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Top 25 Progressive Candidates to Watch in 2026
These candidates represent the future of democratic leadership in America.
Some are underdogs. Some are rising stars. All are worth watching.
What We Look For in a Candidate:
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Refusal to serve corporate power first
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Strong support for workers and unions
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Protection of voting rights and democracy
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Commitment to healthcare and economic fairness
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Willingness to challenge endless war and militarism
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A record of speaking clearly and acting boldly
Our Top 25 Candidates to Watch
#1 - Analilia Mejia
RACE OUTCOME: Progressive Democrat Analilia Mejia won the special election for New Jersey House seat in a landslide victory on April 16th, 2026!
Profile: Labor and community organizer, former New Jersey Working Families Alliance director, and former Bernie Sanders political director.
Core Message: People powered politics over insider politics.
Why This Race Matters: Mejia’s victory secured a Democratic hold on NJ-11 in a closely watched special election and reinforced the strength of progressive-aligned organizing networks in a high-profile congressional contest.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Analilia Mejía is the daughter of Colombian and Dominican immigrants and grew up in a working-class family in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She watched her mother work multiple jobs as a seamstress just to keep food on the table. When her mother finally joined a union, her family’s economic security changed dramatically. That experience inspired Analilia to spend her career organizing workers, fighting for higher wages, paid sick leave, and stronger labor protections before ever running for Congress.
#2 - Donavan McKinney
RACE OUTCOME: Progressive Democrat Donavan McKinney won the Democratic primary for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District in August 2026, defeating incumbent U.S. Representative Shri Thanedar to earn the Democratic nomination. He will face Republican Taras “T.P.” Nykoriak in the general election for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District seat.
Profile: A Michigan State Representative and labor-aligned progressive challenger running against incumbent Democrat Shri Thanedar in Detroit’s MI-13 congressional district.
Core Message: Working class Detroit deserves representation that answers to people, not donors.
Why This Race Matters: McKinney has validation from Working Families Party and National Nurses United, and he is in one of the clearest progressive versus incumbent Democratic primaries of the cycle. This is a real test of whether movement groups can unseat a sitting Democrat in a major urban district.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Donavan McKinney grew up on the northeast side of Detroit, raised by his mother and grandmother. His family moved 13 times because of evictions, and he often spent five hours a day on public buses just to get to school. After becoming the first in his family to graduate from college, he organized healthcare workers with SEIU before serving in the Michigan Legislature. His firsthand experience with housing insecurity and working-class struggles continues to shape his fight for affordable housing, good-paying union jobs, and an economy that works for everyday people- not just the wealthy.
#3 - Chris Rabb
RACE OUTCOME: Progressive Democrat Chris Rabb won the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District in a major grassroots upset on May 19th, 2026!
Profile: Five term Pennsylvania state representative and anti establishment progressive running in the open seat left by Dwight Evans.
Core Message: Community over commerce.
Why This Race Matters: Progressive Democrat Chris Rabb won the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s 200th State House District, securing renomination to represent Northwest Philadelphia in the state legislature. A leading advocate for economic justice, voting rights, and criminal justice reform, Rabb will now head into the general election as the Democratic nominee in a strongly Democratic district.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Chris Rabb comes from a family with deep roots in the civil rights movement and public service. His great-great-grandfather, born into slavery, went on to found The Baltimore Afro-American newspaper, while his mother was a longtime community activist in Chicago. Before running for office, Rabb worked in the U.S. Senate, the Clinton administration, and as a professor at Temple University, where he helped unionize more than 1,500 adjunct faculty members. Those experiences shaped his lifelong focus on economic justice, workers’ rights, and challenging entrenched power.
#4 - Mai Vang
Race Outcome: Progressive Democrat Mai Vang advanced to the November general election in California’s 7th Congressional District after emerging as the leading challenger to 20-year incumbent Rep. Doris Matsui. The Sacramento City Councilmember will now compete in a closely watched Democrat-versus-Democrat contest that many observers see as a test of the party’s appetite for generational change!
Profile: Sacramento city councilmember, daughter of Hmong refugees, and working class progressive challenger to Doris Matsui.
Core Message: Government should actually understand the people it claims to represent.
