It’s politics time again! It looks like Republicans are headed for the ass fucking of a life time, and I don’t just say that because Lindsey Graham is dead. That being said, excitement is kind of dampened by the fact that some Democrats, namely James Talarico, Marcy Kaptur, Sherrod Brown, Amy Acton, Annie Andrews, Rob Sand, Mary Peltola, Don Davis, Blake Gendebien, and Lindsey James, have all looked at themselves in the mirror, took a deep breath, and said “we gotta be more transphobic.” While these candidates are still the better option in their respective races, I’m instead choosing to focus on the progressive candidates running in national and local elections alike.

I guess the best place to start is with the US Senate, and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan. I already wrote about the significance of El-Sayed’s campaign earlier this year, so I guess we should just talk about what happened since then. El-Sayed won a nail biter primary against Haley Stevens in spite of the record breaking $70,000,000 spent against him in the most expensive Senate primary in US History, and the polls have consistently had El-Sayed in the lead. That being said, Mike Rogers has similar levels of spending on his behalf, and the last US Senate race had Mike Rogers lose to Elissa Slotkin by 0.3%. While 2026 is trending towards a far more blue national environment, we also can’t afford to grow complacent.

What needs to be established is just how much of an enormous victory it would be for the left to get Abdul El-Sayed sent to the US Senate. The narrative that Democratic socialists cannot win would be completely and utterly shattered by an Abdul El-Sayed victory, which would shift the overton window significantly in favor of an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Presidential run. The thing to keep in mind is that Michigan is a swing state, AND is a state that went to Trump in 2016 and 2024. And this isn’t even going into the fact that El-Sayed would effectively become the future of the party, in a very similar way to that of Zohran Mamdani.

For US Senate in Maine, we have Troy Jackson, who won the nomination after the scandal plagued rapist Graham Platner dropped out. Troy Jackson getting the nomination was already a good sign considering that there was an immense amount of voter support behind Platner prior to his rape allegation, enough so that there’s still even a strong amount of dead enders who insist he was done dirty (he was not). If this happened in any previous cycle, the establishment Democrats would have tried to force some establishment like Janet Mills through. Honestly, it’s pretty fucking insane how someone could beat the incumbent Governor by 50 points in the primary. We moved on from that pretty quickly due to the fact that many people believe rape is bad, but seriously, that is insane… but not as insane as the rape.

Anyway, Troy Jackson shares the left wing policies that Platner ran on, and is endorsed by Bernie Sanders and the Maine DSA. Polling has given him a fair lead against incumbent Republican Susan Collins, but everyone’s brain is broken because 2020 nominee Sara Gideon also polled ahead of Collins, and Collins is a serial overperformer. That being said, 2026 is a VERY different national environment than 2020, and even then, Collins only won 51% of first round votes in 2020, with 5% of first round votes going to independent candidate Lisa Savage. The only race that was anywhere near as close as that one was when she was first elected back in 1996. Considering that Jackson is a farm better candidate, we have the chance to finally replace Susan Collins with a real progressive.

And then there’s the most surprising candidate for US Senate in Florida, Angie Nixon! While I have seen some upsets in US Senate primaries previously, such as Marquita Bradshaw in 2020, and Michael Franken in 2022, there hasn’t been one as big as Angie Nixon’s over performance against her primary opponent Alex Vindman, despite being outraised by at least 16-1. Polls have had the race as close, but there haven’t been any to show Nixon in the lead. It goes without saying that this race is a longshot, given that the last few cycles have taught us all not to get our hopes up about Florida, and have repeatedly ended in disaster. But there are a few possible sources of hope.

Namely, Nixon’s popularity with younger voters. Younger voters have consistently been the key to left wing Democratic victories, and perhaps the biggest difference between now 2020 was the fact that younger voters started turning up to support left wing candidates. Angie Nixon, despite having far less of a campaign budget, performed overwhelmingly better than previous Senate nominees Debbie Mucarsel-Powel and Val Demings, despite both of the latter two utilizing massive social media operations to reach younger voters. On top of that, she also performed significantly better among younger voters that James Fishback, the “make the trains run on time” fascist who tried to appeal to young men with shit like a 50% tax on Onlyfans. James Fishback had a large following of young right wing chuds, but he completely flopped in the primary, the same primary where Angie Nixon performed exceptionally well among younger voters.

So let’s get this straight, pandering to young alt right men didn’t work in fucking Florida, but proposing progressive policies did? That is a very good sign of things to come. It also helps that this race bares several comparison’s to Andrew Gillum’s 2018 campaign, only Nixon’s performance is even more impressive because Gillum’s occurred when Democrats still had a voter registration advantage. So at the very least, Nixon is set to overperform previous nominees. While it’s up in the air if this is enough to win, Angie Nixon will become one of the biggest fixtures in Florida politics following this election.

