Progressives out to oust '20 House Dems try to focus fervor

[left-of-center2012]

Activists hoping to defeat House Democrats in next year’s primary elections with more progressive and diverse challengers are assessing how to cope with unintended consequences of their 2018 success ...

Progressive organizations worry that, emboldened by Ocasio-Cortez and others, a glut of Democratic challengers might divide the anti-incumbent vote in some districts, helping Democratic House members they are targeting to survive party primaries. In 40 states, the primary winner needs only the largest share of votes, and there is no runoff.

Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, says he’s exploring whether competing liberal candidates would pledge to coalesce before their primaries if one challenger leads decisively. Yvette Simpson, CEO of Democracy for America and Adam Gold, a political director for the Center for Popular Democracy Action, say several groups have discussed whether to make early, joint endorsements of candidates to avoid divisions.

“One challenger per district, that’s my motto,” said Sean McElwee, co-founder of Data for Progress, which provides political analysis to activist groups.

Justice Democrats, the tiny grassroots group that recruited Ocasio-Cortez to run and is already seeking new candidates around the country, says it plans to recruit fewer than the dozen House challengers it enlisted and mentored in 2018. Ocasio-Cortez was their only winner. They also endorsed 66 other House, Senate and state candidates, of whom six won.

https://www.apnews.com/ec524c3fef4445bc8f285ddaca55fac1

[hlthe2b]

1. Ahh, Jesus...

When the building is on fire, one doesn't first worry about whether those fighting it meet all one's personal preferences and political ideals. Focus on the damned fire that is destroying our democracy!

[left-of-center2012]

3. 'Purists' want only the purest of the pure

[crazytown]

5. 'the purest of the pure' ... puree

[Peacetrain]

2. They did so well in 2018

How many of AOC people she supported actually got elected?? candidates to get them elected have to reflect their districts..you take the good over the perfect who cannot get elected and move our policies along..

[MineralMan]

4. Well, I suppose we'll see how they do with this plan.

I predict their challenges will fare poorly. I don't think this is the year for running against Democratic incumbents, really.

[Gothmog]

6. I remember AOC campaigning against Sharice David who flipped a red seat to blue

I doubt that the Just Us Democrat candidate could have done this

[MineralMan]

7. Yes, well...

Every House seat is unique, and has a unique constituency. AOC won her election. That, however, does not say anything about other districts. Many people expand an individual result in a single district into some sort of generalization. That trick never works.

We have 435 House seats up for election every two years. Each has its own characteristics. We can't impose one set of standards on all of them. It simply will not work.

[Tom Rinaldo]

8. That is a distorted view

Sharice David was not an incumbent Democrat. I like her a lot but she was one person seeking to run for office as a Democrat and there were other Democrats seeking the same opportunity. There were more than one good Democratic candidates seeking that seat. AOC was backing a different one who I also read good things about at the time. She knew him personally. Democrats often back Democrats running in a primary for a chance to replace a Republican incumbent, and that means supporting one Democrat rather than another one. The exact same thing is happening all across the country right now as our Presidential candidates gleefully announce that this or that Democrat has chosen to endorse them. Supporting Democratic challengers to incumbent Democrats is a different issue. Even there, each case has to be looked at individually. Constituents have a right to want their Representative changed if they are unhappy with that person's representation, and a primary is the only way to do that short of voting for someone from an opposing political party.

Personally though I'm very glad that Sharice David is in Congress.