Why This Race Matters: Vang’s strong primary showing demonstrates growing support for progressive candidates willing to challenge established Democratic incumbents. Backed by organizations such as Justice Democrats, National Nurses United, and Our Revolution, Vang has turned California’s 7th District into a closely watched contest over the future direction of the Democratic Party, with debates centered on economic justice, healthcare, housing affordability, and generational change.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Mai Vang is the daughter of Hmong refugees from Laos and grew up in a large working-class family in Sacramento, California. She is the eldest of 16 children and was raised in South Sacramento, where her family often relied on public support and community resources. Before entering electoral politics, she worked as a community organizer focused on improving education, housing, and health outcomes for underserved neighborhoods, later serving as a school board member and Sacramento City Councilmember.
#5 - Cori Bush
Running In: U.S. House, Missouri 1
Profile: Nurse, pastor, Ferguson movement activist, and former member of Congress running to reclaim her old seat.
Core Message: Send movement politics back to Congress.
Why This Race Matters: Bush is not just a familiar name. She is a national stress test for whether the progressive movement can win back a major seat after a high profile loss. National Nurses United and Our Revolution both backed her comeback bid, and her rematch with Wesley Bell will be watched nationally.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Cori Bush is a nurse, ordained pastor, and community activist from St. Louis, Missouri. A longtime organizer, she became a prominent voice during the Ferguson protests after the police killing of Michael Brown, where she helped provide frontline support and medical care. Before Congress, she worked as a registered nurse, a pastor, and an advocate for housing justice, including speaking publicly about her own experience with eviction and housing insecurity. Her lived experience and organizing background shaped her focus on healthcare, housing, and racial and economic justice.
#6 - Matt Little
Running In: U.S. House, Minnesota 2
Profile: Former Lakeville Mayor, state legislator, and progressive Democrat running for Minnesota’s open 2nd Congressional District seat, focused on affordability, consumer protection, and building an economy that works for working families.
Core Message: Government should put working people first by lowering costs, protecting consumers, and ensuring communities have the resources they need to thrive.
Why This Race Matters: Matt Little is running in a competitive open-seat race following Rep. Angie Craig’s departure from Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District. The August 11, 2026 primary will be a key test of whether a progressive economic message centered on affordability, consumer rights, and working-class priorities can succeed in a suburban battleground district.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Matt Little is a former Mayor of Lakeville and former Minnesota state legislator with a background in consumer advocacy. Before serving in elected office, he worked to protect consumers from unfair financial practices and built his public service career around accountability and community-focused solutions. His campaign emphasizes lowering costs, strengthening local communities, protecting consumers, and making government more responsive to everyday Minnesotans.
#7 - Frederick Douglass Haynes III
RACE OUTCOME: Progressive Democrat Frederick D. Haynes III won the Democratic primary for Texas’ 30th Congressional District on March 3rd, 2026, putting him on track to compete in November for the heavily Democratic Dallas-based House seat!
Profile: Senior pastor and civic leader from Dallas with a long record of institution building, voter engagement, and public advocacy.
Core Message: Economic justice, voting rights, and accountable government.
Why This Race Matters: Haynes already won the Democratic primary in a heavily Democratic seat, which makes him one of the more likely progressive additions to Congress in 2027. He also has backing from Justice Democrats and Sunrise, which gives him real movement legitimacy beyond local name recognition.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Frederick Douglass Haynes III is a Dallas-based pastor, civil rights leader, and longtime social justice advocate. He is the senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church, where he has built a national reputation for combining faith leadership with activism on issues like racial justice, economic equity, and criminal justice reform. In 2023, he entered the race for U.S. Senate in Texas, bringing a progressive, faith-driven message rooted in community organizing and civil rights traditions, before later withdrawing from the contest.
#8 - Randy Villegas
RACE OUTCOME: Progressive Democrat Randy Villegas won the top-two primary for California’s 22nd Congressional District in June 2026, defeating fellow Democrat Jasmeet Bains to advance to the general election. He will face Republican incumbent David Valadao in the November general election for California’s 22nd Congressional District seat.
Profile: Educator, organizer, and son of immigrants running in the Central Valley on a working class platform.
Core Message: Government should work for families, not corporate power.
