The Democratic Party’s ongoing reckoning is fueling more primaries against longtime lawmakers, new fundraising reports show — the latest in a string of signs that some veteran Democrats next year may face their toughest challenges yet, as the party grapples with generational and ideological divides.
Fourteen House Democratic incumbents are facing primary challengers who raised $100,000 or more in the most recent fundraising quarter, with nine also outraised by their primary opponents. The number includes some challengers who are pouring their own money into campaigns against entrenched incumbents, seeing the possibility of a rare political opportunity.
It’s rare for a sitting House member to lose a primary. Just four of the hundreds who ran for re-election last year — two Democrats and two Republicans — lost their bids for renomination.
But the angst within the Democratic Party about its direction is providing more financial fuel for primary challengers than in recent years. Just five House Democrats faced primary challengers who raised over $100,000 at this point in the 2024 election cycle, according to a review of campaign finance filings from October 2023.
The reports filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission, which detailed fundraising from July through September, also shed new light on intraparty fights among Republicans and on the key House and Senate races that will decide which party controls each chamber in next year’s midterm elections.
Democrats in competitive states and districts continue to rake in eye-popping sums, but the new reports show that dollars are also now flowing to Democratic primary challengers in deep-blue parts of the country, as these candidates work to reshape their party following President Donald Trump’s 2024 victory.
Two House Democratic primary challengers raised over $1 million in the most recent fundraising quarter: venture capitalist Eric Jones, 34, who contributed $149,000 of his own money and is challenging California Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson, 74, and former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, 46, who is challenging 77-year-old Rep. John Larson, a Connecticut Democrat. Thompson raised $612,000 over the same period, and Larson raised $809,000.
Three Democratic primary challengers also raised over $500,000 in the most recent quarter: former Biden White House aide Jake Levine, who is challenging Rep. Brad Sherman in California; town councilman Jack Perry, who is also running against Larson in Connecticut; and health care executive Quincy Bareebe, who is running against Rep. Steny Hoyer in Maryland. Both Perry and Bareebe almost entirely self-funded their campaigns.
Sherman raised $322,000 while Hoyer, a former top Democratic leader, raised just $43,000 in the most recent quarter, one of the lowest sums of any House Democrat. He ended September with $439,000 in his campaign account.
A Hoyer spokesperson said the congressman "is focused on holding the Trump Administration accountable, protecting democracy at home and abroad, supporting federal employees and civil servants, and delivering for Maryland’s 5th District.”
Along with Hoyer, Larson, Sherman, Thompson, the other House Democrats outraised by primary challengers include Reps. Sheila McCormick-Cherfilus of Florida, David Scott of Georgia, Ed Case of Hawaii and Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts. The District of Columbia's nonvoting delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, also raised a paltry $3,000, the smallest sum of any sitting House Democrat running for re-election.
Meanwhile, the top Democratic fundraiser in the House was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who raised nearly $4.5 million from July through September, followed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who raised $2.8 million.
Ocasio-Cortez’s fundraising prowess underscores how progressive candidates can tap into a base of energized small-dollar donors, which could also fuel progressive primary challengers.
One of the House primary challengers backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is already starting to reap some of the benefits. Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney raised $220,000 in his race against Rep. Shri Thanedar, who raised $498,000. Sanders has been making early campaign endorsements in part to give his preferred candidates an early fundraising boost.
These fundraising reports could also just be the start of signs showing unusual financial viability for Democratic primary challengers, as more candidates launch their campaigns and build their followings.
Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson announced last week that his campaign raised $200,000 in the first 36 hours after launching his primary run against Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen. The longtime congressman raised $41,000 in the third fundraising quarter, which concluded before Pearson jumped into the race, ending September with $1.8 million in his campaign account.
Democratic divides also hit Senate races
Democratic primaries against incumbents are not as common in the Senate, but Rep. Seth Moulton just launched a race against Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey this week.
Moulton’s House campaign raised $300,000 and had $2.1 million in his account, which he can use in a Senate campaign. Markey raised $756,000 and had nearly $2.7 million in cash on hand.
But the intraparty divisions are also playing out in competitive Democratic Senate primaries across the country.
One of the most contentious primaries is in Maine, where GOP Sen. Susan Collins is a top target for Democrats looking to net the four seats they need to take control of the Senate.
