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Now top liberal groups and figures including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), the Working Families Party and Indivisible are looking to oust the 13-year incumbent from Congress. Theyve lined up behind Jamie McLeod-Skinner, a school board member from central Oregon whos challenging Schrader from the left, in what could become the next marquee Democratic House primary to watch.

In this Aug. 6, 2018 photo, Democratic congressional candidate Jamie McLeod-Skinner speaks during an interview in Redmond, Oregon.|Andrew Selsky/AP Photo

After a year of bitter legislative feuds between progressives and moderate Democrats, the contest in Oregons 5th Congressional District is the latest example of high-profile liberal groups targeting centrists who they believe undermined President Joe Bidens agenda. There are signs that McLeod-Skinner could have an opening: Her campaign has conducted an internal poll, first shared with POLITICO, that shows her trailing Schrader by only 3 percentage points. But in a race that will be judged as a test of the lefts strength, Schrader also has considerable advantages chief among them, his enormous financial lead over McLeod-Skinner.

Kurt Schrader has turned his back on what the majority of the American electorate needed and wanted, which is a functioning, competent government, said Natalia Salgado, treasurer of the Working Families Partys political action committee. Progressives across the country are really looking and chomping at the bit to very much go after incumbents that are not reflective of the values that we espouse.

The May 17 primary in Oregon comes as liberals are looking to mount a comeback after a series of losses across the country last year. In the first congressional races of 2022, which took place in Texas, the left saw mixed results. Toppling a centrist Democratic incumbent would be a significant morale boost for the progressive movement.

In a twist for liberals, who have made gains in recent years by challenging Democratic incumbents in deep-blue areas, the primary race in Oregon is for a newly-redrawn battleground seat Schrader is on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committees list of frontliners in competitive districts. Moderates are worried that McLeod-Skinner would lose a general election, and the race could attract outside spending by centrist Democratic groups looking to protect the seat.

Its a terrible idea. You couldnt have picked a worse year to be putting an at-risk incumbent even more at-risk and putting a district out of reach if he loses the primary, said Matt Bennett, co-founder of the center-left group Third Way. A far-left candidate is not going to win a D+1 district.

There is evidence of some dissatisfaction and unfamiliarity with Schrader among Democratic voters. About half of the redrawn district is new. McLeod-Skinner has been endorsed by four county Democratic Parties, including in Schraders home county of Clackamas. Two of the counties backing McLeod-Skinner are not currently represented by Schrader. Some local Democratic committee people who were just added to the district have said they dont view Schrader as an incumbent.

A number of unions have also gotten behind McLeod-Skinner, including the Oregon Education Association, Service Employees International Union Oregon and United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 555.

Schrader angered organized labor when he voted against the PRO Act, which would boost the rights of unions, in 2020. He later voted for the bill, though he said he would take a close look at any changes made in the Senate before committing my vote if it returned to the House for final passage.

He was very much initially against the PRO Act until protesters had to demonstrate outside of his offices in Oregon City and in Salem, said Michael Selvaggio, UFCW Local 555s political director. Were not just looking for someone who can get to yes. Were looking for someone who comes in as a champion.

Liberals have also targeted Schrader because they believe he helped tank Bidens Build Back Better agenda. Schrader was part of a group of moderate lawmakers who threatened to derail the Democrats budget last year unless the House first passed bipartisan infrastructure legislation a strategy that progressives think helped kill Bidens social spending policy. Schrader voted against a piece of that plan that would have let the government negotiate prescription drug prices as well. He said his problem wasnt with the pharmaceutical policy, but the size and process of the larger proposal.

In a statement, Schrader said his votes in the House prove that he supports organized labor and Bidens priorities. As for his lynching comments, he quickly apologized at the time, saying my words were wrong, hurtful and completely inappropriate.

My record shows I have voted with President Biden 96 percent of the time, including voting for the American Rescue Plan to support families, schools, and small businesses through the COVID-19 crisis, and the PRO Act to protect workers rights and strengthen unions, said Schrader. Im also proud to have the backing of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Joint Council of Teamsters No. 37, and Progressive Turnout Project, among others.

