Progressive group launches candidate recruitment effort after brutal cycle
Progressive group Justice Democrats is expanding its 2026 midterm recruitment of working class, left-wing candidates, undeterred by President-elect Trump’s victory and emboldened by a desire to change how Democrats elect new talent under a GOP Washington.
A new memo released on Tuesday, first reported by Punchbowl News, outlines the organization’s plans to play in all 50 states, hoping to increase its bench of working-class people and curb corporate influence by taking out Democrats backed by outside spending. That includes targeting blue districts to oust centrist incumbents, the group’s signature strategy since its 2017 founding.
Executive Director Alexandra Rojas sees Democrats’ best path to long term success with leaders that resemble a diverse working class base, which in 2024 fell in large numbers to Trump and Republicans down ballot.
“To be the party of the working class, we need more working class leaders in power,” Rojas said in the document articulating the path forward. “Leaders like the elected Justice Democrats in Congress have shown us another way of doing politics is possible and represent the promise of uniting our fractured nation into a multiracial democracy where everyone thrives and no one is left behind.”
Despite Justice Democrats’ successes that helped them expand the “squad” in Congress, other efforts have been met with fierce pushback from establishment forces. Last year, they lost two prominent members, Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) after cash influxes from special interest groups and a series of poor political moves tanked their bids.
Group leaders and organizers are now hoping to use the momentum from the inordinately high spending from the country’s top 1 percent as fuel for their pitch to everyday Americans.
“Last cycle had more billionaire money than ever before – just 150 billionaire families spent nearly $2 billion to get their preferred candidates elected and win a Republican trifecta in the federal government,” the memo reads.