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Seven Primaries That Could Tear Democrats Apart In 2026

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With the 2026 midterms fast approaching, seven intense Democratic primary contests are taking shape across the country and highlighting divisions regarding the future of the party.

As Democrats look to reclaim control of Congress after Republican gains in 2024, several key battles could play a decisive role in determining the party’s chances at earning a majority in either chamber.

In California, the race to replace Governor Gavin Newsom is heating up, with a matchup between former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter and current Rep. Eric Swalwell taking center stage.

Porter opted not to seek reelection to her House seat in 2024, instead running for Dianne Feinstein’s open U.S. Senate seat. She finished third behind Democrat Adam Schiff and Republican candidate and former professional baseball player Steve Garvey. She is now mounting a statewide comeback with a bid for governor.

A series of videos showed Porter lashing out at a reporter during an interview and berating a staff member, opening the door for another Democrat to enter the race. California Rep. Eric Swalwell stepped into the breach in November, positioning himself as the candidate that will be a “fighter and protector.”

The two, however, risk splitting the Democratic vote, as California uses a top-two open primary system. All candidates appear on the same ballot and the two highest vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party. A recent poll showed how the intra-party fight between Porter and Swalwell is benefiting Republican candidates.

An Emerson College poll from December shows two Republican gubernatorial candidates, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News host Steve Hilton, in a virtual three-way tie with Swalwell. It’s possible that if Democratic support doesn’t coalesce around either Porter or Swalwell, voters in the deep blue state could be choosing between two Republicans in the general.

Just north of Sacramento, another competitive race is emerging to fill Democratic California Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat, after she announced she will not seek reelection ahead of the 2026 midterms. Pelosi has represented the San Francisco area for 20 terms and has served twice as Speaker of the House.

Pelosi served as a key foil to the Democratic ‘Squad’ while serving as speaker, and her exit opens the door for the far left of the party to consolidate more power. Neither candidate vying to replace her carries the experience of a longtime political tactician like Pelosi, and both boast far more progressive policy platforms.

California State Senator Scott Wiener, who has represented much of San Francisco in the state Senate since 2016, has announced his candidacy for the 11th congressional district.

Wiener previously authored a 2019 bill aimed at reducing certain sex offender registry requirements in the state, calling the existing policy “blatant discrimination against LGBT young people regarding California’s sex offender registry.”

Wiener initially said he would not challenge the former speaker for her seat, yet he announced a campaign shortly before Pelosi revealed she would be retiring. He explained that the move was necessary after Saikat Chakrabarti — former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and co-founder of Justice Democrats — launched a self-funded bid for the seat, reshaping the primary dynamics, according to a CNN report.

Chakrabarti had announced his challenge to Pelosi earlier in 2025, campaigning on a progressive platform that includes Medicare-for-All, affordable housing, and higher taxes on billionaires.

The former chief of staff had previously helped orchestrate Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 upset victory, played a key role in drafting and promoting the Green New Deal, and worked on Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign — experience he now highlights as central to his political credentials.

On the East Coast in Maine, a heated Democratic Senate primary is underway between establishment party candidate and current Maine governor Janet Mills, who has the backing of the Democratic political machine, and “working-class” candidate Graham Platner. Both are aiming to unseat current incumbent Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins.

Mills, if elected, would be one of the oldest freshman senators at 77 years old, and is currently under fire for supporting taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants and defying President Donald Trump’s executive order to prohibit men from competing in women’s sports.

Platner, a political first-timer who has become a progressive darling, is angling his campaign around Democratic populist policies like Medicare-for-All, labor protections, climate action, and anti-corruption reforms.

He’s been drawing large crowds, even as he faces controversies over past social media posts and a tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol which he had covered up.

In Maine, another significant race is unfolding in the state’s 2nd Congressional District following Rep. Jared Golden’s surprise announcement that he will not seek reelection.

Before Golden bowed out on Nov. 5, State Auditor and former Secretary of State Matt Dunlap had already launched a primary challenge on Oct. 6, criticizing Golden’s moderate record and his frequent alignment with Republicans. It marked the first primary challenge Golden had faced since 2018. 

Prior to ending his campaign, Golden released polling indicating that he had the best shot at holding the seat for Democrats — and his exit suggests Democrats will have to dump a lot more money into the race than anticipated.

In that poll, Dunlap was trailing former Republican Maine Governor Paul LePage by 10 points, according to a NOTUS report.

Dunlap is not the only Democrat trying to replace Golden. Jordan Wood, a former chief of staff to Katie Porter and vice president at End Citizens United, initially launched a campaign for Collins’s Senate seat, but shifted to the race for the 2nd Congressional District on Nov. 12 shortly after Golden announced he would not seek reelection.

He comes to the race with Washington experience and is significantly younger than the 61-year-old Dunlap.

The first-time candidate has centered his campaign on economic issues affecting working families and already has a $1 million war chest from his Senate campaign.