Both moderate and progressive Democratic strategists interviewed for this story said McLeod-Skinner is a serious primary challenger. Her campaigns poll, which was conducted in early February by Patinkin Research Strategies, found 37 percent of likely Democratic primary voters backed Schrader and 34 percent supported McLeod-Skinner. Thirty percent were undecided.

But a major question hanging over McLeod-Skinners campaign is whether she will be able to compete financially with Schrader. He had $3.5 million on hand at the end of last year, according to his latest campaign finance report, compared to McLeod-Skinners $208,000.

Schrader has already used his war chest to beat McLeod-Skinner in the race to get on television. He began airing commercials in early March, which tout his background as a veterinarian and paint him as a fighter taking on pharmaceutical drug companies and big money in politics getting ahead of McLeod-Skinners biggest criticisms of him.

He brings such incredible baggage. Its everything from his vote against Medicare negotiating prescription drug prices. Its where he takes his money from, the Koch Industries and Big Pharma and fossil fuel, McLeod-Skinner said in an interview. All of these policies are things that people across the political spectrum care about.

Schrader has the benefit of familiarity with left-wing challenges: He easily defeated Mark Gamba, mayor of Milwaukie and a Bernie Sanders supporter, in the 2020 Democratic primary. And he can point out that McLeod-Skinner does not live in the district.

Ive been proud to call Oregons 5th Congressional District my home for over 40 years, Schrader said. I raised my children and grew organic crops on my farm in Canby as I built my veterinary practice from scratch.

Asked about the money gap between them, McLeod-Skinner said she is planning to raise $1 million for the primary and pointed out that she brought in $1.3 million in her previous race for Congress in 2018 in a different district. She lost that election in November to the Republican nominee, though she performed more strongly than the Democratic candidate in 2016.

Though she was ultimately unsuccessful in that race, as well as in a primary run for secretary of state in 2020, McLeod-Skinners supporters see in those results a path to victory for her this year. Every time she was on the ticket, she won Deschutes County, which is home to the liberal city of Bend and part of the new district.

The second that folks saw what this district was going to look like as the legislature started passing maps, folks were like, Oh, this is Jamies race, said Hannah Love, an Oregon-based Democratic strategist who is not working for either candidate in the primary. People knew immediately that she was going to be a really formidable challenger for Schrader.

Another Democratic consultant in Oregon disagreed with that analysis, arguing that the geography of the district is an advantage to Schrader because voters in Portlands suburbs are moderate and increasingly frustrated with progressive politics.

Theres a lot of anger about the homelessness issue and safety issues in downtown, said the person, who declined to be named. And when youre in the suburbs, thats where folks are the most upset about it.

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Progressives find a new takedown target in the House - POLITICO

Im asking myself, What the hell is going on? said Gavin Newsom to the assembled cameras, It looked like a third-world country. Californias progressive governor was in his states largest city because of a piece of viral content: images of railway tracks in East Los Angeles strewn with thousands of emptied Amazon packages.

Its easy to see why the images of the debris, a very pandemic-era combination of online shopping and urban lawlessness, received heavy play on local news and spread far and wide across the web. So bad was the litter problem caused by systematic robbery, with criminal groups pilfering packages, ripping them open and running off with the most valuable goods that a cargo train had derailed just a few days before Newsoms late-January visit. And so here was the state governor, in jeans and a t-shirt (and a cloth mask outdoors) in a litter-picking photo-op: an irresistible visual to add to the thick dossier on Democratic misrule in California.

But the bluntness of Newsoms reaction as well as comparing his own state to a third-world country, he explicitly blamed organised criminals was a revealing sign of this safely Democratic states changed political landscape.

Put simply, such statements might have been a political headache for a California Democrat only 18 months earlier. With the country in the throes of its post-George Floyd reckoning dominated by a mood of hypersensitivity around anything relating to crime, policing, race and any combination of the three references to the third world, as well as daring to be seen to be tough on crime, might not have gone down well. But Newsom received only fringe pushback.

