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The high-stakes battle for the ideological future of the Democratic Party moves to Florida next week, before heading to New England early next month, as the 2026 primary season wraps up.
After impactful left-wing victories this month by Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed and Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in crucial Democratic Senate primaries, and a searing setback for the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), with the downing of DSA member Francesca Hong in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, the next faceoff in the party’s civil war comes Tuesday in Florida.
That’s where DSA endorsed Oliver Larkin is challenging more moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz in a key congressional swing district that’s among roughly two dozen House seats that will determine if Republicans hold onto their razor-thin majority in the midterm elections.
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Two weeks later, the party’s divisions return to a statewide stage, as longtime progressive leader Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts is facing a serious primary challenge from more moderate Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton.
A left-versus-center battle is brewing a week later in neighboring New Hampshire, in the party’s Senate primary for a crucial battleground seat Democrats must hold in the midterm elections in order to win back the chamber’s majority from the GOP.
Progressives scored their biggest victory to date a week ago, when El-Sayed narrowly edged moderate Rep. Haley Stevens to capture the party’s Senate nomination in the Great Lakes battleground, in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.
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On Tuesday, Flanagan downed moderate Democratic Rep. Angie Craig by roughly 20 points, to grab the party’s nomination in blue-leaning but competitive Minnesota, in the race to succeed another retiring Democrat, Sen. Tina Smith.
Both El-Sayed and Flanagan were backed by top far-left leaders, including progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
But in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial showdown, Hong was upset by a razor-thin margin by Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who was backed by retiring Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
Evers and Crowley, pointing to Hong’s past controversial comments on defunding the police and criticizing Thanksgiving, argued that a Hong primary victory would have boosted GOP nominee Rep. Tom Tiffany’s chances of flipping the Wisconsin governor’s mansion.
With the primary calendar winding down, here’s a closer look at the final nomination faceoffs that are dividing Democrats and giving Republicans plenty of ammunition to use in the midterms.
Florida
The 33-year-old Larkin, a veteran of Sanders’ 2016 Democratic presidential campaign, is also the only DSA-endorsed House candidate running in a crucial congressional swing district.
Larkin says he supports abolishing the U.S. Senate, arguing in a Fox News interview that it’s an “undemocratic institution.”
He agreed with socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should have been arrested during his recent trip to the U.S., and refers to Israel’s ruling coalition as a “religious supremacist regime.”
Moskowitz is a strong and vocal supporter of Israel, who has advocated for robust U.S. military and security assistance.
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The two-term federal lawmaker and former state representative and Florida FEMA director is running for re-election in the state’s newly redrawn 25th Congressional District, a Broward County-anchored seat in the southeastern corner of the red-leaning state.
Moskowitz, who enjoys establishment backing from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is also supported by AIPAC, a major-Israel aligned political group. Larkin enjoys plenty of support from top far-left leaders, including controversial political streamer Hasan Piker. Moskowitz is the polling and fundraising lead over Larkin heading into the primary.
Massachusetts
Markey is backed by a slew of progressive politicians and groups, including Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, as well as fellow Bay Stater Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a member of the far-left Squad.
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Moulton is supported by a smaller group of more moderate Democratic lawmakers and groups.
While the primary is partially viewed as a progressive versus moderate showdown, the Democratic Party’s generational showdown is very much at play in this contest.
The 80-year-old Markey has served in Congress for half a century, first in the House and since 2013 in the Senate. The 47-year-old Moulton has repeatedly emphasized it’s time for a new generation of leaders.
The push by Democrats for generational change was fueled two years ago by then-81-year-old President Joe Biden’s exit from the presidential race amid questions over his physical and mental stamina following a disastrous debate performance against President Donald Trump.
A similar generational fight is being waged in the Democratic primary in Massachusetts’ 8th Congressional District. That’s where 71-year-old Rep. Stephen Lynch, who has served in the House for a quarter-century, is being primary challenged by 39-year-old Patrick Roath.
New Hampshire
The action moves north a week later to neighboring New Hampshire, where longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the first woman in the nation’s history elected governor and to the Senate, is retiring.
Four-term Rep. Chris Pappas is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, and enjoys plenty of establishment backing, including from Shaheen and the Granite State’s other Democrat in the chamber, Sen. Maggie Hassan.
Pappas is the clear polling and fundraising leader in a race that also includes medical scientist Karishma Manzur, who is backed by a handful of progressive groups.
A backer of Israel, Pappas has been blasted over the support he’s receiving from AIPAC by Manzur, who argues Israeli has committed “genocide” against Palestinians in its war with Hamas in Gaza.
Fox News’ Matthew Donnell contributed to this report.
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