Has Chuck Schumer Lost The Left?
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other establishment Democrats are facing growing pressure after another round of primary results showed progressive candidates gaining ground inside the party. The latest setback came Tuesday in Minnesota, where Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Her victory came despite Schumer backing Rep. Angie Craig, […]
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other establishment Democrats are facing growing pressure after another round of primary results showed progressive candidates gaining ground inside the party.
The latest setback came Tuesday in Minnesota, where Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Her victory came despite Schumer backing Rep. Angie Craig, who had been viewed as the more moderate choice in the race.
Flanagan, who serves as lieutenant governor under Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, has positioned herself firmly on the party’s progressive wing. During her victory speech, she made immigration enforcement one of the central issues of the night and sharply criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement under President Donald Trump.
“Now let’s talk about Donald Trump’s out-of-control ICE force,” Flanagan said. “We need to rip ICE apart and stop them from terrorizing our communities.”
She also argued that immigration policy should include stronger border security along with a pathway to citizenship.
Her comments came after Minnesota became a major flashpoint in the immigration debate earlier this year. In January, Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed during separate confrontations involving federal immigration agents, adding to tensions over ICE operations in the state.
Flanagan’s win is the latest example of Democratic primary voters choosing candidates aligned with the party’s progressive wing over candidates favored by establishment leaders.
A similar result came last week in Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed narrowly won the Democratic Senate primary. El-Sayed had the support of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and other prominent figures on the left.
Republicans have been quick to seize on the results, arguing that the Democratic Party is moving too far left ahead of the November elections.
Bernadette Breslin, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, portrayed the recent primary outcomes as another blow to Schumer.
“Morale among Chuck Schumer’s establishment is at an all-time low, and Bernie Sanders’ socialist flank is filling the gap with candidates like Peggy Flanagan and Abdul El-Sayed,” Breslin told Fox News.
The tension between progressive candidates and the Democratic establishment has been building for months.
In June, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed three socialist candidates who went on to defeat establishment-backed Democratic opponents. Other progressive candidates have also scored victories around the country, fueling arguments that Democratic voters are becoming more receptive to politicians who openly embrace the Democratic Socialist label.
For Schumer and other longtime party leaders, those results create a difficult political problem. Candidates who excite the party’s progressive base may perform well in Democratic primaries, but Republicans are betting that their positions will be harder to sell to a broader electorate in November.
That has left the GOP openly celebrating several Democratic primary outcomes. President Trump and other Republican leaders have suggested that candidates such as Flanagan and El-Sayed could make it easier for Republicans to hold or expand their Senate majority.
The general election will test that theory.
If Republicans defeat the progressive nominees, Democratic leaders could face new questions about whether the party’s leftward movement is costing it competitive seats. If those progressive candidates win, however, the balance of power inside the Democratic Party could shift further away from figures such as Schumer and toward a younger, more openly progressive group of lawmakers.