I had to look up who headed the DCCC it's Suzan DelBene (D-WA) -- and I've never heard of her (not saying no one else has) maybe if Jamie Raskin or AOC headed this up (not in the same camp but both are media savvy) they would make better choices and find candidates likely to actually win
She's a suburban moderate New Democrat and isn't fond of the left. That's all I know about her.
I think Squad 2.0 should hold Jeffries hostage in exchange for concessions, such as firing her—a reverse "Unbreakable Nine." His other recruits, like Shannon Bird and Jasmeet Bains, have also been terrible, and Joe Baldacci Bob Casey'd his race by taking positions that were out of step with the primary electorate.
but bob always won his primaries? i don't understand the connection, though I agree baldacci was held to a standard that golden was never held to and the seat is now at risk because of it. Saying this as someone that is not fond of "New Democrats," in fact I trust the older iterations of blue dogs more because it felt like they were more centrist because they had to win re-election, not because that donor money made it look so appetizing
He wasn't pushed out; he didn't want to be accountable to the voters - he tied himself to Trump's policies on ICE, tariffs, War with Iran, and, to an extent, to Biden's IRA policy - and was wrong on all counts. We keep saying the left needs to admit when they get things wrong on policy; why can't centrists?
I guess maybe you could argue Dunlap's primary challenger didn't help things?
But like, if he didn't want to be "pushed out," maybe he shouldn't have supported policies far beyond the pale for Democratic voters everywhere, like being the deciding vote and only Democrat to vote against a War Powers resolution to put checks on Trump's war in Iran and... supporting Trump's tariffs???
> Golden expressed concern over Trump backing down from his tariff policy, telling Axios, "My biggest worry is that they're going to do this and lose faith and political will and back away."
I'm not even super against protectionism if it's needed to help American workers, but *come on.* This was the turning point of Trump's (short-lived) boost in popularity and good will and you're supporting it? That's like running as a Pro-Obamacare Republican in 2010, at least in a political sense.
I'm a progressive, yes, but I'm all for centrist-y candidates in red districts if that's what it takes to win. But Maine's second district is not West Virginia, there was no reason for him to take these positions that were unpopular with the Democratic base (and are becoming unpopular with other voter groups too like independents and even some Republicans)
Is Dunlap a weaker candidate? Maybe. But while Jared Golden has held the ire of progressives (such as myself, even if I recognize sometimes representatives like him are a necessary evil) for a while, he didn't face a primary challenger until this election cycle. Maybe if he didn't try to tack to the right further after Trump's win, he'd still be the nominee for ME-2.
Picking a more progressive DCCC chair can create problems in the opposite direction, as relatively mainstream candidates tend to be needed to win in most swing districts. I don't know if DelBene is the ideal chair, but she's an improvement over past chairs who had to spend extra money to try to keep their swing seats (Bustos, Patrick Maloney).
FL-Gov: Republican candidate James Fishback has been confirmed to vote in the District of Columbia instead of Florida and could potentially be kicked off the ballot.
I'm actually shocked that Evnen accepted Burbank's resignation from the Senate race. Would've thought he would've done what he can to keep her on the ballot.
he was so good in 2006, i think he got every race but harold ford v bob corker right that year, first year following politics closely and god did I think we had it made
He's probably been wrong before, but I wouldn't say this is a crazy bet to be making. Rob Sand has a documented track record of winning statewide office even in tough environments, so it stands to reason that he has a good chance of winning the governorship against a nobody in a very Democratic environment. While Turek's won in hostile territory, he hasn't run a statewide campaign, and while Hinson is offensive to people with eyes and ears she's a pretty standard MAGA Republican without as much baggage as Joni Ernst, so given the uncertainty and dynamics of that race it isn't weird to believe that race might follow the typical voting pattern of Iowa even in a blue wave.
My takeaway from that article is that he already has IA-Sen as a 25% probability for Dems and it's only July. I'll bet he has it at Tossup by November.
Here's hoping for the first Dem trifecta in AZ since the GOP flipped the state House in 1966 (the only time that body has ever flipped since 1912 statehood).
Pretty much everybody voting in the primary will have voted for him in the general last cycle. He's a 3 term state House rep as well, under two different sets of district lines.
I get that, but it didn’t seem like he was the choice of either centrists/liberals, the establishment, or the far left. So it must be just name recognition, right?
I can't say I have my ear to the ground in the district anymore, and it was never my part of the Valley culturally (I grew up in the kind of circles that called Scottsdale Snotsdale), but I'd guess that both voters were comfortable if not delighted with him and that he got close enough last cycle to be seen as a good bet for a win in November.
Absolutely there is. The Democrats I’d argue have four factions at this point: centrists, liberals (often called “moderates” erroneously), progressives, and now socialists.