Down in the Longhorn state, Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett announced her run for Republican Sen. John Cornyn’s seat in the final hours of the filing period. Her entry into the Democratic primary roiled the party, with former Rep. Colin Allred suspending his campaign and opting to run for a North Texas congressional seat against an incumbent Democrat.

Crockett will go up against State Rep. James Talarico, a former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian.

Talarico’s campaign platform is based on his fight as a state representative leading the “fight against the billionaire mega-donors and puppet politicians.” He says he is now running to fight against “corruption” in Washington and “win back power for working people,” according to his campaign website.

Crockett’s entry into the race threatens to take a potentially competitive state off the table for Democrats. She has expressed that she has no intention of trying to win over Trump supporters and is running on an unabashedly progressive platform, compared to Talarico’s left-populist agenda. Yet her loyal left-wing base makes her a strong contender to win the primary.

In fact, Crockett is seen as so toxic that Republicans reportedly goaded her to run so they could better protect the seat.

The National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC) began testing Crockett’s name in internal polling in July, as first reported by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The results showed her leading a hypothetical Democratic primary. In the months that followed, the NRSC quietly encouraged Crockett to enter the race, a push that ultimately led her to join the Senate Democratic primary at the last minute.

GOP insiders believe either the incumbent Cornyn or Attorney General Ken Paxton would breeze to victory against Crockett, allowing them to save valuable resources for other races throughout the country.

In Massachusetts, Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton, is making generational change the centerpiece of his campaign against incumbent Sen. Ed Markey. Moulton argues that Democrats need new leadership after the 79-year-old senator’s nearly half-century in Congress — Markey would be 86 at the end of another term if reelected.

Moulton, a 47-year-old former Marine, previously beat incumbent Rep. John Tierney in 2014 and voted to block Democrat California Rep. Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the House in 2018, according to a Politico report.

Moulton has faced backlash in his overwhelmingly blue state for tacking to the center. He suggested that his party’s recent electoral setbacks were tied to its stance on allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports, according to a New York Times report.

His comments prompted his campaign manager to resign, drew a public rebuke from the state’s Democratic governor, and even led a Tufts University political science chair to threaten to stop sending students to intern in his office.

Markey — often viewed as more progressive than the moderate, reform-minded Moulton — has indirectly rejected claims he is too old to run for reelection, highlighting his alleged energy, fresh ideas, and commitment during crises like the government shutdown.

Following mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City, Democrats are now turning their attention to holding the governor’s office in the Empire State.

Incumbent Democrat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who previously served as lieutenant governor under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and assumed the governorship in August 2021 following his resignation, is running to maintain her residency in Albany.

She made a late appearance alongside Mamdani in his mayoral campaign, publicly throwing her support behind him and pointedly snubbing Cuomo, who had launched an independent bid after losing the primary to Mamdani.

Hochul is facing a primary challenge from her own lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, who launched his bid in an effort to unseat Hochul in June.

Delgado spent three years in the U.S. House before Hochul tapped him in 2022 to serve as lieutenant governor, making him the first Latino to hold statewide office in New York.

In a video previewing his announcement, he appears speaking to New Yorkers across the city while calling for “universal health care,” “universal pre-K,” and pledging to fight “the Trump administration’s attacks” on deep-blue New York.

Although Hochul and Delgado began their tenure on good terms and were elected to full terms together, their relationship has cooled as they diverged on key issues, even as the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) has signaled its full support for Hochul heading into the 2026 primary.

Delgado’s public divergences with Hochul began to surface most clearly when he urged President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. After the election, he reinforced that message in a New York Times op-ed calling for the Democratic Party to change direction, concluding with the line: “A new path is both necessary and possible, but we will not chart it with the same politicians telling the same old stories. We are ready for the next generation.”

He later deepened the divide by calling for New York City Mayor Eric Adams to resign, even as Hochul adopted a more measured approach. The split over Adams prompted spokesperson Avi Small Hogrebe to issue a statement underscoring that “Lieutenant Governor Delgado does not now and has not ever spoken on behalf of this administration.”

These tensions — driven by disagreements over party loyalty, political strategy, and generational change — ultimately led Hochul to remove most of Delgado’s staff and resources, underscoring the widening rift between them, according to a Politico report.

Over the past year, Delgado has gone from a somewhat reluctant lieutenant governor to a political outcast who is no longer on speaking terms with Hochul.

Polls show the Republican frontrunner, Rep. Elise Stefanik, performing slightly better against Delgado, though neither matchup appears to be particularly competitive.

Recent special election and off-year victories for Democrats have the party convinced they’re looking at a blue wave in the 2026 midterms. Even if they are able to regain the majority in Congress, the tense fight between progressives and moderates and younger and older candidates threatens to severely bruise the Democrats in the process.