This now brings us to the section on Gubernatorial races, which have mostly gone under the radar compared to the US Senate races, but there are a few bright spots, by which I mean candidates who AREN’T throwing trans people under the bus to win the moderate vote. Perhaps the most noteworthy of them is Texas’s Gina Hinojosa. People seem to be just now realizing that Texas has a Gubernatorial election, and that there is a populist progressive running against notorious piece of shit incumbent Greg Abbot. And what’s even better is that Hinojosa didn’t have to throw trans people under the bus, and the worst she’s been criticized for is an ad saying that her pronouns are “Mom, Texan, and Governor.” On top of that, progressives Vikki Goodwin, Nathan Johnson, Sarah Eckhardt, Clayton Tucker, Ben Flores, and Jon Rosenthal are the nominees for Lt Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller, Commissioner of Agriculture, Commissioner of General Land, and Railroad Commissioner respectively.

In Alsaska, the main Democratic candidate ALSO went to someone who isn’t a transphobe, which used to be the party standard, but no one told Mary Peltola! Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins is currently leading in the polls for Alaska Governor, and is running on progressive policies such as a moratorium on data centers, and getting corporate money out of Alaskan politics. Cindy Holscher is another not transphobic populist progressive Gubernatorial nominee running in Kansas, though she’s been lagging behind in the polls sadly. Lastly, there’s Amanda Janoo, who is the Democratic nomine for Governor of Vermont, who has the first genuine shot at unseating moderate Republican Governor Phil Scott in years. This is largely because Republican overperformed in 2024, and now the citizens of deep blue Vermont got to realize what happens when Republicans actually push the policies they run on. This is what we call “environmental storytelling.” For non Gubernatorial state executive positions, there is Eli Savit for Michigan Attorney General, Garlin Gilchrist for Michigan Secretary of State, Jane Kim for California State Insurance Commissioner, Samuel Sukaton for California state Board of Education, Teresa Ruiz for Arizona State Superintendent.

This brings us to US House candidates. There are numerous progressives running for Congress this cycle, and we have already seen seven new Justice Democrats that are pretty much set for victory this cycle. There are three additional Justice Democrats who have a competitive General Election. Two of these candidates, Mai Vang and Angela Gonzales-Torres, are running in blue Vs blue races in California, where their opponent is an incumbent Democrat. In Mai Vang’s case, her opponent is Doris Matsui, and Octogenarian who held this seat for 22 years after taking over for her husband who had it for 25 years.

Angela Gonzales-Torres is running against Jimmy Gomez, who I’ve already written about earlier this year. Guess what, he’s now under investigation for sexual assault. Do I even need to add anything else? Okay fine, he also took $2,611,650. from AIPAC, and his canvassers were racist against his Asian challenger in 2024.

To veer off topic, I would like to cover the other two noteworthy Blue Vs Blue Congressional races in California, well there’s three but Samantha Moto has no chance of winning, and that one just exists to see if CD-37 is open season for a progressive challenger next cycle.

The first of these races is CD-11, where we have progressive Connie Chan running against scumbag Zionist stalker and doxxer Scott Weiner. Thus far, polls have favored Scott Weiner, which is deeply concerning. This race needs more attention, as Weiner would instantly become one of the worst Democrats in Congress if elected.

The second of these races is CD-29, where Angelica Duenas is running again. This race has attracted little national attention, but Duenas has had a habit of consistently over performing her campaign budget. She’s yet to score more than 43.4% in a general election, but her district is also in LA, which currently has a Justice Democrat running, AND a DSA Mayoral candidate who is favored to win, AND the leftwing shift that votes have taken thus far, maybe she could have a chance!

Anyway, the rest of these Congressional races are your typical Red Vs Blue matchups.

We’ll start with our remaining Justice Democrat, Justin Pearson. Unfortunately, he has a steep climb considering his best poll has him down by 4 points. That being said, that’s still a significant over performance for a Trump + 21 seat seat that was literally gerrymandered to remove a Democratic incumbent, and the district is 61% black.

Anyway, I’m going to once again link my Primaries article since I already talked about Bob Brooks, William Lawrence, Matt Dunlap, Sam Forstag, Manny Rutinel, and Randy Villegas in there. That all being said, there was one candidate I didn’t get to talk about since the Ohio primaries happened before I finished that article. The candidate in question is Brian Poindexter, who is running against wife beater and child abuser Max Miller. I bring this up because Poindexter is running in Ohio, the same state where Marcy Kaptur is convinced that she needs to be transphobic to win re-election. If Poindexter, or fellow progressives Kristina Knickerbocker (OH-CD10) and Don Leonard (OH-CD-15) win their elections in lite red district, then maybe it will send a message. Poindexter is currently heavily favored in the polls, and a recent poll showed Leonard with a 1 point lead. Knickerbocker hasn’t been polled since June, which saw her down by 7 points, but leading by four after positive bios for both her and her opponent.