Name recognition might've played a role, although Galan-Woods scored a close third in the primary in 2024 (only two points separated her and Shah then) so it's not like she was unknown. Shah might've had some broad appeal as... not necessarily an "anti-establishment" candidate, but not the establishment's candidate, as well as being a standard liberal rather than a moderate
NV-Gov: tied at 44-44. Apparently Lombardo used his position/name to get out of a traffic stop and it was on body cam. Ford/DGA need to hammer him over this nonstop. I also wish they tested the AG and SOS races for a baseline comparison.
He happened to be county sheriff in the county he was pulled over in. When I posted this, I included his pretty out of touch quote: "I'm Joe Lombardo. Come on man!"
And Ford also has traffic misdemeanors from the 1990s; apparently he was rambunctious in his 20s.
I'm so frustrated! Am I the only person who sees a plus sign with a number that hides a subthread, and then around 80% of the time I click it, a previous subthread opens and when I press the back arrow, it goes back to the digest and out of the comments entirely? This happens over and over to me on mobile and is exceedingly annoying!!!!
SC-Sen: Minor correction on this item - you refer to South Carolina as North Carolina at one point.
Yes, Russell Fry likely doesn’t have Tar Heel State endorsements either, but that’s probably not what was meant.
I had to look up who headed the DCCC it's Suzan DelBene (D-WA) -- and I've never heard of her (not saying no one else has) maybe if Jamie Raskin or AOC headed this up (not in the same camp but both are media savvy) they would make better choices and find candidates likely to actually win
I think most of us have heard of her because we remember her runs for Congress.
She's a suburban moderate New Democrat and isn't fond of the left. That's all I know about her.
I think Squad 2.0 should hold Jeffries hostage in exchange for concessions, such as firing her—a reverse "Unbreakable Nine." His other recruits, like Shannon Bird and Jasmeet Bains, have also been terrible, and Joe Baldacci Bob Casey'd his race by taking positions that were out of step with the primary electorate.
Great idea
but bob always won his primaries? i don't understand the connection, though I agree baldacci was held to a standard that golden was never held to and the seat is now at risk because of it. Saying this as someone that is not fond of "New Democrats," in fact I trust the older iterations of blue dogs more because it felt like they were more centrist because they had to win re-election, not because that donor money made it look so appetizing
Bob Casey'd meaning threw away an election that should have been winnable.
The seat was likely lost the second we pushed Golden out. Hope people upset with Golden are happy with LePage.
Not yet, Golden won it in 2018 due to it being a blue wave while being endorsed by the CPC, M4A PAC and Pramila Jayapal.
We pushed Golden out? That's news to me. I thought he was just dissatisfied with Washington.
He was trailing pretty badly in early polls against Dunlap. Do with that what you will.
He wasn't pushed out; he didn't want to be accountable to the voters - he tied himself to Trump's policies on ICE, tariffs, War with Iran, and, to an extent, to Biden's IRA policy - and was wrong on all counts. We keep saying the left needs to admit when they get things wrong on policy; why can't centrists?
I guess maybe you could argue Dunlap's primary challenger didn't help things?
But like, if he didn't want to be "pushed out," maybe he shouldn't have supported policies far beyond the pale for Democratic voters everywhere, like being the deciding vote and only Democrat to vote against a War Powers resolution to put checks on Trump's war in Iran and... supporting Trump's tariffs???
> Golden expressed concern over Trump backing down from his tariff policy, telling Axios, "My biggest worry is that they're going to do this and lose faith and political will and back away."
I'm not even super against protectionism if it's needed to help American workers, but *come on.* This was the turning point of Trump's (short-lived) boost in popularity and good will and you're supporting it? That's like running as a Pro-Obamacare Republican in 2010, at least in a political sense.
I'm a progressive, yes, but I'm all for centrist-y candidates in red districts if that's what it takes to win. But Maine's second district is not West Virginia, there was no reason for him to take these positions that were unpopular with the Democratic base (and are becoming unpopular with other voter groups too like independents and even some Republicans)
Is Dunlap a weaker candidate? Maybe. But while Jared Golden has held the ire of progressives (such as myself, even if I recognize sometimes representatives like him are a necessary evil) for a while, he didn't face a primary challenger until this election cycle. Maybe if he didn't try to tack to the right further after Trump's win, he'd still be the nominee for ME-2.
Picking a more progressive DCCC chair can create problems in the opposite direction, as relatively mainstream candidates tend to be needed to win in most swing districts. I don't know if DelBene is the ideal chair, but she's an improvement over past chairs who had to spend extra money to try to keep their swing seats (Bustos, Patrick Maloney).
I think what we should want is someone who is objective as possible about politics in their role as DCCC leader and is solely concerned with winning.
Perhaps we can find some kind of middle ground, where a candidate in between the center and left can lead the DCCC?