In Californias two biggest cities, the signs of progressive retreat are everywhere. The extent of that retreat, and the question of exactly what comes after years of Leftwards shift, will define the political future of Americas most populous state.

In the past two years, London Breed, the Mayor of San Francisco, has performed a dramatic about-turn on crime and policing. In 2020, the city chief cut $120 million from the budget of the San Francisco police department. Yet a year later, she asked for emergency extra funding for the police and announced a crackdown on crime in the Tenderloin, the citys most lawless neighborhood which operates as an open-air drug market. It was time, said Breed, to end the bullshit. Now she is doing battle with the citys progressive forces to deliver on what, anywhere other than San Francisco, would be considered a reasonably common-sense clampdown given the scale of the citys drug overdose and crime problems.

And she is far from alone. The campaign to recall Chesa Boudin, the citys progressive prosecutor whose short time in office has been a disaster, was started by a group of local activists and quickly developed serious momentum. Campaigners secured enough signatures to force a citywide vote, which is scheduled for June, and look increasingly likely to triumph. A mid-February survey found that 68% of San Francisco voters planned to vote Boudin out of office. (That in a city where just 6.7% are registered Republicans.)

Campaigners in another recall push in the city found success last month when voters ousted three members of San Franciscos school board. 70% of voters opted to ditch officials who seemed more interested in what to rename the citys schools than figuring out how to reopen safely during the pandemic. (Among the names they hoped to erase from the San Francisco schools: George Washington, sitting Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein and author Robert Louis Stevenson.) As part of her tack towards the center, Breed has supported the recall campaign.

A few hundred miles to the south, a group of Angelenos have taken inspiration from the anti-Boudin campaign and hope to oust LAs head prosecutor. The move to recall George Gascn is in its early stages, with campaigners recently given the all-clear to start collecting signatures. But things dont look good for Gascn, who is cut from a similar, hyperprogessive cloth to Boudin. Like Boudin, he has overseen a lethal slide towards lawlessness. And, like Boudin, he faces a furious internal revolt from his prosecutors. In a recently published internal survey by Los Angeles Association for Deputy District Attorneys, nine in ten prosecutors supported the recall effort. Over a year ago, Gascn began a massive social experiment by redirecting prosecutorial resources away from enforcing the law while simultaneously ignoring large portions of the legal code, said its vice-president Eric Siddall. The result is an emboldened criminal element that knows the DA will not hold criminals accountable. This experiment needs to end.

Even before a single vote has been counted, the anti-Gascn campaign has already changed policy in the city. In an effort to fend off the backlash, he has reversed two of his landmark policies: a ban on trying juveniles as adults and on seeking life without parole.

Meanwhile, in the crowded race to replace Eric Garcetti as the mayor of Los Angeles Joe Biden has appointed him as the US ambassador to India the mood is unmistakably moderate. Homelessness, crime and the cost of living dominate the debate. Karen Bass, a former congresswoman and the pick of the citys Democratic machine, has swerved Rightwards, with a policy platform that features clearing homeless encampments as a prominent promise. This has dismayed the citys progressives, who complain that she is pandering to affluent Westside and Valley voters at the expense of black, Latinx and working-class ones, as two Black Lives Matter activists put it in a recent column. (Needless to say, LAs working-class voters, whatever their race, are by no means as on board with a far-Left approach to criminal justice as the authors claim.)

Meanwhile, Rick Caruso, a billionaire former Republican, has thrown his hat into the ring. Caruso, a shopping mall developer, is a big beast in LA civic life: he is a trustee at the University of Southern California and has been a member of the citys Police Commission. In a statement confirming his switch from Independent to Democrat, he said that he wont be a typical Democrat Ill be a pro-centrist, pro-jobs, pro-public safety Democrat. Caruso has backed the Gascn recall campaign. (Bass has not.)

The counterrevolution in Californias cities may seem fairly mild by national standards: a shift in tone among the same class of Democratic politicians. But the backlash on Americas left coast demonstrates the outer limits of tolerance for radical progressivism in American politics. As the novelist Wallace Stegner noted, California is like America, only more so.

