Progressive candidates across the country are launching challenges against several incumbent Democrats in the 2026 midterms, setting the stage for a series of hard-fought primaries that could shift the party further to the left. 

New York’s Democratic Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, whom New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, also a Democrat, chose for the post just four years ago, is now mounting a primary challenge against her. He made his case for the party’s future — and his role in it — to voters at a recent  fundraiser at the Quaker Hill Tavern in Chappaqua, New York.

“I would say that [in] the future, the Democratic Party should do everything it can to center itself around people’s economic pain and whoever has the capacity and the wherewithal to understand what it’s going to take to put people at the center of what we do,” he said to a room of about 50 locals. “That, to me, is where there’s plenty of room for anybody who’s deeply concerned about folks who are hurting economically.”

If Delgado’s message sounds familiar, that’s because it is: Last month, Zohran Mamdani and Katie Wilson, both democratic socialists, won bids for mayor in New York and Seattle, respectively, by embracing an affordability message at a time when voters have soured on President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy. 

Progressives believe those victories will help fuel a new crop of candidates seeking to challenge the Democratic establishment in 2026, when Democrats are trying to retake the majority in Congress and make inroads into state houses and governor’s mansions. 

“Democratic voters are seeing how unfit and unprepared this version of the Democratic Party is to take on the Trump administration,” Usamah Andrabi, communications director for the national progressive group Justice Democrats, said in a recent interview. “The country is not satisfied with its Democratic representatives right now, and what is abundantly clear is they do not want to see the same 100-plus members who were sworn-in in January get sworn-in a year from January, and that looks like having a robust Democratic primary process across the country.” 

Justice Democrats has already endorsed six challengers in House primaries across the country, and plans to endorse several more by the new year, Andrabi said. 

That includes candidates such as Justin Pearson, a 30-year-old Tennessee state representative who gained national recognition for protesting against gun violence as part of the “Tennessee Three.” He has launched a campaign to challenge longtime Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen. 

In Michigan, meanwhile, Abdul El-Sayed, a 41-year-old physician, epidemiologist and former candidate in the Wolverine State’s 2018 governor’s race, is running in a contested Democratic primary to replace outgoing Democratic Sen. Gary Peters there.

In California, Saikat Chakrabarti, a 39-year-old software engineer and progressive political adviser, launched a campaign to challenge Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi before she decided to retire after 38 years of representing her San Francisco district. He is one of three Democrats making a run for the House seat.

And former U.S. Marine and progressive Graham Platner, 41, is running against Republican Sen. Susan Collins in Maine. But 77-year old former Gov. Janet Mills has also launched a challenge to Collins with backing from high-profile Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democratic Govs. Andy Beshear, Ky., and Gretchen Whitmer, Mich.

Some analysts argue that new, younger candidates are the key to reviving the Democrats’ moribund image and winning more elections. The Democratic Party has taken a beating in the polls, cratering at a 33% approval rating in a Wall Street Journal poll conducted between July 16 and July 20. But it has rebounded lately, shored up by a strong performance in the 2025 elections that saw wins by Mamdani and centrist gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia.

Yet others aren’t sure that running Mamdani-like candidates is the key to Democrats regaining power in Congress. And not all would-be challengers are taking the leap. 

New York City Councilman Chi Ossé, for instance, filed papers to take on House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in 2026, but ended his upstart bid before it even began.

Mamdani pushed the New York City Democratic Socialists of America, a group that supported him early in his mayoral campaign, not to support Osse’s run because it would be a “distraction that could undermine his mayoralty,” according to The New York Times. The move was surprising as Jeffries dragged his feet in endorsing Mamdani in the mayoral race as some national Democrats feared being tied to the democratic socialist.

“Exploring the possibility of this run was important,” Ossé said in a statement to Politico on Friday. “As committed, I will not be launching this campaign without the support of the DSA, and so the exploration process has concluded.”

If progressives didn’t want to take on Jeffries, they may get another bite at the apple for a House seat following Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s, D-N.Y., announcement that she is retiring. Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso has already announced his candidacy, but Mamdani and other progressives have signaled a preference toward DSA members Tiffany Cabán and Claire Valdez, according to the New York TImes. 

As this debate plays out on the campaign trail, it is also already taking place in Congress. Prominent Democrats — including Jeffries; Reps. Katherine Clark, Mass.; Pete Aguilar, Calif.; and Ted Lieu, Calif. — voted Nov. 21 for a resolution condemning socialism. Other prominent party members including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, N.Y., and Pelosi voted against it. 

Meanwhile, Delgado says continuing to generate excitement and energy through grassroots campaigning will be critical to competing with other Democrats who benefit from name recognition and millions in campaign donations. 

“It’s a human-to-human interaction that actually grounds people in the possibilities of their own power,” Delgado said. “That energy is contagious, especially if you can organize around it.”

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