Morning Digest: Louisville's Democratic mayor faces a rematch with progressive challenger

But new election rules could make her task even more difficult

Shameka Parrish-Wright, who serves on the Louisville Metro Council, is again opposing Mayor Craig Greenberg (credit: Shameka Parrish-Wright Instagram)

Leading Off

Louisville, KY Mayor

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg faces a rematch this year against Metro Councilwoman Shameka Parrish-Wright, a member of the city’s legislative body who unsuccessfully opposed him from the left in their 2022 Democratic primary contest.

“I don’t think that Greenberg wakes up and he’s a bad person, but I think he’s very disconnected from the everyday lives that Louisvillians lead,” Parrish-Wright told Louisville Public Media this month of the first-term incumbent, who previously worked as a developer.

Parrish-Wright, who was first elected to the Metro Council the year after she lost to Greenberg 41-22, likewise used her campaign kickoff to argue that residents were unhappy with the status quo.

“People feel disconnected from city government,” she said. “They feel like there’s a lack of investment.”

Parrish-Wright, who was a key figure in the city’s 2020 racial justice protests, would be both the first woman and African American elected to lead Kentucky’s largest city. Louisville, which has been consolidated with the rest of Jefferson County since 2003, is one of the rare sources of Democratic strength in the Bluegrass State.

Parrish-Wright’s second bout against Greenberg, though, will be conducted using a different electoral system than her first because of a major change that the state’s GOP-dominated legislature pushed through in 2024.

Lawmakers passed a bill over Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto that did away with party primaries for Louisville municipal elections. Candidates will now face off on one nonpartisan ballot during the primary, which is set for May 19 this year. The two contenders with the most votes will then advance to the Nov. 3 general election.

State Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer told LPM two years ago he had supported the legislation “out of respect for” Greenberg, whom he said was involved in discussions about the law. The mayor himself didn’t answer when LPM asked him about the bill earlier that year.

This change in the rules could make it even tougher for Parrish-Wright to put together a winning coalition in a contest where registered Republicans and independents will also have a say. But the challenger told LPM she’s up to the challenge.

“I think the people power that we’ve been building with all of my campaigns and all of the work in between shows that the opportunity to vote and engage in our democracy, it matters,” she said.

Ten other challengers filed to take on Greenberg before candidate filing closed on Friday, but Parrish-Wright is the most prominent member of the group.

The other candidate who has attracted some attention is Tina Burnell, who is the founder of a local oversight group. The Metro Council is currently suing Burnell, who previously worked as an aide for a Republican member, for allegedly revealing private information about the city’s settlement with an affordable housing developer.

Greenberg, who is seeking his second and final term, argues that the city has made great strides during his three years in office even though he is “not content with where we are.”

“We must do more to improve public safety. We must do more to build more housing,” Greenberg told Spectrum News last month. “We must do more to attract more good-paying career-path jobs, to continue to improve our parks and libraries and child care and early learning, revitalizing downtown and so much more. And that’s why I’m going to run for reelection.”

2026 starts off with a bang

Election Recaps

Special Elections

All four of Tuesday’s special legislative elections ended with a victory for the party that last won the seat:

Alabama: Republican Norman Crow defeated Democrat Judith Taylor 64-36 in the 63rd State House District, which Donald Trump carried 58-41 in 2024.

Connecticut: Democrat Larry Pemberton beat Republican Brandon Sabbag 64-28, with two-time Republican nominee Mark Adams taking another 7% as a write-in candidate. Kamala Harris won the 139th State House District 53-45.

Virginia: Democrat Gretchen Bulova won the 11th State House District 69-31, while Democrat Margaret Angela Franklin prevailed in the 23rd State House District 77-23. Harris carried each constituency by an identical 66-31 spread.

