DC Democrats irked by surge of left-wing challengers with House majority on the line

When Rep. Dan Goldman first ran for Congress in 2022, he was applauded by the left as the party’s lead attorney during the first impeachment of President Donald Trump.

Three years later, the Manhattan Democrat is fighting for his political life against New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, a liberal opponent backed by prominent left-wing figures like Zohran Mamdani and Bernie Sanders. At his campaign launch earlier this month, Lander declared: “We need leaders who will fight, not give up.”

“I’m running for Congress because we’re facing a five-alarm fire for our democracy,” Lander said in his launch video in mid-December.

Goldman is among more than two dozen congressional Democrats fighting serious primary elections this year; Party insiders attribute the rise to a wave of emboldened liberals across the country who watched Mamdani’s unexpected rise and became frustrated with their party’s struggle to take on Trump.

Democrats in Washington say primaries are part of life in big tent parties. But privately, many see the growing number of far-left challengers as an expensive headache that distracts from the party’s goal of taking control of Congress next November. And it has infuriated some Democrats, including the most vulnerable members, who fear the party will have to divert from the larger fight against the GOP to keep incumbents in safe seats.

“I think we have individuals caught up in the moment, caught up in the internet,” said Rep. Greg Meeks, a fellow New York Democrat who has watched liberal challengers line up against many in his state delegation. “To me, they’re the ones missing the boat, because what they’re upset about and angry about is the President of the United States, and what we need to do is unite behind Grace. [Meng] and Adriano [Espaillat] And [Ritchie] “Torres.”

Rep. Juan Vargas of California was even more blunt: “The problem is, they’re attacking themselves. It’s like they’re attacking other guys. … We’re going to waste this energy and money fighting among ourselves. And that’s really stupid.”

Top Democrats believe most current members will eventually prevail. But they acknowledge that dozens of showdowns between incumbents and liberal rebels across the country offer further evidence of how younger, more progressive candidates are determined to pull the party left at the start of a new generation; All this amid a broader identity crisis over the governance of the Democratic Party.

Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California, himself facing a contentious primary, recalled recently sending a memo to colleagues predicting that the 2026 election would be about a single theme: “Did you fight or didn’t you fight?”

“If you do the same thing over and over again, you’ll lose. So it’s about standing up to Trump, delivering results, presenting a positive agenda. But you can’t take things for granted,” Gomez told CNN.

In the heated battle for Goldman’s lower Manhattan seat, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNN he is fully behind his fellow Democrat. And he signaled that he believes each of his members will fend off rivals this cycle.

“Primaries are a way of life in the House of Representatives. … Our members will fight hard, present their case to the voters, and return to office,” said Jeffries, who faced a short-term primary threat from a Democratic Socialist NYC council member this year. Rep. Katherine Clark, the No. 2 in the House, will face a former city councilwoman who complained that current House leaders “didn’t stop Trump” in her own contentious primary this year.

For his part, Goldman told CNN he looks forward to “continuing my progressive record.”

“I think when people look at my record and learn more about the work I’ve done here over the last three years, people will realize that I have someone representing their interests,” Goldman said.

A spokesman for Lander, when asked about the pushback from Hill Democrats, said he made clear why he was challenging an incumbent Democrat in the second Trump term, pointing to his opening argument in his launch video in which he called for a more urgent fight for democracy.

The video contained images of him. arrested by ICE While trying to remove an immigrant from immigration court in June. “The problems we face cannot be solved by strongly worded letters and high-dollar fundraisers.”

Another Democrat facing a contested race, Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York, told CNN he did not believe Mandami’s support would necessarily translate to other candidates.

“Mamdani is extraordinary. Any candidate who claims to be in her mold is not a real candidate,” said Torres, adding of his main rivals: “I have five of them. The more the merrier.”

Democrats’ primary challenges won’t drain official party resources: The Democratic campaign arms of the House and Senate generally don’t spend on primary challenges. But party leaders often use personal travel time to campaign on behalf of incumbents.

The real knock, members say, is that primary voters cannot give money to party groups or use their own time and money to help vulnerable areas.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, who runs the campaign arm of House Democrats, acknowledged that protecting those incumbents “requires some resources.” But he made clear his focus was on the swing seats needed to flip the House.

“The number one thing we can do to make a difference, to get this administration under control, to have a functional Congress, is to take back the majority in the House,” he said.

Still, one House Democrat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to publicly discuss her primary race, complained that the money they are now raising could go directly to those purple seats instead of their race.

This MP said: “Can I do other things for other members? Absolutely.”

The surge in far-left challengers has also infuriated Democrats like Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, who is facing re-election in one of the toughest districts for Democrats after Texas Republicans redrew the House map.

“I see this in New York; I think everyone in New York has a socialist. [challenger]. The situation we have to deal with is really bad for the Democratic Party [this] “Instead of using all these resources for our contest in November, spend the resources,” Gonzalez told CNN.

Gonzalez faces her own opponent, nicknamed the “Mamdani of South Texas.” But he questioned whether his opponent had yet raised funds to take action: “I think donors are smarter than that. I don’t see him raising a lot of money. I think that’s probably it.” [the same] nationwide.”

This is not the case everywhere.

Rep. John Larson raised $800,000 in his deep-blue Connecticut seat to fend off his opponent, who is also the former mayor of his state’s capital, Hartford. Rep. Mike Thompson of California raised more than $600,000 in the same quarter. A third Democrat, Rep. Brad Sherman of California, raised $322,000. All three were outperformed by their Democratic rivals last quarter.

However, the real issue in these three competitions is not ideological but rather pushing a new generation forward in politics. Larson, Thompson and Sherman are all in their 70s. (In California, this could also become a November issue. That state’s “jungle primaries” rules mean that the top two-place candidates, regardless of party, advance to the general election.)

“The winds of change, there’s always an element somewhere,” Larson told CNN when asked why she believes so many of her colleagues are facing challenges from within the party this cycle. He denied that Mamdani or the rebel left had anything to do with the surge.

And he said he feels good about his own prospects: “If you’ve done a good job, people respect that.”

CNN’s Alison Main contributed to this report.

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