primaries

Not every member of Congress can be AOC or even earn an A for their voting records. In fact, ProgressivePunch only has 46 "A" ratings right now. 7 of them are for New York Democrats-- but Rochester freshman Joseph Morelle isn't one of them. Unfortunately, he's not among the members with "B"...

Maryland's 7th congressional district-- plus the suburbs and small towns to the west and to the north of the city including Ellicott City, Cooksville and Columbia-- is so blue (D+26) that the election that matters is not in November but 43 days from today-- primary day in Maryland. Whichever Democrat wins on that day, will be the next Congress member. The choice isn't between a Democrat and a Republican.

California is a blue state but the Republican wing of the Democratic Party is very strong in the state. There are 46 California Democrats serving in the House. Believe me, they're not all like Barbara Lee, Ted Lieu, Ro Khanna or Judy Chu.

Remember that series I started a couple of months ago to demonstrate how candidates can write worthwhile e-mails rather than the hackish garbage turned out by the media consultants spawned by the DCCC? We've got another one today, this by the progressive mayor of Milwaukie, Oregon, Mark Gamba, who is competing for a congressional seat with reactionary Blue Dog Kurt Schrader.

Please listen to this 44 minute interview that Nicole Sandler did with Cenk Uygur a few days ago on her show. It would be enough to make the mythical centrist's blood boil-- if there were any mythical centrists and they weren't all as prevalent as unicorns. Do you think the party leadership wants to hear, "We can win this race and we can rock this country?" They don't.

In a new note to her supporters, Will County board member, Rachel Ventura, the progressive running for Congress in IL-11, articulated something that most of the primary candidates we’ve been talking with have been saying.

Many progressive activists seem not so progressive when they try analyzing the race to replace Katie Hill in CA-25. Some worry that Cenk Uygur's entry into the race might somehow result in a Republican victory in this relatively new district with a Democratic registration advantage whose special election jungle primary takes place on March 3, the same day Californians flood to the polls to pick the Democrat they want to see take on Trump in November.New district? Yes. CA-25, when it was a GOP bastion, was, geographically, the biggest district in California, stretching from northern L.A.

Late yesterday you may have seen the new Boston Globe poll of New Hampshire Democratic primary voters by Suffolk. Bernie led the pack, followed by Elizabeth Warren, Mayo Pete... and Status Quo Joe bringing up the rear.

It's crucially important to get to know who a candidate is in order to be able to predict what kind of a member of Congress they are likely to be-- not just how they will vote-- but also how they will lead, how competent and effective they will be, etc. Recently, we asked incisive author, labor activist, author and former congressional candidate Jonathan Tasini to spend some time with Central Valley progressive Kim Williams. The resulting interview on the Working Life Podcast (above) offers one of the best opportunities to get to know Williams.

Early this month we met Lauren Ashcraft, the progressive alternative to Wall Street-friendly Upper East Side Democrat Carolyn Maloney.