Oyster farmer and military veteran Graham Platner, who Sanders has endorsed, led the pack in raising $3.2 million, surpassing Collins’ $1.9 million haul and fellow Democrat Jordan Wood’s $1.5 million sum. Platner also received a PAC donation from Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills just launched a Senate run this week, after the most recent quarter ended, but announced that she had raised $1 million in the first 24 hours of her campaign.
There is also a contested primary in Michigan to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters. Rep. Haley Stevens, who also received donations from a handful of members of Congress, led the Democratic field with $1.9 million, followed by Sanders-backed physician Abdul El-Sayed, who raised nearly $1.8 million, and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who raised $1.7 million. Meanwhile, former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers raised $2.2 million.
The Texas Democratic Senate primary is also drawing millions of dollars, with state Rep. James Talarico raising nearly $6.3 million and former Rep. Colin Allred raising $4.9 million.
State Rep. Josh Turek emerged as the top fundraiser in the Iowa Senate Democratic primary, pulling in $1 million, followed by state Sen. Zach Wahls and military veteran Nathan Sage in the race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Joni Ernst. Republicans, meanwhile, have consolidated behind Rep. Ashley Hinson, who raised $1.7 million, including a $317,000 transfer from her House campaign account.
In Minnesota, Democratic Rep. Angie Craig raised $2.2 million, while Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan raised $915,000 as they battle to replace retiring Sen. Tina Smith.
GOP primary battles
A host of high-stakes, well-funded primaries are brewing on the right, too, from key states on the Senate battleground map to deep-red states featuring incumbents and open seats.
In Georgia, one of the most pivotal battleground Senate races of next year’s midterms, a handful of relatively prominent Republicans are jockeying for the right to face off against Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, a fundraising juggernaut who raised $12 million in the third quarter.
Derek Dooley, the former college football coach backed by GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, raised $1.9 million last quarter, while Rep. Michael Collins raised $1.7 million (including $65,000 in a personal contribution from Collins himself). Collins’ House GOP colleague, Rep. Buddy Carter, who was the first major candidate in the race, raised $940,000, and holds the cash-on-hand lead in the primary.
Texas is home to another important Republican primary, one that just got bigger this month with Rep. Wesley Hunt’s decision to enter the race.
Attorney General Ken Paxton paced the pack in fundraising to his campaign committee, raising $1.3 million last quarter. Sen. John Cornyn raised $910,000 to his campaign committee, but his campaign says it raised another $2.4 million into its joint fundraising committees. While Hunt had been flirting with a Senate bid for months, he didn’t announce until after the quarter closed — his House committee raised $366,000 last quarter. And Cornyn leads the pack as far as cash on hand in the candidates’ top committees — with $6 million to Paxton’s $3.2 million.
Then there are two major Republican primaries, one among Republicans looking to dethrone Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana and another in Kentucky, where Sen. Mitch McConnell’s retirement has created an open seat.
Both of Cassidy’s main challengers raised more than $1 million last quarter, state Sen. Blake Miguez raised $1.2 million and state Treasurer John Fleming raised $2.2 million. But almost all of Fleming’s haul came from his own personal wealth, and he raised about $110,000 other from individuals. Cassidy raised the most of the trio — almost $1.4 million — when that personal contribution from Fleming isn’t included.
The open GOP primary in Kentucky also includes notable names and self-funders. Nate Morris, a businessman whose pitch includes similarities to the one Vice President JD Vance made in Ohio in his foray into electoral politics, loaned his campaign $3 million, about three-quarters of his third-quarter fundraising haul. Rep. Andy Barr raised $1.8 million, while former Attorney General Daniel Cameron raised $411,000.
There are some primaries of note among House Republicans, too, but the most notable potentially endangered Republican closed the quarter with some good news.
Rep. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, whom Trump and his allies have said they will try to defeat amid his criticism of the president, raised $780,000 last quarter — more than he’s ever raised across any quarter in his congressional career.
Only one Republican incumbent was outraised by a primary challenger: Rep. John Carter of Texas, who raised just under $80,000 and closed the quarter with about $420,000 in the bank. Businessman Raymond Hamden, Carter’s primary opponent, only eclipsed Carter’s haul because of a $105,500 personal loan.
Six other House Republicans are facing primary challengers who raised at least $100,000 (including loans or contributions from those challengers): Texas Reps. Dan Crenshaw and Tony Gonzales; West Virginia Rep. Carol Miller; Colorado Rep. Jeff Hurd; Missouri Rep. Ann Wagner; and Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde.