Why This Race Matters: Villegas is worth featuring precisely because this is not an easy race. Working Families Party and Our Revolution both endorsed him, but California reporting also shows Democrats are split over what kind of candidate can actually win this district. That makes him credible, but not automatic. Your site should treat him as a serious candidate in a difficult proving ground.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Randy Villegas is a Fresno-based educator and public official from California’s Central Valley. Before entering city government, he worked in education and served on the Fresno Unified School District Board, where he focused on improving school resources and advocating for students from working-class and immigrant communities. He later became a Fresno City Councilmember, where his work has centered on expanding opportunity in underserved neighborhoods, improving public services, and elevating the voices of working families in local government.
#9 - Melat Kiros
RACE OUTCOME: Progressive Democrat Melat Kiros won the Democratic primary for Colorado’s 1st Congressional District in June 2026, defeating longtime incumbent U.S. Representative Diana DeGette to earn the Democratic nomination.
Profile: Immigrant rights attorney and Denver based progressive challenger taking on longtime incumbent Diana DeGette.
Core Message: A new generation should not have to wait for permission.
Why This Race Matters: Kiros has real movement backing from Justice Democrats and Sunrise, and Colorado reporting shows she qualified for the ballot and outperformed DeGette at district assembly. That moves her out of the social media candidate category and into the serious insurgent category.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Melat Kiros is a lawyer, PhD student, and Democratic Socialist running for U.S. House in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District. She was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and immigrated to the U.S. as an infant, growing up in Aurora, Colorado in a working-class immigrant household. Before running for Congress, she worked as a corporate attorney in New York City and later became a vocal advocate for student protest rights, which led to her being fired after refusing to take down an article defending pro-Palestinian student activists. She is currently pursuing a PhD in public policy while working to support herself and her campaign.
#10 - Summer Lee
RACE OUTCOME: Progressive Democrat Summer Lee won the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District on May 19th, 2026, successfully beating back her primary challenger and strengthening her path toward reelection!
Profile: Organizer turned congresswoman and one of the clearest progressive voices already serving in office.
Core Message: Use power to fight oligarch money and deliver for working families.
Why This Race Matters: Lee’s decisive primary victory reinforces her position as one of the leading voices of the progressive movement in Congress. Endorsed by organizations including the Working Families Party, Our Revolution, and Justice Democrats, she has become a prominent advocate for economic justice, labor rights, voting rights, and healthcare reform. As an incumbent who successfully translated grassroots activism into electoral success, Lee offers a compelling example of how progressive candidates can build and sustain political power at the national level.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Summer Lee grew up in North Braddock in the Mon Valley outside Pittsburgh in a working-class family shaped by public service and civil rights activism. Her grandmother was active in the NAACP, and Lee has described being raised in a household where speaking up and questioning authority were normal from a young age. In school, she was already organizing and challenging authority—once leading classmates in protest as a teenager—and later became the first in her family to attend college and law school, experiences that reinforced her focus on fighting economic inequality and amplifying working-class communities.
#11 - Greg Casar
RACE OUTCOME: No win.
Profile: Organizer turned congressman and Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Greg Casar is one of the most prominent progressive voices in Congress, known for his focus on workers’ rights, economic justice, and grassroots organizing.
Core Message: Fight for working people by challenging corporate power, protecting labor rights, raising wages, and expanding access to healthcare and economic security.
Why This Race Matters: Greg Casar has become a leading figure in the progressive movement by translating years of organizing work into a national political platform. As Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, he has helped elevate issues including labor protections, healthcare reform, climate action, and economic inequality. His career reflects the broader progressive strategy of building political power through grassroots movements and working-class advocacy.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Greg Casar grew up in Texas as the son of Mexican immigrants and began his career as a community organizer before serving on the Austin City Council. During his time in local government, he advocated for policies including paid sick leave, workers’ protections, and affordable housing initiatives. He was elected to Congress in 2022 and has since emerged as a prominent progressive leader focused on labor rights, civil liberties, and economic justice.
#12 - Brad Lander
RACE OUTCOME: Progressive Democrat Brad Lander won the Democratic primary for New York’s 10th Congressional District on June 23, 2026, unseating incumbent Congressman Dan Goldman in a decisive victory and delivering a significant win for progressives heading into the November election!
