Republicans are accusing Democratic candidates running in battleground districts of making a sharp pivot to the left to fend off progressive primary opponents.
The NRCC is monitoring several races in must-win purple districts where 2024 Democratic nominees are running again. But many of those nominees face primaries with a candidate running to their left. Republicans say that’s forced these Democratic hopefuls to take positions that will hurt them in a general election.
“The radicals are now calling the shots, forcing every Democrat to lurch even further to the left into open borders, sky-high taxes, and weird social experiments,” said Mike Marinella, NRCC spokesperson.
These Democratic candidates have high name ID and are seasoned campaigners. They’re the clear frontrunners but still have at least nominal challengers in their primaries. And Republicans are preparing to pounce on any leftward shift they make to satisfy the party base.
For example, the House GOP campaign arm tied Rebecca Cooke, running in Wisconsin’s 3rd District, to the left wing of her party after she received an endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
The NRCC accused Cooke, also backed by the Blue Dog Coalition’s PAC, of taking the endorsement because she faced a challenge from Eau Claire City Council President Emily Berge. Cooke has said she’s long been a Sanders’ fan and voted for him in 2016.
The NRCC has attacked Janelle Stelson, who is running again in Pennsylvania’s 10th District, because she said school districts should decide their own athletic policies for transgender athletes. Stelson, who could face a challenge from Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas, was quieter on the issue last cycle.
And in Iowa, Republicans are heavily messaging on local health care worker Travis Terrell’s candidacy against Christina Bohannan.
Bohannan lost to GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks by roughly 800 votes last year. Terrell, who has supported Sanders in the past, is running to Bohannan’s left.
Democrats’ response: Democrats argue crowded primaries indicate vulnerability for Republican incumbents.
While House Democrats’ campaign arm typically stays out of primaries, it has waded in occasionally if it fears one candidate could hurt the party’s chances to win the seat in the general election. The DCCC backed moderate Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-Ore.) over repeat progressive candidate Jamie McLeod-Skinner last cycle, for example.
Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), who chairs the political arm of the moderate New Democrat Coalition, said he believes Democratic voters in battleground districts are pragmatic and will pick nominees who can flip the seat in the fall.
“They’re turning to candidates that can win in these seats that bring us the majority, and those are New Dem candidates,” Stanton said.