When it comes to experiments in far-Left urban politics in recent years, that has undoubtedly been the case. Now the question is whether Californian Democrats have learned anything but the most shallow lessons from the last few years. It is one thing to acknowledge that Defund the Police is political kryptonite and nudge public safety spending back up. It is another to face up to the grave problems facing your city.

Voters are watching closely as the likes of Breed, or whoever is chosen to replace Garcetti, try to clean things up. A nod to the centre might be enough to spare short-term political disaster. But it will likely take more than that to actually solve the problems that have voters so frustrated.

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California's progressives are in retreat - UnHerd

The right wing in America has spent the past 18 months waging an increasingly vocal war on education, banning books and restricting the discussions teachers can have in classrooms, usually when it comes to issues like racism or sexuality.

That could be starting to change, however, as progressives have won a series of victories in some states, suggesting a backlash against education censorship could be on the way.

So far in 2022 the left has forced Republicans in Indiana to abandon legislation that would have placed severe restrictions on what teachers can say in classrooms, while in New Hampshire liberal candidates won sweeping victories against conservative anti-critical race theory candidates in school board elections. Critical race theory is an academic discipline that examines the ways in which racism operates in US laws and society, but it has become a catch-all buzzword on the right.

The progressive wins are a development that looked unlikely as the right wing, often through organizations with connections to wealthy Republican donors, has introduced bill after bill in states across the country. The campaign has successfully banned books, predominantly pertaining to issues of race or sexuality, from school districts, while some states have already banned discussion of the modern-day impact of historical racism in the US.

In Indiana, education advocates celebrated in late February after HB1134, a bill which the Indianapolis Star reported would have restricted how teachers could discuss racial inequality and sexual orientation, was defeated. The bill had passed the Indiana house in January, but amid concerted protests led by the Indiana State Teachers Association the legislation was watered down before it made it to the Republican-controlled senate, which ultimately said it did not have the votes to pass the bill.

Every day we had folks that came to Indianapolis, said Keith Gambill, president of ISTA. I think it was just that constant drumbeat from our organization and the other organizations that stood in solidarity with us that made the difference.

It helped that the Indiana senate had previously torpedoed its own version of the house legislation. In early January one Republican senator said teachers need to be impartial when discussing subjects including nazism and fascism, prompting national headlines and widespread backlash.

The death of HB1134 was an important victory for Indiana teachers, but Gambill said there had still been consequences.

What we are finding both in the state of Indiana and nationally is that we are losing educators at an alarming rate.

Some of that certainly is on pay, but thats not the only thing that is driving the exodus. When you have bills such as this that continue to just be this wedge issue, invading your workspace, folks start looking around saying: These other companies are hiring and I have all of the qualifications.

The Indiana legislation mirrored rightwing efforts in other states to drive honest discussion of race and sexuality from classrooms. PEN America, a non-profit organization that works to protect freedom of expression, said 155 bills that would censor what teachers can say or teach in classrooms were introduced in 38 states in 2021, while 2022 has seen a steep rise in the introduction of what PEN America calls gag orders.

In Florida a Dont Say Gay bill, which would ban discussion of sexuality and gender identity in schools, is expected to be signed into law by Ron DeSantis, the states governor. The bill would allow parents to file lawsuits against school boards if they believe policies violate the law.

A bill being considered in Kansas would change the states obscenity law, making it a class B misdemeanor for a teacher to use any material which depicts homosexuality in a classroom, while looming legislation in Arizona would allow parents to sue teachers and school districts for perceived violations of parental rights.

While the right wing has rallied around the issue of classroom censorship, there is little evidence that a majority of parents are demanding a crackdown on what their children can read, or be taught. In February a CNN poll found that only 12% of Americans believed parents should have the most sway over which library books are on the shelves and how American history is taught.

Far from there being a popular uprising against what teachers are imparting to students, the censorship efforts have frequently been pushed by conservative groups with ties to deep-pocketed rightwing donors.

Groups like Moms for Liberty and Parents Defending Education have been instrumental in book banning attempts in the US, often presenting themselves as small, grassroots efforts, while in reality they have links to prominent, wealthy Republicans.

