{"id":17327,"date":"2026-07-26T01:47:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=17327"},"modified":"2026-07-26T01:47:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:47:55","slug":"no-one-cares-the-dsa-primary-challenge-house-democrats-are-happy-to-ignore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=17327","title":{"rendered":"&quot;No one cares&quot;: The DSA primary challenge House Democrats are happy to ignore"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/gZFxdQS8kF3E9k2MEVhuJkI8vLc=\/572x622:5397x3336\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/21\/1784664078624.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t expect a lot of public lamentations from House Democrats next month if Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/04\/28\/justice-democrats-shri-thanedar-donavan-mckinney\" target=\"_blank\">Shri Thanedar<\/a> (D-Mich.) loses to his Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)-backed primary opponent.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters: <\/strong>That would be a drastic deviation from r<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/06\/24\/mamdani-lander-valdez-chevalier-espaillat-goldman\" target=\"_blank\">ecent DSA primary wins<\/a>, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/01\/melat-kiros-colorado-degette-democrats-reaction\" target=\"_blank\">set off alarm bells<\/a> among the Democratic establishment.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<ul>\n<li>In the telling of both progressive and moderate House Democrats, Thanedar&#8217;s anomalous political profile and the makeup of his district will make it difficult to extrapolate from the results of his race.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;It&#8217;s somewhat of a unique circumstance,&#8221; Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.), a top ally of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), told Axios.<\/li>\n<li>Another House Democrat, granted anonymity to offer a blunter assessment of how members are viewing the race, told Axios: &#8220;No one cares.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>State of play: <\/strong>Thanedar will face off with state Rep. Donavan McKinney in an Aug. 4 primary that has been the toughest of his career.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Thanedar is without the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/detroit\/2022\/08\/04\/shri-voters-didnt-care-racial-politics-detroit\" target=\"_blank\">main advantage<\/a> that helped him win his predominantly Black, Detroit-based seat in the last two cycles: A divided Democratic primary field of Black opponents.<\/li>\n<li>Progressives are also putting their backs into unseating Thanedar this cycle, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), DSA, Indivisible, the Working Families Party and Justice Democrats all endorsing McKinney.<\/li>\n<li>Thanedar, a wealthy businessman who largely self-funds his campaigns, is backed by AIPAC, House Democratic leadership and both the Congressional Progressive Caucus and center-left New Democrat Coalition.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Between the lines: <\/strong>Unlike in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/06\/24\/espaillat-darializa-chevalier-ny-13-results\" target=\"_blank\">New York<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/denver\/2026\/07\/01\/colorado-primary-results-melat-kiros-beats-diana-degette\" target=\"_blank\">Colorado<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/08\/democrats-jeffries-primaries-speaker-vote-dsa\" target=\"_blank\">elsewhere<\/a>, House Democrats aren&#8217;t looking at this race as a watershed fight between the DSA and Democratic establishment with national implications.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;You&#8217;re talking about Detroit,&#8221; said Meeks, noting that the city &#8220;has a large African American population&#8221; but no Black members of Congress.<\/li>\n<li>Another senior House Democrat offered a similar assessment, telling Axios: &#8220;This [race] has so many nuances because of the cultural issues in Detroit &#8230; I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s indicative of anything larger.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>That&#8217;s an assessment <\/strong>both ideological wings of the caucus also agree on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Said a senior Congressional Progressive Caucus member: &#8220;I really think it&#8217;s about a very strong Black candidate representing a Black district and <a href=\"http:\/\/wlns.com\/news\/politics\/michigan-reps-split-israel-funding\/\" target=\"_blank\">votes<\/a> the current congressman&#8217;s constituents are upset with.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>A top New Democrats member told Axios: &#8220;Of course DSA is going to claim victory \u2014 that has nothing to do with that district.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What we&#8217;re hearing: <\/strong>Thanedar&#8217;s oddball political persona and r<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/05\/14\/trump-impeachment-house-vote-shri-thanedar\" target=\"_blank\">ogue efforts to impeach President Trump<\/a> have made him something of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/05\/13\/donald-trump-impeachment-thanedar-democrats-react\" target=\"_blank\">an outcast figure<\/a> in the caucus.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think anybody would miss him at all,&#8221; said a fifth House Democrat who spoke to Axios on the condition of anonymity.<\/li>\n<li>A sixth lawmaker fumed that Thanedar &#8220;f***ing screwed us&#8221; by defying pleas from both leadership and rank-and-file members not to pursue impeachment, with several others saying he is not a &#8220;team player.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>While Thanedar has forged some relationships, colleagues largely characterized him as reserved, isolated and eccentric. When asked about him, multiple House Democrats replied facetiously: &#8220;Who?&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The other side: <\/strong>Thanedar told Axios he has &#8220;not put a huge emphasis&#8221; on endorsements from colleagues and &#8220;only recently approached members&#8221; but is &#8220;proud of the endorsements I have.&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He pointed to endorsements from more than a dozen colleagues including Jeffries and several other members of Democratic leadership, adding that &#8220;more members are expected to endorse us soon.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>The Detroit congressman also said he &#8220;did not run for Congress to be popular on the Hill,&#8221; telling Axios his &#8220;main focus has been, and will continue to be with constituents in my district.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Any of my colleagues are more than welcome to walk around my district with me and see firsthand the love my constituents have for me, and the love I have for them,&#8221; he added.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Between the lines: <\/strong>Jeffries and his deputies <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ShriThanedar\/status\/2079597276432113866?s=20\" target=\"_blank\">endorsing Thanedar<\/a> this week was in keeping with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/06\/02\/jeffries-wasserman-schultz-endorse-florida-black\" target=\"_blank\">leadership policy<\/a> of supporting incumbents in all but the most extraordinary cases.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A second senior House Democrat, asked about the endorsement, told Axios that leadership will generally stick by any member as long as they are &#8220;doing what they need to be doing and keeping their nose clean.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>The same principle applies to endorsements from ideological caucuses: &#8220;We support our incumbents,&#8221; the top New Dems member told Axios.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The bottom line: <\/strong>&#8220;No one is staying up at night worrying about him,&#8221; said the first House Democrat who spoke to Axios anonymously.<\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Don&#8217;t expect a lot of public lamentations from House Democrats next month if Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) loses to his Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)-backed primary opponent. Why it matters: That would be a drastic deviation from recent DSA primary wins, which set off alarm bells among the Democratic establishment. In the telling of both&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/gZFxdQS8kF3E9k2MEVhuJkI8vLc=\/572x622:5397x3336\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/21\/1784664078624.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}