Profile: Former New York City Comptroller and longtime affordable housing advocate who previously served 12 years on the New York City Council, where he co-founded the Progressive Caucus. Lander is challenging incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in New York’s 10th Congressional District.
Core Message: Fighting for working families through affordable housing, economic fairness, stronger public services, and reducing corporate influence in politics.
Why This Race Matters: Lander is one of the highest-profile progressive candidates in the country, backed by leading progressive figures including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Zohran Mamdani. His primary victory demonstrated significant grassroots support for progressive policies and marked a major show of progressive strength within the Democratic Party, helping to validate the movement’s growing influence in competitive Democratic elections.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Brad Lander is a Brooklyn-based public servant, urban planner, and longtime housing and labor organizer. He grew up in a Reform Jewish family in St. Louis, Missouri, where early involvement in social justice and civil rights activism shaped his worldview. As a teenager and young adult, he participated in Jewish-led civil rights and anti-war organizing, experiences that later influenced his progressive politics. After moving to New York, he followed his partner (now wife) Meg Barnette and built a career in community development, working with nonprofits focused on affordable housing and tenant organizing in working-class neighborhoods.
#13 - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
RACE OUTCOME: Progressive Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) secured a decisive victory in the Democratic primary for New York’s 14th Congressional District on June 23, 2026, comfortably defeating challengers Felipe Garcia and Marty Dolan in a heavily progressive, safely Democratic seat. The Associated Press called the race with AOC winning roughly 87–88% of the vote, effectively cementing her path to reelection in the general election this November.
Profile: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the incumbent U.S. Representative for NY-14 running for reelection in the 2026 cycle.
Core Message: Progressive economic and social policy platform including labor rights, climate policy, and anti-corporate political reform.
Why This Race Matters: As one of the most nationally visible progressive incumbents in Congress, her reelection campaign is a high-profile but structurally safe Democratic primary race in a deep-blue district, closely watched for turnout and ideological signaling rather than competitiveness.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) is a community organizer and U.S. Representative from New York’s 14th Congressional District, which includes parts of the Bronx and Queens. She was raised in a working-class Puerto Rican family in the Bronx and spent part of her childhood in Yorktown Heights after her family moved to afford better schooling. Before Congress, she worked as a waitress and bartender while studying economics and international relations, later becoming active in grassroots organizing for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. Her campaign background and personal experience with economic insecurity have shaped her focus on housing, healthcare, and working-class political power.
#14 - Darializa Avila Chevalier
Race Outcome: Progressive Democrat Darializa Avila Chevalier scored a major upset victory in New York’s 13th Congressional District Democratic primary on June 23, 2026, defeating five-term incumbent Adriano Espaillat and delivering one of the biggest wins of the night for the progressive movement!
Profile: Working-class Afro-Latina, daughter of Dominican immigrants, public defense investigator, and labor organizer. A UAW member and Columbia University alumna, Chévere gained prominence as a lead organizer of Columbia’s 2023–2024 Gaza solidarity encampment and has been active in immigrant rights and criminal justice advocacy.
Core Message: Building power for working-class communities through Medicare for All, immigrant justice, labor rights, and solidarity with Palestine.
Why This Race Matters: Chevelier represents a new generation of movement-based progressive leadership emerging from labor, immigrant rights, and pro-Palestine organizing. Her campaign is a closely watched challenge from the left that tests the growing influence of grassroots activists within Democratic politics.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Darializa Avila Chevalier is a community organizer, public defense investigator, and PhD student running for U.S. House in New York’s 13th Congressional District. She was born to Dominican immigrant parents and spent parts of her early childhood between Florida, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela before later moving to New York City as a teenager. Raised in a working-class household- her father a truck driver and her mother a caseworker- she has described her upbringing as shaped by economic instability and migration across countries. Before her campaign, she worked in immigrant rights organizing, legal defense work, and later in public defense in Harlem while pursuing graduate research at CUNY focused on how immigration systems criminalize Black migrants from Latin America.
#15 - William Lawrence
Race Outcome: Progressive Democrat William Lawrence won the Democratic primary for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District in August 2026, defeating two moderate Democratic challengers to secure the Democratic nomination for the battleground House seat. He will face Republican incumbent Tom Barrett in the general election for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District seat.