4Q Fundraising

• VA-Sen: Mark Warner (D-inc): $2.9 million raised, $13.36 million cash on hand

• CA-Gov: Steve Hilton (R): $4 million raised (in six months), additional $100,000 self-funded

• FL-Gov: Jerry Demings (D): $330,000 raised (in two months); James Fishback (R): less than $1,000 raised (in five weeks)

• NV-Gov: Joe Lombardo (R-inc): $4.28 million raised (in 2025), $9 million cash on hand

• CO-05: Jessica Killin (D): $353,000 raised, additional $257,000 self-funded, $1.1 million cash on hand

• KY-06: Zach Dembo (D): $262,000 raised, $340,000 cash on hand

Senate

ME-Sen

Republican Sen. Susan Collins will announce “soon” if she’ll seek a sixth term, she informed NBC on Monday. Collins told Punchbowl News last month that “I still plan to run for reelection,” but added that she had “not made an official announcement yet.”

House

AZ-01

Former Attorney General Mark Brnovich has died at the age of 59, his family announced Tuesday. The statement did not disclose a cause of death.

Brnovich, a Republican who lost the 2022 primary to take on Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, had hinted this fall that he was interested in another campaign for office, and the Arizona Republic’s Laura Gersony wrote there was speculation he could run for the open and swingy 1st District. Brnovich, though, didn’t take any obvious steps toward running before his death.

CA-11

Assemblymember Matt Haney tells Politico he will not run to succeed Rep. Nancy Pelosi in California’s 11th District, a heavily Democratic constituency based in San Francisco.

Three prominent Democrats are competing in the June 2 top-two primary: Saikat Chakrabarti, a wealthy activist who served as campaign manager for now-Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during her 2018 upset victory in New York City; San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan; and state Sen. Scott Wiener.

FL-02

Republican Rep. Neal Dunn announced Tuesday that he will not seek a sixth term representing Florida’s 2nd District.

Donald Trump carried Dunn’s constituency, which is based in the central Panhandle in the northern part of the state, 59-41 in 2024. Those numbers may shift if GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies pass a new gerrymander, but the 2nd would likely remain reliably conservative turf.

Businessman Keith Gross, who spent over $2 million of his own money on a 2024 primary campaign against Sen. Rick Scott, was quick to announce his campaign to succeed Dunn. But Gross, who unsuccessfully ran for the Georgia legislature as a Democrat in 2008 and 2010, lost to Scott in an 84-9 rout, and he’s unlikely to scare off more established figures.

One of those potential candidates is state GOP chair Evan Power, who told reporters he would “strongly consider” running in the Aug. 18 primary. The candidate filing deadline is set for June 12.

Dunn, who worked as a urologist, first eyed a run for Congress in 2015 against Rep. Gwen Graham, who was one of the few Democrats who flipped a GOP-held House seat during the previous year’s red wave. However, the two never faced off.

The Florida State Supreme Court, which still had a liberal majority, struck down the GOP-drawn congressional map for violating the voter-approved Fair Districts Amendment. While the new court-approved map boosted Democratic prospects overall, Graham decided not to seek a second term after the changes made her 2nd District safely Republican. (Graham went on to narrowly lose the 2018 primary for governor.)

Dunn’s main obstacle was now in the GOP primary, and he faced a tough campaign against attorney Mary Thomas. The contest turned into an expensive proxy battle between Dunn’s allies in the House GOP leadership and hardline anti-establishment groups like the Club for Growth that supported Thomas. Scott, who was governor at the time, also praised Thomas even as he insisted he wasn’t actually endorsing her.

Dunn narrowly prevailed 41-39 before easily winning in the fall, and he never again faced a serious primary opponent. Dunn’s one notable general election battle came in 2022 after DeSantis, who now had a conservative Supreme Court on his side, rammed through a gerrymander that transformed Democratic Rep. Al Lawson’s plurality-Black 5th District into a Republican-friendly majority-white constituency.

Lawson, who had no good options, decided to take on Dunn in the 2nd, which remained a tough seat for Democrats. Dunn won the incumbent vs. incumbent matchup 60-40, and he had no trouble winning his final term in 2024.