Those groups have had success in several states by packing school boards, which have substantial say over what can be taught in schools, but there are signs that a shift may be coming.

In New Hampshire, teaching advocates celebrated a big win in March after progressive candidates swept to victory in school board elections around the state. Granite State Progress backed 30 candidates in the elections, with 29 of those successful, some in traditionally conservative districts.

Zandra Rice Hawkins, the groups executive director, said the group had been inundated with calls from organizations and school board candidates around the country who are keen to replicate the success. She is hopeful that there could be further victories, and a rejection of the right wings draconian censorship efforts, to come.

We think that what happened here in New Hampshire is a sign of things to come across our state and across the nation, Rice Hawkins said.

Public education is a bedrock of democracy, and so many people are aware of that and I think the things that are happening now, talks of banning books and other things like that, thats got a lot of people paying attention, and frankly this GOP strategy of trying to drive a wedge between parents and communities and their public schools is going to backfire in a major way.

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Progressives are resisting rightwing book banning campaigns and are winning - The Guardian

Progressive candidates have racked up victories in recent Philadelphia elections, rankling the Democratic establishment and many in the citys business community.

Here comes the pushback.

At least five groups are contemplating major financial moves in the 2023 elections for mayor and City Council. While not yet working together, they appear to be thinking alike, and its possible some of the efforts could merge.

Clout predicts super PACs spending big to swing the citys politics back toward the center after several years of gains on the left.

Its not clear whom they would support in the mayoral election, but its certain theyd want to stop progressive Councilmember Helen Gym if she runs.

The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia may launch a super PAC to help business-friendly candidates or hinder those it sees as bad for the citys growth. Or both.

That would amount to a redo of the Chambers unsuccessful last-minute effort to oppose the 2019 election of Councilmember Kendra Brooks, a member of the progressive Working Families Party who won a seat reserved for minority parties that was held by Republicans for 70 years.

Chamber spokesperson Dan Fee said the business group hasnt decided what its involvement will be next year. He expects upwards of 10 super PACs of varying political persuasions in the 2023 election.

Those groups can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections, avoiding the citys restrictive campaign finance limits by not coordinating with candidates.

Fee said the citys limit drives money to such groups and absolves the candidates from the responsibility of the actions of their backers.

This is how things are done now, and it takes everything out of the hands of candidates, Fee said.

In recent Philly elections, progressives have benefited from significant outside spending efforts, including a super PAC funded by billionaire George Soros that helped elect District Attorney Larry Krasner in 2017.

Phillys building trades unions scored big in the 2015 race for mayor as part of a coalition of super PACs that spent about $4 million to elect Mayor Jim Kenney.

Ryan Boyer, leader of the Philadelphia Building & Construction Trades Council, said a new super PAC from the 30-union council might expand to Council races next year. Major turnover is brewing there.

Gym and Councilmembers Cherelle Parker, Maria Quiones-Snchez, Allan Domb, and Derek Green may all resign to run for mayor, while other members may retire or face primary challenges. Another member, Kenyatta Johnson, is due to stand trial Monday on federal bribery charges, putting his future at risk.

That means that close to half of Councils 17 seats could turn over next year.

Boyer last year touted Parker as a potential contender for mayor.

I think the [super PAC] will pull for a candidate who shares our values, said Boyer, adding that Parker is one of a group of people who fit that bill.

Another super PAC may rise from A Greater Philadelphia, a nonprofit founded in November by Mark Gleason, the former executive director of the Philadelphia School Partnership, an occasionally controversial advocate for school choice. Gleason, who has tapped deep pockets before, said his group is pushing for improvements for economic issues, crime, and education.

Were one of a number of groups that are frustrated and want to see the city moving in a different and better direction, he said. There is a swing back to the center happening.

Gleason said it was premature to say if that could lead to his being a candidate for public office.

Clout hears yet another group, Philly For Growth, is circling back to an effort launched in 2019 to seed Council with candidates considered friendly to the real estate industry.