Profile: Lansing-based activist and co-founder of the Progressive Democrats of Michigan PAC. Lawrence has built organizing infrastructure in central Michigan focused on economic justice, voter mobilization, and democratic reform. He is a longtime progressive organizer with roots in housing, labor, and climate movements.
Core Message: Advancing a progressive economic agenda including Medicare for All, universal basic income, strong workers’ rights, and comprehensive campaign finance reform.
Why This Race Matters: Lawrence is running in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, a competitive battleground seat in mid-Michigan that includes Lansing and surrounding counties. The race is expected to be closely contested and is part of broader efforts to organize progressive turnout and build electoral strength in swing districts.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: William “Will” Lawrence is a community organizer and coalition-builder running for U.S. House in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District. He was raised in East Lansing and continues to live in the Lansing area, grounding his campaign in the same communities he grew up in. Before running for Congress, he helped found the Sunrise Movement, where he worked on national climate organizing and helped elevate the Green New Deal movement. He later returned to Michigan to focus on housing and cost-of-living issues, co-founding the “Rent Is Too Damn High” coalition and the Mid-Michigan Tenant Resource Center, both aimed at expanding tenant protections and preventing homelessness.
#16 - Justin J. Pearson
Race Outcome: Progressive Democrat Justin J. Pearson won the Democratic primary for Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District in August 2026, securing the Democratic nomination in the newly redrawn Memphis-area district after Congressman Steve Cohen declined to seek reelection. Pearson’s victory represents a major win for the progressive movement, elevating a grassroots organizer and member of the “Tennessee Three” to the forefront of a nationally watched congressional race. He will face Republican Brent Taylor in the general election.
Profile: Tennessee state representative and national progressive figure known for his role in the “Tennessee Three” following his 2023 expulsion from the state legislature over a gun reform protest. A Memphis-based organizer and environmental justice advocate, Pearson currently represents Tennessee House District 86 and is running for Congress in Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District.
Core Message: Expanding economic and racial justice through Medicare for All, affordable housing, stronger gun safety legislation, environmental justice, and investing federal resources in historically underserved communities.
Why This Race Matters: Pearson is challenging longtime Democratic incumbent Steve Cohen in a deeply Democratic but newly redistricted Memphis-based district. After Tennessee’s 2026 redistricting eliminated the state’s only majority-Black congressional district, his campaign has become a focal point in national debates over voter representation, racial gerrymandering, and generational change within the Democratic Party.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Justin J. Pearson is a Tennessee state legislator, environmental justice advocate, and organizer from Memphis. He grew up in a working-class family in Shelby County, where his father worked as a minister and his mother was an educator. Before entering electoral politics, Pearson became active in grassroots environmental justice organizing in West Tennessee, opposing a petroleum pipeline project in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Memphis. He later co-founded the group Memphis Community Against Pollution, which became a leading voice for environmental health and equity. His lived experience in Memphis communities affected by pollution and underinvestment has shaped his focus on public health, justice reform, and community-led power.
#17 - Julie Gonzales
Running In: U.S. Senate, Colorado
Profile: Colorado State Senator representing Denver’s 34th District since 2019 and a longtime community organizer. Gonzales is a progressive Democrat and former Senate Majority Whip who has focused her legislative career on housing affordability, immigrant protections, criminal justice reform, and expanding voting access. She is the daughter of working-class immigrant-rooted families and has a background in grassroots organizing before entering elected office.
Core Message: A progressive economic and social agenda centered on Medicare for All, affordable housing, labor rights, immigrant justice, climate action, and reducing corporate influence in politics.
Why This Race Matters: Gonzales is challenging incumbent U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper in the 2026 Democratic primary in Colorado. The race has become a high-profile ideological contest between the party’s progressive and establishment wings, with Gonzales representing a grassroots, movement-driven challenge to long-standing Democratic leadership. Her campaign is widely seen as a key test of progressive strength in a swing state with a large independent voter base.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Julie Gonzales is a community organizer, attorney, and Colorado state legislator from Denver. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and was raised in a working-class household in Colorado, where her family’s experiences with immigration, labor, and public systems shaped her early worldview. Before entering politics, she worked as an organizer with immigrant rights and progressive advocacy groups, focusing on criminal justice reform, workers’ rights, and voting access. She later served in the Colorado State Senate, where she became known for helping pass some of the state’s most significant reforms on immigration protections and civil liberties.