MA-04

Former Wall Street regulator Ihssane Leckey isn’t ruling out seeking a rematch against Rep. Jake Auchincloss, who defeated her in a packed 2020 Democratic primary, unnamed sources tell Politico’s Kelly Garrity.

Leckey did not rule anything out when Garrity contacted her, saying instead that she was “not making any announcements at this time.” Leckey, who is an immigrant from Morocco, would be the first Muslim person to represent Massachusetts in Congress.

Leckey launched a longshot intraparty challenge to then-Rep. Joe Kennedy III in 2019, but the primary for the 4th Congressional District became far more interesting—and crowded—after Kennedy left to wage an ultimately unsuccessful campaign against Democratic Sen. Ed Markey.

Leckey and Auchincloss were two of the nine Democrats on the primary ballot in the 4th, a safely blue constituency that extends north from Bristol County into Boston’s western suburbs. Auchincloss beat his nearest opponent 22-21 while Leckey, who self-funded most of her campaign, placed fifth with 11%.

Auchincloss, who has embraced a moderate profile in Congress, already faces primary opposition on Sept. 1 from Jason Poulos, an AI researcher who began running in November of last year. Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux also told Garrity this week that he’s still mulling whether to take on his fellow Democrat.

MD-05

State Sen. Arthur Ellis, former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, and Prince George’s County Councilmember Wala Blegay each tell the Baltimore Banner they’re interested in running to succeed retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer, a fellow Democrat, in Maryland’s 5th District. Dunn ran for the neighboring 3rd District in 2024 but lost the primary to now-Rep. Sarah Elfreth.

NY-12

Health expert Nina Schwalbe has entered the packed June 23 Democratic primary for New York’s 12th District, a safely blue seat where longtime Rep. Jerry Nadler is not seeking reelection.

“The destruction of the public health system is dangerous now and it will get worse,” Schwalbe told Straus News. “I’m a lifelong New Yorker, and I think there is space for people who have experience outside elected office.”

VA-05

Former Rep. Tom Perriello has received an endorsement from Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger, a fellow Democrat, in his campaign to regain Virginia’s 5th District. Perriello, who was elected in 2008 and lost reelection two years later, already had the support of Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine for his campaign to take on Republican Rep. John McGuire.

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The constituency Perriello is seeking backed Donald Trump 56-43, but it could become much bluer if his party succeeds in passing a new congressional map. The Democratic-led legislature will convene on Wednesday, and lawmakers are poised to place an amendment on the spring ballot that would authorize them to draw new lines in time for this year’s congressional elections.

WY-AL

Jillian Balow, who has served as the top education official for both Wyoming and Virginia, announced Tuesday that she was entering the GOP primary for Wyoming’s sole U.S. House seat.

Balow was elected in both 2014 and 2018 as the Cowboy State’s superintendent of public instruction, but she resigned in early 2022 after Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed her to that same role.

Balow, who worked to implement her boss’ hardline agenda, stepped down the following year after her department acknowledged that it had inadvertently deprived school districts of over $200 million. Balow, who said she would remain in Virginia for the “foreseeable future,” continued to act as a consultant for Youngkin’s administration.

Balow joins Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray and billionaire Reid Rasner in the Aug. 18 Republican primary for the House seat that Rep. Harriet Hageman is giving up in order to run for the U.S. Senate.

Poll Pile

• MI-Gov: The Glengariff Group for WDIV and the Detroit News:

  • John James (R): 34, Jocelyn Benson (D): 32, Mike Duggan (I): 26.

  • Benson (D): 35, Duggan (I): 32, Aric Nesbitt (R): 24.

  • Benson (D): 34, Duggan (I): 33, Tom Leonard (R): 24.

  • Benson (D): 34, Duggan (I): 31, Mike Cox (R): 28.

  • Benson (D): 47, James (R): 45.

• SC-Gov (R): Stratus Intelligence (R) for Nancy Mace: Nancy Mace: 23, Alan Wilson: 19, Pamela Evette: 14, Ralph Norman: 11, undecided: 32