{"id":2500273,"date":"2025-10-17T18:37:01","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T22:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/young-primary-challengers-post-strong-fundraising-numbers\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T18:38:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T22:38:37","slug":"young-primary-challengers-post-strong-fundraising-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/young-primary-challengers-post-strong-fundraising-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"Young primary challengers post strong fundraising numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fyoung-primary-challengers-post-strong-fundraising-numbers%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2500273&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses how several young Democratic primary challengers are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cocksure-virginia-democrat-slams-media-for-reporting-her-public-pornographic-performances\/\" title=\"Virginia Democrat criticizes media for reporting her explicit public performances.\">raising significant funds<\/a>, posing a challenge to older Democratic incumbents ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. These younger candidates, often progressive activists, are gaining traction with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kevin-mccarthy-raises-record-72-4-million-in-2021\/\" title=\"Kevin McCarthy Raises Record .4 Million In 2021\">strong fundraising numbers<\/a> that in some cases surpass those of veteran lawmakers such as Reps.Mike Thompson, Brad Sherman, and John Larson. The Democratic Party is experiencing tension between its established leadership and a rising wave of younger candidates advocating for change, highlighted by the example of activist David Hogg, who was removed from a DNC leadership position after endorsing challengers over incumbents.Fundraising leaders among Democrats include newer faces such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Hakeem Jeffries, while the Senate races also see dynamics with establishment-backed candidates and progressive-backed opponents.The primaries are expected to happen mainly between March and August 2026.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Democratic incumbents face young primary challengers with strong fundraising numbers<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2376150\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Several <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democratic-party\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Democratic<\/a> incumbents are seeing their young <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/MIDTERM-ELECTIONS\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">primary<\/a> opponents boast <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-stops-in-dalton-ga-to-rally-with-supporters\/\" title=\"Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stops in Dalton, Ga. to rally with supporters\">impressive fundraising numbers<\/a> as the party toils between placing its faith in its incumbent establishment or in a future featuring younger, more progressive candidates.<\/p>\n<p>As some younger Democratic activists advocate fresher candidates to represent the party, they have gotten caught in the crosshairs of the priorities of the more senior establishment. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/david-hogg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Hogg<\/a>, the 25-year-old March For Our Lives activist, was ousted from his former role as vice president of the Democratic National Committee after supporting several primary candidates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3434025\/dnc-vote-david-hogg-fate-unites-incumbent-democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">instead of incumbents<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3854707\/jackie-norris-drops-iowa-senate-bid\/\">Iowa Senate candidate drops bid to focus on school board after superintendent was arrested by ICE<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3853543\/daniel-cameron-leading-kentucky-senate-primary-polls\/\">Daniel Cameron ahead in GOP Kentucky Senate primary polls despite raising fraction of rivals&#8217; funds<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3852570\/emilys-list-endorsement-illinois-senate-race\/\">Democrats clash over EMILY&rsquo;s List&rsquo;s early endorsement in Illinois Senate race<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>With third<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >-quarter fundraising reports coming<\/a> in this week, the party is getting a look at midterm election primary candidates who have raked in impressive fundraising numbers.<\/p>\n<p>At least six younger Democratic primary candidates took in more money in the third quarter than their 70-plus-year-old incumbent opponents, according to an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/10\/17\/democrats-old-congress-primary-fundraising?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&amp;stream=top\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Axios<\/em><\/a>  report. This includes the primary challengers to Reps. Mike Thompson (D-CA), Brad Sherman&nbsp;(D-CA), John Larson (D-CT), Ed Case (D-HI), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton&nbsp;(D-DC).<\/p>\n<p>Eric Jones is a nonprofit executive who is challenging Thompson&rsquo;s congressional seat on a platform where his No. 1 issue is making &ldquo;large corporations pay their fair share&rdquo; and refunding California families with $10,000, according to his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ericjones.us\/issues#fairsshare\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">website<\/a>. Jones had the upper hand in the third quarter in the fundraising race for California&rsquo;s 4th Congressional District with over <a href=\"https:\/\/docquery.fec.gov\/cgi-bin\/forms\/C00919100\/1921293\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$1.5 million<\/a> in total contributions, compared to incumbent Thompson&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/docquery.fec.gov\/cgi-bin\/forms\/C00326363\/1920472\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$602,773.25<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Luke Bronin, the former mayor of Hartford, Connecticut, challenging Larson in the Democratic congressional primary, is <a href=\"https:\/\/broninforcongress.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">running<\/a> &ldquo;to make life easier, healthier, and more affordable for every American,&rdquo; focusing on affordability issues. Bronin brought in over <a href=\"https:\/\/docquery.fec.gov\/cgi-bin\/forms\/C00913897\/1920867\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$1.19 million<\/a> in total third-quarter contributions compared to Larson&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/docquery.fec.gov\/cgi-bin\/forms\/C00330142\/1919518\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$804,557.49<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Out of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/raising-bythenumbers\/?office=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">top five incumbent<\/a> Democrats who are raising the most money for their 2026 House campaigns, they are all relatively newer faces to House leadership. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who has a focus on small-dollar donors, leads the pack with over $19.8 million. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is the longest-serving of the crew, and he has been on Capitol Hill since 2013. The other three are Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA), Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), and Eugene Vindman (D-VA).<\/p>\n<p>On the Senate side, Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) just jumped in, likely with the backing of the Democratic establishment, in her race to challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). However, Hogg has backed her opponent, Graham Platner, an oyster framer with Sen. Bernie Sanders&rsquo;s (I-VT) backing.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3849545\/david-hogg-endorses-janet-mills-challenger-maine-senate-race-age\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DAVID HOGG ENDORSES JANET MILLS CHALLENGER IN MAINE SENATE RACE, CITING AGE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The 2026 congressional primary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/resources\/cms-content\/documents\/2026pdates.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dates<\/a> vary but generally take place between March and August.<\/p>\n<p>The DNC did not respond to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>&lsquo;s requests for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrats face young primary challengers with strong fundraising<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3976,"featured_media":2500274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP25272593551687.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[43813,15467,35288,58120,65433],"class_list":["post-2500273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-election-race","tag-fundraising","tag-political-campaigns","tag-primary-challengers","tag-young-candidates"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP25272593551687.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2500273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2500273"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2500273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2500277,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2500273\/revisions\/2500277"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2500274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2500273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2500273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2500273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}