#18 - Claire Valdez
Race Outcome: Progressive Democrat Claire Valdez won the Democratic primary for New York’s 7th Congressional District on June 23, 2026, defeating Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and securing a major victory for the progressive movement in an open-seat contest!
Profile: New York State Assemblymember, union organizer, artist, and democratic socialist. Valdez previously worked at Columbia University, where she became active in UAW Local 2110 and organized around labor rights and workplace democracy. She is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and has been endorsed by figures including Bernie Sanders and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Core Message: Building an economy that works for working people through stronger unions, affordable housing, universal healthcare, workers’ rights, and expanded economic opportunity.
Why This Race Matters: Valdez’s victory highlights the growing influence of labor-backed and grassroots progressive candidates within Democratic politics. Winning a high-profile open-seat primary in a safely Democratic district, she is positioned to bring a strongly pro-labor, working-class perspective to Congress and represents the continued rise of progressive organizing in New York City.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Claire Valdez grew up in Lubbock, Texas in a working-class, politically aware household during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. As a teenager, she was already expressing politics through art- she entered a congressional art competition with an anti-war piece that was selected for display in Washington, D.C., an early moment that shaped her sense of political voice and public accountability. Before entering politics, she worked low-wage service jobs while studying and later moved to New York, where she became a union organizer at Columbia University with UAW Local 2110. Her experience organizing coworkers into collective action- and seeing firsthand how workplace democracy operated inside a union- became the foundation for her political identity around labor power, tenant rights, and working-class politics.
#19 - Adam Hamawy
Race Outcome: Progressive Democrat Dr. Adam Hamawy won the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District on June 2, 2026, defeating twelve other candidates in a crowded open-seat contest to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman. He will advance to the general election as the Democratic nominee in a district that has long favored Democrats!
Profile: Plastic and reconstructive surgeon, combat trauma surgeon, U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, and humanitarian. Hamawy served in Iraq and Haiti and is widely known for helping save the life of Senator Tammy Duckworth after she was severely wounded in combat. His campaign attracted support from progressive leaders and organizations including Bernie Sanders, Ro Khanna, Ilhan Omar, Justice Democrats, and Our Revolution.
Core Message: Plastic and reconstructive surgeon, combat trauma surgeon, U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, and humanitarian. Hamawy served in Iraq and Haiti and is widely known for helping save the life of Senator Tammy Duckworth after she was severely wounded in combat. His campaign attracted support from progressive leaders and organizations including Bernie Sanders, Ro Khanna, Ilhan Omar, Justice Democrats, and Our Revolution.
Why This Race Matters: Hamawy’s victory demonstrates the strength of grassroots progressive organizing in a highly competitive open-seat primary. Backed by a coalition of labor, anti-war, and progressive reform groups, his win shows that candidates running on healthcare, economic fairness, and people-powered politics can succeed even in large, crowded fields. If elected in November, Hamawy would bring both military and medical experience to Congress while adding another progressive voice to the House Democratic caucus.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign:
Dr. Adam Hamawy is a combat trauma surgeon, U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, and physician running for U.S. House in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District. He grew up in New Jersey in a working-class immigrant family and entered military service through ROTC at Rutgers University. His career has taken him from battlefield medicine in Iraq to civilian and international humanitarian work, where he has treated patients in high-conflict and disaster settings. He is also widely recognized for providing emergency surgical care to Sen. Tammy Duckworth after she was critically wounded in Iraq. Hamawy’s campaign is shaped by his experience as a military doctor and surgeon, with a focus on healthcare access, veterans’ care, and strengthening public health systems.
#20 - Charles Booker
Race Outcome: Progressive Democrat Charles Booker won the Democratic primary for Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race in May 2026, defeating former state Representative Pamela Stevenson to earn the Democratic nomination. He will face Republican Andy Barr in the general election for Kentucky’s open U.S. Senate seat!
