Tuesday’s primary elections saw a slate of progressive candidates win key Democratic races, continuing a trend of leftist candidates and political outsiders performing strongly against more centrist and established Democratic candidates. This trend appears to be upsetting leading figures in the Democratic Party. One former party leader is now calling out politicians for criticizing the party while running under its umbrella, a stance that is proving to be divisive.
Harrison criticizes outsiders running for Democratic nominations despite animosity toward party
Former Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison posted a long message on X Tuesday evening.
“I say this with no ill will or animosity,” Harrison said at the beginning of his post. “If you hate the Democratic Party, then please don’t run for our nomination.”
Harrison was adamant in his stance.
“Don’t use our resources. Don’t rely on our volunteers. Don’t use our infrastructure. Don’t ask Democrats to invest their time, money and energy in your campaign,” he said, instead calling on those who “hate” the party to “focus on building the party you actually support.”
In a follow-up post, Harrison clarified that his stance was not aimed at any particular political position.
“And let me be clear: I don’t care if you’re progressive, moderate or conservative,” Harrison explained. “I’ve worked with Democrats across the ideological spectrum.”
Instead, he said his opposition was directed at candidates who “hate the party, spend your days attacking it, and have contempt for all the people who make it possible.”
The timing of Harrison’s posts, which were made Tuesday evening, seems to indicate they were in response to that day’s Democratic primary elections, which saw a number of outsider candidates win against incumbents or establishment-backed candidates.
Most notably, all three candidates endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, each currently or formerly associated with the Democratic Socialists of America, won congressional primaries Tuesday. This slate of winning candidates includes activist Darializa Avila Chevalier, whose controversial past comments included calling former President Joe Biden a “rapist” and posting “F*** Kamala Harris” on social media.
Avila Chevalier defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat, running a campaign that criticized many of Espaillat’s policies and those of other mainstream Democrats.
Mixed reactions to Harrison’s remarks as post draws criticism of Democratic Party
Harrison’s post has drawn mixed, but largely negative, reactions. As of early Wednesday afternoon, the initial post had been viewed nearly 3 million times but had received only around 6,200 likes, compared with 2,300 quotes or reposts on X.
Some Democratic operatives and supporters applauded Harrison’s remarks. Democratic strategist and political commentator Karen Finney wrote “Amen” in agreement with Harrison.
“And don’t change your party affiliation to run in a Dem primary for president, attack the party, lose, change back to being an I but continue to attack the Dem party when you’ve never ever done the work of party building.”
However, other Democrats took issue with Harrison’s remarks.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy responded, “I don’t know man, who is ‘the Democratic Party’ if it’s not the voters? Democratic voters choose candidates, not party leaders. And party leaders need to listen to what voters are telling us — and right now they are demanding our party be bolder.”
Florida state Rep. and U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon responded, “I don’t hate America. But I am critical of it because I love it and want it to be better. Similarly, I don’t hate the party but I am critical of it because I want it to be better.”
Touting her work within the Democratic Party, Nixon told Harrison, “We need reforming sir.”
Sara McGee, a Democratic candidate for the Texas Legislature, posted a lengthy response to Harrison’s post, questioning the premise of the former DNC chair’s comments.
“So when you say ‘Don’t use our resources.’ Literally what resources?” she posted, detailing the lack of support she said she has received from the party for her race.
Other responses were more harsh.
Political commentator and former Bernie Sanders presidential campaign press secretary Briahna Joy Gray called out Harrison, writing, “Bold to say when 62% of Democrats view the party unfavorably. Progressives are the only positive thing the Dems have going, and for their trouble, the former DNC chair is on Twitter threatening them.”
Harrison’s post comes at a pivotal moment when political outsiders and leftist candidates seem to be gaining ground against more centrist and established Democrats. With millions of people engaging with Harrison’s post, the social media debate reflects a larger, ongoing competition over the direction of the Democratic Party.