evers, so we may as well not fix what isn’t broken. It may seem like Barnes has this in the bag if the polling is any indication, but Lasry is also outfunding him 2-1, which is a cause for concern.

As for Lasry’s record, it’s about what you’d expect from the son of a billionaire wall street mogul. Lasry’s record consists of not paying his workers $15 an hour, getting vaccinated early and insisting it wasn’t because he’s rich, trading away black team members for protesting, and claiming he was pleasantly surprised that “Milwaukee is a normal city.” What’s also important to keep in mind is that Alex’s father Marc Lasry has stated that a Democratic sweep would be bad for stocks. Keep in mind that this same person who is most likely funding Lasry’s campaign. It’s almost as if Lasry’s donors know he would lose the general election, so they’re willing to fund his campaign to keep an actual progressive like Mandela Barnes from winning. Thus far, they haven’t made a dent, but they have plenty of time to do so. It’s crucial that Barnes wins this primary if we want to have any hope of taking the Senate.

The Primary is on August 9th.

Mandela Barnes – Donation Link

#1: Pennsylvania US Senate (John Fetterman Vs Conor Lamb)

If I had a dollar for every time a progressive politician who became Lieutenant Governor of their respective state decided to run for US Senate in 2022 and vastly out-polled the rest of the competition, I’d have $2.00, which is not a lot, but it’s fucking awesome that it happened twice. And yes, John Fetterman is a step down from most of the progressive candidates on this list. He’s been kinda weak on environmental issues and won’t commit to a ban on fracking, and his position on Israel leaves a lot to be desired. Hell if PA had ranked choice voting, Fetterman would be my third pick behind Alex khalil and Malcom Kenyatta. However, he’s further left than the current establishment, and he is in favor of single payer health care, raising the minimum wage, reversing NAFTA, and legalizing marijuana.

John Fetterman has raised over $15,000,000 without resorting to taking corporate PAC money, a total that has only been exceeded by Bernie Sanders in his Presidential runs. Considering that both of the leading Republicans can afford to self fund their campaign with hundreds of millions of dollars, Fetterman is the only candidate who even has a chance at flipping this seat. Though supporters of Conor Lamb would argue otherwise.

This could just as easily apply to Conor Lamb as it does Josh Hawley.

Conor Lamb is the runner up to John Fetterman, though it’s a distant second place as the most recent poll gives Fetterman a 24 point lead. Conor Lamb is playing the role of this race’s establishment goon, with him being given most of the major endorsements, and him trying VERY hard to bridge that gap with misleading adds utilizing Republican talking points and pearl clutching over a 2013 incident where Fetterman heard gunshots, and proceeded to chase down a black teenager nearby who he thought was responsible. This is despite the fact that the teenager in question wants Fetterman to win. And to be clear, I’m not saying criticism isn’t warranted, but It’s quite obvious that supporters of Conor Lamb are trying to make this into something bigger than it actually is, especially given that Conor Lamb’s record on race is significantly worse than Fetterman.

Most notably, Conor Lamb voted against the legalization of Marijuana, a substance that was only ever criminalized with the intent of locking up black people. He also voted to block an amendment preventing the transfer of grenade launchers to local police forces, because we all know how much the black community LOVES cops with military grade equipment terrorizing their communities. Maybe this is why Conor Lamb polls dead last among African Americans? I’ve heard some claiming that Republicans will also use the shotgun incident against John Fetterman in the general election, as if something that didn’t even land with Democratic voters will sway the people who think trans women existing is worse than shooting black teenagers.

Conor Lamb is CLEARLY the more electable one, can’t you see???!!!!

And let’s not forget, Conor Lamb also voted to fund Trump’s wall, voted AGAINST holding William Barr in contempt of congress, voted against the Heroes Act, against ending the war in Iraq… in 2020, against cutting our Pentagon budget by 10% in the middle of a pandemic, in favor of Trump’s 2019 USMCA Trade Deal, to block protections for endangered whales, in favor of $1,000,000,000 in funding for Israel’s iron dome, against blocking development in the Bristol Bay Pebble Mine, to undermine the National Environmental Policy Act, in favor of Steve Scalise’s anti Cap and Trade resolution, and to repeal the clean water rule.

The primary is a month away, and I would not put it past the Democratic establishment to pull some shady shit to prop up Conor Lamb. This is a major reason I keep saying “don’t get complacent,” because we’ve seen this happen a number of times where corporate Democrats would rather nominate a losing candidate than risk someone decent getting the nomination. We are set up for a devastating red wave in the general, and we need as much as we can get to defend ourselves against it. If Conor Lamb wins the Democratic nomination, we can kiss the Senate goodbye. The finish line may be in view, but this just means we need to pick up the pace. This race is not just the most important primary for the left, but also for the entire country, possibly even the world. We cannot afford to lose this one.

The Primary is on May 17th.

John Fetterman – Donation Link

5/22/2022 Update: John Fetterman won the nomination in an absolute blowout, with 59.1% of the vote to Conor Lamb’s 26.4%. Now it’s on to the general election!

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