In her Washington Post column Katrina vanden Heuvel, reacting to the highly publicized failures to win congressional districts in Montana, Kansas, and Georgia, points out where progressives have made gains:
In the 9th state assembly district of Long Island, Christine Pellegrino — a schoolteacher, union activist, Bernie Sanders delegate and Working Families Party Democrat — dispatched her Republican opponent by a stunning 58 percent to 42 percent. As Newsday reported, this is usually a district where Democrats hardly compete. Trump swamped Hillary Clinton here by 23 percentage points. The veteran Republican state legislator who held the seat was reelected by a 37-point margin over a Democratic challenger. But when he stepped down, Pellegrino — a first-time candidate — swept to victory.
In New Hampshire, Edith DesMarais pulled a similar upset in a state legislative race. “Republicans should absolutely be concerned,†William F.B. O’Reilly, a Republican partner in the November Team, a political consulting firm, told the New York Times. “Two Republican canaries died in the coal mine yesterday.â€
Progressive candidates are rising in Democratic primaries in Democratic areas as well. In the primary for Philadelphia district attorney, civil rights attorney Larry Krasner, who has defended Occupy Philadelphia and Black Lives Matter protesters, won on a platform calling for an end to mass incarceration, police reform and more. Supported by Sanders and a range of progressive groups, his candidacy was also bolstered by the money of George Soros. “This changes the game across the country,†William Cobb of the American Civil Liberties Union told Philadelphia Magazine.
In the Democratic primary for mayor in Jackson, Miss., victory went to Chokwe Antar Lumumba, running on a bold program calling for a “people’s administration†that would feature police reform and a locally grounded, cooperative strategy for economic development. Lumumba marched in solidarity with black auto-plant workers at the March on Mississippi with Sanders and the UAW and helped to found the Mississippi Human Rights Collective that led efforts to remove the Confederate insignia from the state’s flag. His victory was one of many for progressives in Democratic primaries.
These examples illustrate exactly what I wrote about back in November. In deep Blue States and/or in deep Blue areas of Red States, erstwhile Sanders supporters are duking it out DNC-type Democrats for control of the Democratic Party. IMO this is cheerful:
These candidates are not your standard Democrats. Like Sanders, they are campaigning for bold change. They pledge an end to corruption. They support aggressive public action for working people — $15 minimum wage, investment in infrastructure, renewal of public education and making public college tuition free. This is now increasingly reflected at the national level as well, with Democratic legislators coming out for a $15 minimum wage, a major infrastructure jobs agenda and progressive tax reform.
but grossly premature. As I’ve been pointing out for some time, the challenge for Democrats is to win more seats and governors’ mansions, not to unseat incumbent Democrats. That’s just a continuation of the trend we’ve seen over the last several decades—the increased polarization of elected officials in Red States vs. those in Blue States.
Will these newcomers retain their energy and idealism through multiple terms, re-elected time after time to safe seats? Or, like the incumbents they replace, will they inevitably see themselves as entitled to their offices by virtue of their magnificent hearts and mysteriously become wealthy in office while the ideals they espoused languish? Time will tell.
