Progressive powerhouses launch primary war against Democratic establishment ahead of 2026 elections

A slate of progressive powerhouses rushed to endorse Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam upon launching a Democratic primary challenge against Rep Valerie Foushee D-N C on Thursday the latest sign that the party s far-left flank is gearing up to push the Democratic establishment further left ahead of the midterm elections While the Democratic Party has claimed to be on the offense heading into the midterms buoyed by two gubernatorial wins success in California s redistricting fight and an upset supremacy in Miami s mayoral race the growing docket of progressive primary challengers threatens to once again expose the party s widening generational and ideological rift Allam entered the Democratic primary for North Carolina's th Congressional District on Thursday with sponsorship from progressive star Sen Bernie Sanders I-Vt and endorsements from a slew of progressive groups including Justice Democrats Leaders We Deserve Sunrise Movement Indian American Impact and the Working Families Party I'm not here to stay quiet while Washington fails us Allam explained in her campaign launch video I'm here to fight for the people who built this district This seat doesn't belong to lobbyists and billionaires It belongs to us To use every dollar source and tool to fight back against Trump's authoritarianism and corporate greed and to build a brighter future for every North Carolinian SOCIALIST WAVE SPREADS COAST TO COAST AS PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS RALLY AROUND ZOHRAN MAMDANI'S NYC WINAllam accused Foushee of being silent this year while North Carolina s th Congressional District faced federal funding cuts especially in research grants tied to President Donald Trump's second-term agenda and Elon Musk s mandate to slash cabinet waste fraud and abuse PARKLAND SURVIVOR JUMPS INTO CROWDED NYC HOUSE RACE AS GEN Z PROGRESSIVES CHALLENGE PARTY ELDERSFoushee did not this instant respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment Former Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg a -year-old activist and founder of Leaders We Deserve disclosed Thursday that he was proud to endorsement Allam's primary campaign Hogg sparked an intra-party rift earlier this year when he publicized he would invest millions through his super PAC Leaders We Deserve to primary older incumbent Democrats who he disclosed are asleep at the wheel Leaders We Deserve has led a nationwide effort to elect young progressive candidates to Congress and statewide legislatures across the U S The group endorsed high-profile progressive Democrats this year including New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and congressional candidate and Gen Z activist Deja Foxx who lost a special poll to Rep Adelita Grijalva D-Ariz this year Hogg resigned from his vice chair position earlier this year after DNC Chair Ken Martin gave him an ultimatum to either forego his involvement with Leaders We Deserve or resign from his vice chair role Amid a procedural challenge to his electoral process Hogg resigned arguing party politics were at play in pushing him out an accusation the DNC has rejected The -year-old's plan to primary challenge Democrats in safe blue districts triggered a debate about the party's future as Democrats spent much of without a clear message or leader following losses up and down the ballot last year On the heels of Mamdani's success in New York City a race that took national politics by storm as a socialist millennial was elected to lead the largest city in the U S more progressive anti-establishment House candidates have been jumping into races across the U S As California redraws its congressional map ahead of next year's midterms Leaders We Deserve is supporting progressive Planned Parenthood leader Lauren Babb Tomlinson for California's th Congressional District and educator Randy Villegas for California's nd And while Texas finalizes representation under its new congressional maps Leaders We Deserve is backing Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee in the race for Texas th Congressional District even as longtime Rep Al Green who in the present represents the th District also prepares to run for the seat in The progressive group is also supporting Menefee this January in the th District's special referendum Leaders We Deserve has also endorsed Michigan state Rep Donavan McKinney in his Democratic primary challenge against Rep Shri Thanedar D-Mich and Tennessee state Rep Justin J Pearson's bid for longtime Democratic Rep Steve Cohen's seat in the Democratic primary In San Francisco two high-profile Democratic challengers stated campaigns for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi s congressional seat before she had certified her plans to retire from the seat she has held since at the end of next year Saikat Chakrabarti former chief of staff to Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez D-N Y and state senator Scott Wiener are running to Pelosi s left part of a broader coast-to-coast battle for the Democratic Party s progressive base Chakrabarti is also a co-founder of Justice Democrats a super PAC focused on recruiting a new generation of leaders to Congress who endorsed Allam this week Like Leaders We Deserve Justice Democrats has thrown its endorsement behind a slew of progressive Democratic primary challenges including McKinney in Michigan and Pearson in Tennessee Justice Democrats is also supporting former Rep Cori Bush's comeback campaign for Missouri's st Congressional District now held by a comparably more moderate Rep Wesley Bell who defeated Bush in a Democratic primary last year The group has also endorsed Angela Gonzales-Torres for California's th Congressional District which is at this moment represented by Rep Jimmy Gomez D-Calif Melat Kiros for Colorado's st Congressional District against incumbent Democratic Rep Diana DeGette and Darializa Avila Chevalier for New York's th Congressional District challenging longtime Rep Adriano Espaillat D-N Y And just this week Brad Lander secured his own high-profile endorsements in his primary challenge against Rep Dan Goldman D-N Y who refused to endorse Mamdani's mayoral campaign Lander is considered the more progressive candidate for his outright condemnation of the war in Gaza while Goldman described CBS New York's Marcia Kramer that he feared Mamdani wouldn't do enough to protect Jewish New Yorkers Since launching his campaign Lander has secured endorsements from Mamdani Sanders Sen Elizabeth Warren D-Mass and the New York Working Families Party