Alaska has Independent candidate Bill Hill, who is running a close race against incumbent Republican Nick Begich. Polls have consistently showed a close race between the two, but with Begich in the lead. When given a profile of both candidates, Hill polls significantly better.

Arkansas has former Gubernatorial candidate Chris Jones running for AR-CD2, and the most recent poll gives him a four point lead over Republican incumbent French Hill.

In Florida, there are two progressives running in swing districts, the first is Jennifer Jenkins (CD-8), who dropped out of the US Senate primary earlier this year. Her only poll was from July, which showed incumbent Republican Mike Haridopolos comfortably leading, but with Jenkins ahead if voters are presented with favorable bios of both candidates. The other progressive running is Nicole Locklin (CD-26), who has no polling available, but the district’s PVI is within the same range as other competitive districts.

In New Jersey Congressional District 2, Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock is running against Incumbent Jeff Van Drew, who you might remember as the turn coat from 2019 who switched parties and ran as a Republican despite being elected as a Democrat in 2018. There’s no current polling in this district.

In North Carolina, former West Virginia State Senator Richard Ojeda is running for CD-9. The only poll has incumbent Richard Hudson ahead by four points, but Ojeda is a serial over performer who has raised over two million, so the final result will probably be closer.

Virginia has former Congressman Tom Perriello running for CD-5. Recent polls have him barely behind incumbent John McGuire, but the race is tightening, and Perriello is outraising him.

And that leaves us with Texas. Leticia Gutierrez is running for CD-9, and is behind by six points within the most recent poll, within the margin of error. In CD-21, Kristin Hook is running. There is no available polling but the district’s PVI is in line with other competitive districts. In CD-23, Katy Padilla Stout is running against right wing gun youtuber and conspiracy theorist Brandon Herrera. Stout may have a shot in this one considering Herrera was leading her by only 2 points back in March, which is not a good sign for an R+9 district. There hasn’t been any new polling since then. Kevin Burge is running in CD-24, which has no polling but you get the idea. Tanya Lloyd is running in CD-27, no polling, yada yada. And Justin Early is running in CD-31, no polling, and we’re finally done.

That about wraps it up for Congressional races, that leads us into State Legislative. As with before, we’ll start with Blue Vs Blue races, and with California. For State Senate District 24, we have John Erickson, who is running against the establishment, Hillary Clinton backed Brian Goldsmith. For State Senate District 26, we have Sarah Rascon, who has the backing of numerous DSA figures, including Kenneth Mejia and Ysabel Jurado. For California State Assembly District 12, there’s Jackie Elward, who is running against establishment puppet Eric Lucan. There is Colin Hernandez who is running for AD-51 against incumbent Rick Chavez Zbur, and who has the backing of the UCLA Young Democratic Socialists of America. AD-68 has Jessie Lopez, who is endorsed by Bernie Sanders.

Next is Washington state since they also have Blue vs Blue races. For Washington State Senate district 16, we have Hannah Sabio-Howell, who is endorsed by Katie Wilson, and the Young Democratic Socialists of UW. HD-32- 1 has Danica Noble, HD-32-1. HD-37-1 has Kelabe Tewolde, who is endorsed by Pramila Jayapal, and HD-48-2 has Jessica Forsythe, who won the first round so she probably has a pretty strong chance.

Lastly, there is DSA candidate Brittany Kubicek, who is running for Rhode Island State House District 5 as an independent. ANyway, the rest of these are races against Republicans, and they will be in bullet point format.

Anyway, remaining State legislative races will be in bullet point format.

