Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has successfully recruited prized political heavyweights in key battlegrounds, but left-wing insurgents are threatening to dash his plans to create a competitive midterm map for Democrats.
The toss-up Maine Senate race is perhaps ground zero for the ideological, and in some cases generational, clash, with embattled first-time candidate Graham Platner trouncing two-term Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) by 34 points, 58% to 24%, in the latest polling for the Democratic primary to take on longtime centrist Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
Notably, the lead could be persisting despite a drip, drip of reports highlighting offensive online posts by Platner referencing black people and sexual assault survivors, but the latest was taken before it was discovered he had a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, which he’s since covered with another tattoo.
In Texas, liberal firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) is “strongly” weighing a Senate bid in the wake of state redistricting. Elsewhere, crowded Democratic primaries, including in Michigan, are likely to hemorrhage critical resources the party will need for general elections to protect incumbent seats or oust Republicans.
Schumer’s preferred recruits like Mills in Maine, former Gov. Roy Cooper in North Carolina, and former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio are far older but are “more stable” and electable than grassroots progressives like Platner, despite their ability to energize the base, said Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf.
But Sheinkopf, the former adviser to former President Bill Clinton and ex-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, cautioned Schumer and his allies not to make what he said would be a critical misstep: criticize the younger, more liberal outside challengers.
“The leadership can’t say, ‘They’re out of line. They’re wacky. They’re too far to the left,” he said. “The leadership just has to keep doing its job in Washington.”
Even before Mills’s entry into the race, tensions were rising in the party as Platner whacked Schumer as “wholly incapable” of combating President Donald Trump and lumped him into the same camp with Collins as those who can’t stop his grassroots momentum. Since Mills’ campaign launch earlier this month, Platner has urged Schumer against “meddling in a Maine primary” and to stay “focused on fighting Donald Trump and protecting healthcare for millions of Americans.”
There’s limited sympathy among Senate Democrats for Platner’s complaints about Schumer, though Platner did have a small fan club among more progressive senators before this month’s revelations about his online posts, and influential members such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have stuck by him.
“I didn’t have the support of the [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee], but I knew I could win, and more importantly, that I could win the general election. So that’s what I did,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) said of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, which did not initially back his early challenge to then-Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), in part because it came prior to her retirement announcement.
“If you can do it, do it. If not, then don’t do it. But don’t complain,” Gallego continued. “Everyone’s got to work their own way in.”
Schumer, who is Jewish, recently told reporters he’ll “let the people of Maine decide” if Platner’s controversies, including the Nazi tattoo, should be politically disqualifying.
“We think that Janet Mills is the best candidate to retire Susan Collins,” he said of leadership’s position, while the Senate campaign arm has already taken steps to financially bolster Mills. “She’s a tested two-term governor, and the people of Maine have an enormous amount of affection and respect for her.”
Sanders, a democratic-socialist who rose to national prominence as an outsider to the Democratic establishment, downplayed Platner’s social media posts as the result of a once-struggling overseas combat veteran and deflected on the Nazi tattoo by, in part, railing against a “corrupt campaign finance system” and referencing cuts to government healthcare programs under Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax law.
“What bothers me is we don’t have enough candidates in this country who are prepared to take on the powers to be and fight for the working class,” Sanders recently told reporters.
There are headaches elsewhere for Senate Democrats, including a Michigan fight to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI).
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), backed by the Michigan state party to succeed Peters in a three-way contest against Democratic state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed, attended a recent DSCC Napa Valley fundraising retreat, per Politico. McMorrow recently met with DSCC Vice Chair Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), per Axios. The meetings offer the latest signs that Senate Democrats are still weighing how heavily to put their thumbs on the scale for a particular candidate.
For Republicans, Attorney General Ken Paxton is running an insurgent campaign against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), creating a mirror image problem for GOP leadership as they fear his own political scandals will hurt the party next November.
Cornyn has pulled even with Paxton in polling, following months of aligned outside groups spending heavily to hammer Paxton over personal and professional scandals that have included allegations of an extramarital affair, corruption, and bribery.
Meanwhile, Democrats are fielding scandals or fear of lost momentum in off-year races in Virginia and New Jersey. Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for attorney general in Virginia, is embroiled in a controversy over texts in which he detailed the fantasy of shooting a state Republican lawmaker in the head, prompting his lead over Republican nominee Jason Miyares, the current attorney general, to shrink.
In the New Jersey governor’s race, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) maintains a lead over Republican rival Jack Ciattarelli, but the contest remains competitive in a state where Republican gains in recent cycles have set off alarm bells for Democrats.
SCHUMER LANDS HIS PRIZED SENATE RECRUITS IN BATTLEGROUNDS
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a progressive member of Senate leadership, said his energy is better spent on the government shutdown than on offering election analysis. However, he told the Washington Examiner he’s set to campaign with Sherrill in New Jersey next weekend.
“She’s a great candidate. I think she’s going to win,” Murphy said. “But she needs all the help that she can get.”