Profile: Former Kentucky state representative, attorney, and grassroots organizer from Louisville. Booker rose to national prominence during his 2020 Senate campaign and later founded Hood to the Holler, a grassroots organizing group. He has been endorsed by Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the Working Families Party.
Core Message: Booker is running on healthcare for all, workers’ rights, reproductive freedom, voting rights, climate action, and building a multiracial working-class coalition across Kentucky.
Why This Race Matters: Booker’s campaign is testing whether a grassroots progressive can compete statewide in deep-red Kentucky. A victory would make him Kentucky’s first Black U.S. senator and add another strong progressive voice to the Senate.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Charles Booker is a lifelong Kentuckian, organizer, and former state representative from Louisville’s West End, one of the state’s most economically challenged communities. Raised in a working-class family, he has spoken about experiencing poverty firsthand, including times of food and housing insecurity, and he has also publicly shared his experience living with Type 1 diabetes and struggling to afford insulin—an issue that became central to his focus on healthcare access. Before entering Congress, Booker became one of the youngest Black members of the Kentucky House in decades and later built a statewide grassroots organizing effort through Hood to the Holler, focused on uniting working-class communities across rural and urban Kentucky around economic justice.
#21 - Abdul El-Sayed
RACE OUTCOME: Progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic primary for Michigan’s U.S. Senate race in August 2026, narrowly defeating U.S. Representative Haley Stevens to earn the Democratic nomination. He will face Republican Mike Rogers in the general election for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat.
Profile: Physician, epidemiologist, and progressive Democratic candidate who previously served as Executive Director of the Detroit Health Department and later as Director of Health, Human, and Veterans Services for Wayne County. El-Sayed first rose to national prominence during his 2018 Michigan gubernatorial campaign, where he ran a grassroots, small-dollar-funded campaign and became one of the most visible progressive candidates in the country.
Core Message: Expanding Medicare for All, canceling medical debt, lowering the cost of living, increasing taxes on billionaires and large corporations, strengthening labor protections, and investing heavily in public health infrastructure. He also advocates for a foreign policy centered on human rights and reducing unconditional U.S. military support to governments engaged in rights violations.
Why This Race Matters: El-Sayed is running in the Michigan U.S. Senate race for an open seat, a key battleground contest that could help determine control of the Senate. The race is also seen as a major ideological test within the Democratic Party, highlighting tensions between progressive and establishment wings. If elected, he would be the first Muslim American U.S. senator in history.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Abdul El-Sayed is a Michigan-born physician and public health leader raised in southeast Michigan by Egyptian immigrant parents. He studied at the University of Michigan, was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, and earned his medical degree from Columbia University. Before entering politics, he led Detroit’s health department, focusing on issues like lead exposure, health inequities, and expanding access to care. His work in public health- especially in underserved urban communities- shapes his political focus on healthcare as a right, environmental justice, and economic fairness.
#22 - Oliver Larkin
Running In: U.S. House, Florida’s 23rd Congressional District
Profile: Progressive Democratic candidate, organizer, and former campaign staffer who has worked in grassroots political organizing across multiple states. Larkin gained experience working on Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and later continued in progressive movement politics through organizing roles and labor-related advocacy. He is now running for Congress in South Florida as part of a Democratic Socialist-aligned progressive slate.
Core Message: Medicare for All, a $25 minimum wage, universal childcare, climate resilience, labor rights and union power, public ownership or stronger regulation of essential utilities (including water systems), immigration justice, LGBTQIA+ protections, and a foreign policy that reduces U.S. military intervention abroad while prioritizing human rights and humanitarian aid.
Why This Race Matters: Larkin is challenging a more moderate incumbent in a district that reflects broader national tensions inside the Democratic Party between establishment Democrats and a growing progressive wing. His campaign is part of a wider effort by democratic socialists and left-wing organizers to shift policy priorities toward affordability, healthcare expansion, and anti-corporate reform in high-cost coastal districts.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Oliver Larkin is a South Florida native raised in Fort Lauderdale in a family connected to public service. Before running for office, he worked in campaign organizing, digital strategy, and labor advocacy, including helping unionize workplaces and supporting progressive electoral efforts through organizations aligned with Bernie Sanders’ political network. He has also worked in communications and organizing roles within broader progressive infrastructure, later returning to his home region to run for office amid rising housing costs and economic pressure in South Florida.
