Democrats hit the anti-incumbency trap

Democrats are discovering the hard way that the anti-incumbency wave flooding the country has no party loyalty. Axios reports that progressive candidates have now defeated party-backed establishment favorites in three straight House primaries. Former state representative Amish Shah won in Michigan despite a half-million-dollar ad campaign opposing him, while Randy Villegas in California and Matt Dunlap in Maine similarly beat the party's preferred candidates. Democratic leaders worry these anti-establishment nominees, while energizing the left, may struggle in swing districts that will decide control of the House. There's more: redistricting has shifted advantage to Republicans, and the Senate map looks bleaker still. Party strategists say they can't spare a single winnable seat—yet progressives counter that their anti-status-quo message is exactly what voters want in this moment of deep institutional distrust.

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