2025’s biggest political turkeys: Democrats who got burned this year

As 2025 draws to a close, it has left many top Democratic figures wishing things had turned out differently, or perhaps the public had turned its attention elsewhere. Here are the top political turkeys that conservatives have torn apart in the past year.

Chuck Schumer

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-Y) has faced harsh criticism from both Republicans and Democrats following a 43-day government shutdown that left Democrats empty-handed.

Democrats, led by Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DY), had refused to advance spending legislation that would keep the government open beyond October 1 without considering an extension of additional funding for Obamacare.

CHUCK SCHUMER WAS THE BIGGEST TARGET OF MEDIA PERSONS AS A RESULT OF THE CLOSURE

But at the end of a painful and highly visible shutdown — the longest in the nation’s history — Republicans rebuffed efforts to negotiate on subsidies. Without a way out or negotiating strategy, even the chamber’s most progressive members have expressed skepticism about continuing the shutdown.

“I don’t see the point of delaying any further,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said moments after the Senate cleared a key vote to reopen the government.

Many Democrats in and out of Congress have accused Schumer of failing to hold Democrats together on subsidies or make other concessions. In both chambers on Capitol Hill, Schumer faces questions about his continued role as the party’s leader in the Senate.

Kamala Harris

The nation’s worst-kept secret got a new coat of paint in 2025 when a groundbreaking book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson took readers behind the scenes of President Joe Biden’s physical decline and his efforts to hide it.

Following the publication of the book, questions were raised again about what Vice President Kamala Harris knew about Biden’s cognitive state.

Arguing that Biden can stay in office for another term, Harris will eventually replace him as a Democrat in 2024.

At the time, Harris was seen as the obvious choice by many in the party to replace Biden. But that view soured when President Donald Trump emerged victorious in November, raising questions about whether Harris should join calls for Biden to resign.

KAMALA HARRIS DOES NOT GIVE ANOTHER GAME SCREEN TO THE PRESIDENCY IN NEW INTERVIEW: ‘IT WAS NOT OVER’

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during her campaign rally at the Wisconsin State Fair Expo in West Allis, Wis., on Nov. 1, 2024. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP Images)

auto power on

The presidential walk of fame at the White House contains portraits of every president except one. The Trump administration released an image of an auto-opening device used to forge the signature of someone other than President Joe Biden; This symbolized that President Joe Biden relied on his inner circle when making decisions at the presidential level.

The House of Representatives launched an investigation into how much of Biden’s authority he decided to transfer. Inside a report Released in October, the House Oversight Committee criticized the Biden administration for what it called “invalid executive actions.”

“The report reveals how President Joe Biden’s top advisers, political operatives, and personal physician concealed the President’s mental and physical decline from the American people. The findings reveal that as President Biden’s condition worsened, his aides exercised presidential authority and facilitated executive actions without his direct permission,” the report said.

Questions remain about how far Biden’s use of the automatic shutdown goes and whether the legal status of sensitive decisions like pardons could be considered a second time.

Andrew Cuomo

The former New York governor has attempted a political comeback by running for New York City mayor in 2025. The proposal, which comes in the wake of abysmal management of the state’s nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic and allegations of sexual harassment during his time as governor, has done little to improve his political standing.

Cuomo failed to win the Democratic Party nomination, losing to Zohran Mamdani by 7.7 percentage points. Cuomo launched an independent campaign, refusing to quit. There Cuomo again fell behind Mamdani; this time by almost nine points.

Besides his personal loss, Cuomo’s defeat also raises questions about whether more traditional Democrats can still compete with the vision offered by far-left figures in the party.

“This campaign was necessary to highlight that point; a warning sign that we are heading down a dangerous, dangerous path,” Cuomo said in his concession speech. “Well, we made that point, they heard us, and we’ll hold them to it.”

FROM AOC TO ZOHRAN MAMDANI, DEMOCRATS ARE SPECTATORS OF EXTREME LEFT POLITICS

Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa participate in the second New York City mayoral debate held at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, Queens, New York City on October 22, 2025. (Hiroko Masuike/AFP via Getty Images)

Chuck Schumer – again

Schumer’s frustrations with the shutdown weren’t the only irritants for the Senate minority leader over the past few months. Zohran Mamdani’s meteoric rise has put this year’s biggest political turkey into a pressure cooker from which he cannot escape.

Schumer first faced questions about Mamdani ahead of the New York mayoral primary. Reporters then began asking him if he would support Mamdani after the self-proclaimed socialist won the Democratic nomination. Even in the closing days of the race, Schumer faced questions about whether he had decided to support the clear frontrunner.

Despite everything, Schumer gave the same non-answer.

“Look, the bottom line is very simple. I have a good relationship with him and we continue to talk,” Schumer told reporters less than a week before the election.

While other Democrats, including Jeffries, were also slow to respond about Mamdani, Schumer’s refusal to talk about the New York City Mayoral race is noteworthy.

Schumer’s dismissal has fueled questions about the direction of the Democratic Party and whether its congressional factions can adapt to the left wing’s momentum.

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That, combined with questions about the management of the shutdown, has some Democrats wondering whether the Senate’s top Democrat should step aside for a replacement.