#23 - Jeromie Whalen
Running In: U.S. House, Massachusetts’s 1st Congressional District
Profile: High school teacher, union member, and progressive Democratic challenger running against longtime incumbent Richard Neal. Whalen has spent over a decade teaching media and communications at Northampton High School and is also a Ph.D. student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst focused on learning technologies and education. He has been active in public education, union organizing, and community civic engagement across Western Massachusetts.
Core Message: Economic populism centered on Medicare for All, lowering the cost of living, expanding labor and union power, strengthening public education funding, housing reform to address affordability, climate action, and reducing corporate influence in politics through campaign finance reform.
Why This Race Matters: Whalen is challenging Richard Neal, one of the most entrenched Democrats in Congress and a powerful figure on House Ways and Means. The race reflects a broader ideological divide within the Democratic Party between establishment leadership and a growing progressive movement focused on healthcare, housing, and economic reform in safe Democratic districts.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Jeromie Whalen is a Western Massachusetts native from Belchertown who now lives in South Hadley. He has spent his career in the classroom, working directly with students navigating a rapidly changing world, while also organizing with fellow educators to fight for better schools and stronger public services. His politics are shaped less by Washington strategy than by everyday conversations with students, parents, and teachers trying to make life work under rising costs and stretched systems. His campaign comes out of that lived experience: a belief that public education, working people, and local communities deserve more than maintenance—they deserve investment, dignity, and a real voice in shaping the future.
#24 - Karishma Manzur
Running In: U.S. Senate, New Hampshire
Profile: Medical scientist, nonprofit leader, and progressive Democratic candidate running for New Hampshire’s open U.S. Senate seat. Karishma Manzur holds a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology and spent over 20 years working in biomedical research focused on neurological and mental health conditions before moving into nonprofit and advocacy work. She has served on the boards of NH Ranked Choice Voting, NH Open Democracy, and previously NH Peace Action, focusing on reducing corporate influence in politics and expanding democratic participation.
Core Message: Ending corporate and billionaire influence in politics, expanding Medicare for All–style healthcare access, tackling the cost of living crisis through housing and childcare reform, strengthening climate action, and building a foreign policy centered on diplomacy and reducing military escalation.
Why This Race Matters: Manzur is part of a competitive Democratic primary in New Hampshire’s open Senate race, challenging established political figures in a cycle that will help shape the ideological direction of the party in a key battleground state. The race is also part of a broader national debate over corporate money in politics, foreign policy, and the future of the Democratic coalition heading into 2026.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Karishma Manzur is a scientist-turned-public advocate who built her career studying complex diseases before shifting toward political reform and grassroots organizing. Her campaign is shaped by a belief that government should function like public service again- guided by evidence, accountable to ordinary people, and focused on solving real-world problems like healthcare access, economic insecurity, and democratic integrity.
#25 - Hartzell Gray
Running In: U.S. House, Missouri’s 4th Congressional District
Profile: Radio host, community organizer, and progressive Democratic candidate from Kansas City running for Missouri’s 4th Congressional District. Gray has worked in local media and grassroots activism, including tenant organizing and involvement with Kansas City housing justice movements such as KC Tenants, building a public profile as a working-class communicator and advocate for renters and working families.
Core Message: Housing as a human right, Medicare for All, raising wages and guaranteeing good jobs, protecting union power, addressing the climate crisis, reducing corporate influence in politics, and expanding civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ people and immigrant communities.
Why This Race Matters: Gray is part of a crowded Democratic primary in a deeply contested Missouri district that includes rural and urban communities with very different political priorities. The race reflects a broader national struggle within the Democratic Party between establishment candidates and a growing progressive movement focused on housing, healthcare, and economic populism.
Meet the Person Behind the Campaign: Hartzell Gray is a Kansas City native who built his career in radio and community organizing, often centering conversations around housing insecurity, rent burdens, and working-class life in Missouri. His political identity is rooted in grassroots activism and local tenant organizing, shaped by years of engaging directly with people facing rising costs and economic instability in their neighborhoods.