AUTHOR

Ashley Brasfield

Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Democrats Who Backed Obama’s Unilateral Bombings Now Have Problem With Trump’s Iran Strike

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Democrats who voiced no concern about former President Barack Obama dropping bombs without congressional approval are now slamming President Donald Trump for striking Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Several Democrats who supported Obama’s Libya strike in 2011 slammed Trump’s Saturday attack on three Iranian nuclear sites as unconstitutional. Iran launched a strike on a U.S. Air Force Base in Qatar Monday, though there were no casualties reported.

Democratic California Rep. Nancy Pelosi said on Saturday Trump “ignored the Constitution by unilaterally engaging our military without Congressional authorization.” Yet Pelosi defended Obama’s ability to move forward in Libya without Congress in 2011.

Pelosi’s office pointed the Daily Caller News Foundation to a 2011 DOJ Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memo finding “prior congressional approval was not constitutionally required to use military force in the limited operations under consideration.” Obama’s strike followed the United Nations authorizing a military intervention in Libya.

Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, who called Trump’s Iran attack “illegal and unconstitutional,” indicated in 2011 that Obama’s Libya strike was a “good decision.” Markey’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Though the Constitution’s text gives Congress the sole authority to declare war, George Washington University Professor Jonathan Turley argued Trump is supported by precedent.

“Fourteen years ago this week, I represented a group of bipartisan members of Congress in challenging the Obama administration’s decision to attack Libya without a declaration of war,” he wrote for The Hill. “It is a curious anniversary of the litigation, because many of the politicians and pundits who supported (or remained silent on) the action of President Barack Obama are now appalled that President Trump is considering an attack on the Iranian nuclear facility at Fordow, which is buried deep in a mountain.”

Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the strikes are “absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”

“The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers,” she wrote on X. “He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations.”

Ocasio-Cortez has previously expressed opposition to the “outdated” Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) approved after September 11, 2001.

Turley wrote on his Substack that impeachment calls “are absurd given the prior actions of presidents in using this very authority.”

“Once again, some Democrats appear intent on applying a different set of rules for impeaching Trump than any of his predecessors,” he wrote.

Some Democrats have remained more consistent: Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur opposed Obama’s 2011 strike, and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said using military force against ISIS lacked “legal authority” without congressional authorization. Both criticized Trump’s Iran strikes.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday Congress was notified “after the planes were safely out” to comply with the War Powers Act of 1973. The act states that the president must notify Congress within 48 hours of military action and limits the use of armed forces without congressional authorization to 60 days.

Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who introduced a resolution with California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna June 17 to restrict military action in Iran, has also said the strike was unconstitutional. The resolution reached 57 cosponsors on Monday, Massie wrote on X.

Trump slammed Massie on Truth Social Sunday, calling him “a simple minded ‘grandstander’ who thinks it’s good politics for Iran to have the highest level Nuclear weapon, while at the same time yelling ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ at every chance they get.”

“Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky is not MAGA, even though he likes to say he is,” he said. “Actually, MAGA doesn’t want him, doesn’t know him, and doesn’t respect him.”

Trump’s team launched the Kentucky MAGA PAC to defeat Massie during the 2026 midterms, Axios reported Sunday.

George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin, who argued Trump’s actions did violate the Constitution and the War Powers Act, told the DCNF impeachment calls are justified but unlikely to succeed.

“I think the impeachment calls are well-justified, especially given multiple other actions by Trump that qualify for impeachment, such as massive abuse of emergency powers, illegal detention and deportation without due process, and more,” he told the DCNF. “But I also think they are – at this time – highly unlikely to succeed.”

John Yoo, a UC Berkeley law professor and former Department of Justice (DOJ) official, said Trump is acting within his constitutional powers, noting “Presidents and Congresses have long understood that Presidents must act quickly and decisively to forestall threats on our national security.”

“Congress can choose to cooperate or to check Presidents with the power of the purse (as it did to end the war in Vietnam),” he told the DCNF. “Instead of claiming that President Trump has violated the Constitution, those on the far right and the far left should stop distorting the law and try to persuade Congress to cut off funds, if they dare, for the weapons systems and deployments that achieved the dramatic attacks on Iran.”

Trump does not need congressional approval based on the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy argued in National Review. The authorization allows the president to use all necessary force against those that “planned, authorized, committed or aided” 9/11 terror attacks or who “harbored” those groups.

Debates about an AUMF for Iran have been “confined mainly to a handful of lawmakers who oppose American intervention and who regard the prospect of an AUMF debate not as good constitutional governance but as a way to forestall a U.S. attack,” McCarthy wrote Saturday.

“President Trump won’t ask for congressional authorization,” he wrote. “Sadly, that is a relief to the people’s representatives in both chambers. The vast majority of lawmakers split into two camps, neither of which has a political incentive to vindicate congressional war powers.”

AUTHOR

Katelynn Richardson

Investigative Reporter.

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