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2026/07/21/fishback-admits-to-voting-in-d-c-in-2020-as-he-fights-to-stay-on-ballot/
FL-Gov: Republican candidate James Fishback has been confirmed to vote in the District of Columbia instead of Florida and could potentially be kicked off the ballot.
Get rekked Nazi.
Always a Republican...
I'm actually shocked that Evnen accepted Burbank's resignation from the Senate race. Would've thought he would've done what he can to keep her on the ballot.
I figured he took the Bill Cassidy/John Cornyn route of "well I lost my primary so I really don't care what the base thinks"
The state supreme court shut him down when he tried to bar her from running, I assume he knew they would do the same here.
Charlie Cook, founder of the Cook Report, thinks the Iowa governor's seat will flip, but not the US Senate seat. Has he been wrong before?
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/07/20/iowa-is-acting-different-political-expert-discusses-democrats-chances-in-iowa/
I mean that's a pretty reasonable prediction
He’s been around forever so he’s been right and wrong lots of times.
he was so good in 2006, i think he got every race but harold ford v bob corker right that year, first year following politics closely and god did I think we had it made
That's reasonable. Governor races are not as nationally polarized as Senate ones.
He's probably been wrong before, but I wouldn't say this is a crazy bet to be making. Rob Sand has a documented track record of winning statewide office even in tough environments, so it stands to reason that he has a good chance of winning the governorship against a nobody in a very Democratic environment. While Turek's won in hostile territory, he hasn't run a statewide campaign, and while Hinson is offensive to people with eyes and ears she's a pretty standard MAGA Republican without as much baggage as Joni Ernst, so given the uncertainty and dynamics of that race it isn't weird to believe that race might follow the typical voting pattern of Iowa even in a blue wave.
He has been wrong before, but I think this is a pretty reasonable prediction right now.
That would be my guess right now too, but I think Sand is better positioned than Hinson is, if that makes sense.
That’s not an entirely unreasonable guess with more than three months out
My takeaway from that article is that he already has IA-Sen as a 25% probability for Dems and it's only July. I'll bet he has it at Tossup by November.
AZ GOP is going to LOSE big time with Kolodin and Biggs on the ballot. Hobbs will likely win 55% of the vote.
Here's hoping for the first Dem trifecta in AZ since the GOP flipped the state House in 1966 (the only time that body has ever flipped since 1912 statehood).
Can someone explain to me what faction Shah actually appealed to in AZ-01? Did he just skate by based on name rec as the previous nominee?
Also, Joanna Mendoza got more votes than Juan Ciscomani despite the uncontested statewide Dem races compared to contested GOP primaries.
Pretty much everybody voting in the primary will have voted for him in the general last cycle. He's a 3 term state House rep as well, under two different sets of district lines.
I get that, but it didn’t seem like he was the choice of either centrists/liberals, the establishment, or the far left. So it must be just name recognition, right?
I can't say I have my ear to the ground in the district anymore, and it was never my part of the Valley culturally (I grew up in the kind of circles that called Scottsdale Snotsdale), but I'd guess that both voters were comfortable if not delighted with him and that he got close enough last cycle to be seen as a good bet for a win in November.
Same😂 been a while since I heard that
I'm a little confused on your terminology here. Isn't there a difference between centrists and liberals?
I thought so, but I don’t even know anymore based on the stupid purity fights we’ve been having.
I think there is.
Absolutely there is. The Democrats I’d argue have four factions at this point: centrists, liberals (often called “moderates” erroneously), progressives, and now socialists.
Name recognition might've played a role, although Galan-Woods scored a close third in the primary in 2024 (only two points separated her and Shah then) so it's not like she was unknown. Shah might've had some broad appeal as... not necessarily an "anti-establishment" candidate, but not the establishment's candidate, as well as being a standard liberal rather than a moderate
NV-Gov: tied at 44-44. Apparently Lombardo used his position/name to get out of a traffic stop and it was on body cam. Ford/DGA need to hammer him over this nonstop. I also wish they tested the AG and SOS races for a baseline comparison.
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/lombardo-ford-tied-in-nevada-governors-race-dem-poll-shows
He happened to be county sheriff in the county he was pulled over in. When I posted this, I included his pretty out of touch quote: "I'm Joe Lombardo. Come on man!"
And Ford also has traffic misdemeanors from the 1990s; apparently he was rambunctious in his 20s.
Being dumb in your 20s is less egregious than name dropping yourself to get out of a stop though. That needs to be plastered on the airwaves.
If I lived in Vegas in my 20s I’d have been real rambunctious too!
I'm so frustrated! Am I the only person who sees a plus sign with a number that hides a subthread, and then around 80% of the time I click it, a previous subthread opens and when I press the back arrow, it goes back to the digest and out of the comments entirely? This happens over and over to me on mobile and is exceedingly annoying!!!!