What I Took From The Most Recent Round of Run-Offs and Primaries
What this year's runoff results reveal about the Democratic Party's future.
With fall matchups now coming into view with the most recent round of runoffs in the books, I see clear trends for the fall and for 2028 that should give everyone both hope and pause for this fall.
Democrats in Maine are blocking out the noise. Graham Planter isn’t perfect by any stretch. And, candidly, I know and have seen many (white) candidates like him before (read: Jon Fetterman) that raise red flags. But, if I’m honest, I need another Senate seat to stop Trump appointees and flip the Senate. Short of being David Duke, I want to beat Susan Collins, and it looks like Maine voters are agreeing with me. That’s a sign for hope where Democrats are putting down the Boy Scout/Girl Scout purity tests and electing people who can win statewide.
Also, as we support younger candidates with social media footprints, we should expect the kind of opposition to surface about social media posts about Planter to be the norm – for better or worse. Let’s not lose the plot, though.
The future of the Democratic Party is becoming clearer. With emerging standard bearers being a Democratic Socialist Mayor (Zohran Mamdani), and a first-term Senator from Georgia (Jon Ossoff), we’re seeing Democratic voters vote out incumbents, draw clearer lines on Israel, and elevate fresh voices over experience. Established players with long track records (think Gavin Newsom) will likely lose ground to newer faces.
Texas Democrats are eating their own. Predictably, the hangover from the Jasmine Crockett-James Talarico primary (sadly) continues. Talarico supporters want Crockett to stump for him, and many online commentators (it’s hard to determine if everyday Black voters in Texas are vexed) believe he is still not doing enough to court Black voters and Crocket herself. We even saw Black Texas Democrats “boycott” their state convention. When a candidate with as much baggage as Ken Paxton is on the other side, you’d think people would be focused on winning, but Texas Democrats are Clemsoning right now.
Jon Ossoff is going to be everyone’s favorite for 2028 by the end of the year. If it’s not clear by now, a lot of people want Jon Ossoff to be President in 2028. He should handily defeat Geoff Collins this fall in a state that has notoriously close elections. He’s young, good looking, a man, white, from a swing state, and he rhetorically punches Trumpism while sounding like Obama. In a Democratic Party that will likely shy away from diverse candidates in 2028 (people will be upset, but it’s true) where the emerging media narrative is looking for a “fresh face”, Ossoff’s speeches and campaign rallies will increasingly be picked up by your algorithm and so will the hype. Whether it carries into 2028 is an open question, but by Christmas 2026 at least, he’ll be the fan favorite for Democrats.