Alabama HD28: Robert Hunter – Endorsed by North Alabama DSA.
Arizona HD19: Aiden Swallow – Including her because she’s trans.
Arizona HD23: Emilia Cortez – Endorsed by Adelita Grijalva.
Florida HD37: Jane Aman – Endorsed by Leaders we Deserve
Florida HD69: Ashley Herrmann – Endorsed by DSA National and local branches.
Florida HD78: Cindy Banyai – Endorsed by Angie Nixon and Richard Ojeda.
Illinois SD24: Ben McAdams – Endorsed by Delia Ramirez and local DSA branch.
Illinois SD26: Nabeela Syed – Endorsed by Leaders we Deserve.
Iowa HD8: Kristofer Williams – Endorsed by Run for Something and On Tha Ground
Iowa HD54: Leila Staton – Endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Leaders we Deserve.
Iowa HD58: India May – Endorsed by Bernie Sanders
Kansas HD3: Isaiah Harris – Endorsed by Southeast Kansas DSA.
Kentucky HD81: Anthony Looney – Including him because he’s trans.
Maryland HD4: Alleria Stanley – Including her because she’s trans.
Missouri HD105: Cat Clayton – Endorsed by Leaders we Deserve.
New Mexico HD60: Luke Jungmann – Endorsed by National and local DSA.
North Carolina HD105: Ken McCool – Endorsed by Leaders we Deserve.
Oklahoma SD12: Erica Watkins – Endorsed by Progressive Victory
Oregon SD11: Virginia Stapleton – Endorsed by WFP and local progressive figures.
Pennsylvania SD16: Mark Pinsley – Endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Lehigh Valley DSA.
Pennsylvania HD41: Brad Chambers – Endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Leaders we Deserve.
Pennsylvania HD131: Mariam Sabih – Endorsed by WFP and High School Democrats of PA.
Pennsylvania HD143: Tim Hayes – Endorsed by Leaders we Deserve.
Texas HD118: Kristian Carranza – Endorsed by Leaders we Deserve.
Texas HD138: Tyler Smith – Endorsed by Leaders we Deserve.

That brings us to local races. We will keep up the trend of starting with California, mainly because a DSA candidate is leading the race for LA Mayor, and it’s the second biggest city in the country, with a recent poll showing that Nithya Raman has an 11 point lead over incumbent Karen Bass. And yes, I get there’s been some talks of revoking Nithya Raman’s DSA endorsement, though I still think Raman is worth rooting for considering the other DSA members have all lined up behind and campaigned for Karen Bass… seriously, why is there no talk of rescinding their memberships? Either way, Raman will likely be an immense improvement over Ms “I left the country during the palisades fire even though I promised not to travel abroad during my term.”Also in LA, Marissa Roy, who is backed by Bernie Sanders, the LA DSA, and Ground Game LA, is leading her opponent by 10 points in the most recent poll. Estuardo Mazariegos is another DSA candidate running for LA City Council District 9, but there is no current polling for this race.

Also in California, Joz Sida is running against Republican incumbent Acquanetta Warren, and has secured Bernie Sanders endorsement, making her the fist in Fontana’s history to secure the endorsement of a sitting US Senator. She is running as a slate with four other progressives, those being Kamal Namou for treasurer, Nubia Diaz for City Council District 1, Ben Vasquez for City Council District 4, and Joe Alvanez for City Clerk.

For Louisville Kentucky, DSA backed Shameka Parrish-Wright is running against incumbent Democratic Mayor Craig Greenberg. There is no existing polling for this race. Louisville City Council district 9 also has DSA backed Andrea Parr running, and Herbert Lynn is running for Lexington City Council AL with DSA backing as well.

Anyway, the remaining candidates will be in bullet point format. These are for City/County Council seats.

Maria Pacheo – (Fresno (County) – California 1): Endorsed by Randy Villegas.
Nate Adams – (Oakland – California – 2): Endorsed by local and National DSA
Derek Marshall – (Victorville – California – 4): Former DSA endorsee.
Flo Cofer – (Sacramento (County) – California – 1): Endorsed by Sunrise Sacramento, former DSA endorsee.
Jon Green – (Johnson – Iowa – 2): Endorsed by Bernie Sanders.
V. Fixmer-Oraiz – (Johnson – Iowa – 4): Endorsed by Bernie Sanders.
Mandi Remington – (Johnson – Iowa – 5): Endorsed by Bernie Sanders.
Justin Bailey – (Mt Pleasant – Michigan – AL): Included because she’s trans.
Daniel Rivera – (Wyoming – Michigan – AL): Endorsed by Ro Khanna and Abdul El-Sayed.
Daisy Maldonado – (Dona Ana – New Mexico – 1): Endorsed by Bernie Sanders.
Joshua Bradley – (Raleigh – North Carolina – AL): Former DSA endorsee.
Evelyn Kocher – (Beaverton – Oregon – 1): Endorsed by Sunrise PDX, is also trans.
Athena Aguiar – (Eugene – Oregon – 5): Endorsed by Sunrise Eugene.
Misael Ramos – (Austin – Texas – 1): Endorsed by National and local DSA.

Anyway, point has been made. If you don’t like the direction of the Democratic party, here’s the candidates you should be supporting. There will never be a shortage of left wing candidates running for office, and it looks like this midterm cycle in particular will be very good for the left. But don’t get complacent, always play like you’re 10 points behind, etc. I think you get it by now. Early voting has started in most states I assume, and there’s still a few weeks left until the general election.

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