That culminated four years ago with the head-turning talking baby ad, featuring a toddler enhanced with some computer animation, urging voters to support candidates who will grow Philadelphia with us.

A Philly For Growth spokesperson declined to comment.

Philadelphia 3.0 is also returning to the Council battlefield. The outside spending group, funded by wealthy individuals like investors Josh Kopelman (who chairs The Inquirers board) and Richard Vague, says its goal is to back reform-minded candidates.

Executive director Ali Perelman said she expects the group to get involved in four or five Council races in 2023, but not the mayors race.

Its going to take some really impressive leadership for this city to really emerge from an extraordinarily difficult last few years, Perelman said. My expectation is that theres just going to be more activity on the Council side in 23 than we saw in 19, and by activity we mean more competitive races.

Johnsons legal team is expected to start picking jurors for his trial Monday and his backers are already making an appeal not to a higher court, but to a higher power.

On Friday evening, Johnson will join supporters at Yesha Ministries in South Philadelphia for a pretrial victory prayer service, according to a flier for the event obtained by Clout.

Bishop James Darrell Robinson, who organized the event, said he and other faith leaders have spent countless hours praying for Johnson and his wife, Dawn Chavous, who was also indicted, because they are important community leaders.

Hes present at our funerals. Hes present at all of our community events. Hes present with our youth, Robinson said. We wanted to make sure that we let him know that we appreciate him for being present and that we believe in his innocence.

Clout provides often irreverent news and analysis about people, power, and politics.

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Progressives have scored big in Philly politics. Here comes the establishment pushback. - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Two new super PACs plan to spend $4 million promoting law-and-order candidates for the state Legislature in the June primary elections and even some Democrats are warning that it could cost progressives dearly, The Post has learned.

The political action committees Common Sense New Yorkers and Voters of NY will back pols who value public safety and support Gov. Kathy Hochuls proposed rollback of bail reform and related anti-crime measures, said treasurer Jeff Leb, a lobbyist and political consultant.

The supermajority of New Yorkers want safer streets and the far-left groups out there pressuring elected officials are out of touch, he said.

Legislators should vote the way their constituents elected them to do and they shouldnt be pressured by Twitter.

Common Sense New Yorkers held a Feb. 28 fundraiser at the members-only Casa Cipriani in Lower Manhattans former Battery Maritime Building that was attended by Mayor Eric Adams and Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, and has raised more than $1 million, Leb said.

The races for the seats now held by veteran Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan (D-Queens), who is retiring, and progressive, anti-cop Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou (D-Manhattan), who is running for state Senate, are among those on which the groups will spend their advertising money, Leb said.

The others have yet to be decided but will be soon, he said.

Ballots for the June 28 primaries must be finalized by May 5 and early voting is set to begin on June 18.

The super PACs are modeled on two predecessors Common Sense NYC and Voters of NYC that were involved in last years City Council primary elections, said Leb, who was also the treasurer of those groups.

Common Sense NYC spent more than $550,000 attacking Democrats, some backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, and defeated six out of eight, according to a July report by CNBC, which cited records from the citys Campaign Finance Board.

The group also supported 18 candidates, including one Republican, of whom 13 won their races, CNBC said.

One Democratic lawmaker said the outside spending made a real difference in helping differentiate candidates to voters.

I think their approach will have even more of an impact [this year] because you have very big public safety items notably bail reform, the elected official said.

With bail reform being so high on everyones mind right now, any money spent to help support moderate candidates will help those candidates go a long way.

Democratic consultant Wendell Jamieson, a former New York Times reporter who advised ex-Nassau County Executive Laura Curran during her failed re-election bid last year, also said, We see clearly that there is an appetite for law enforcement.

This is something people should pay attention to because I do believe there is a safety-first approach that people need to focus on, he said.

People want to feel safe. It just seems like the pendulum has swung.

Most of the funding for Common Sense NYC came from billionaire real estate developer Stephen Ross, chairman of the Related Companies and an investor in Equinox Fitness and SoulCycle.

In 2019, Ross hosted a fund-raiser at his waterfront Southampton estate for then-President Donald Trump, sparking outrage among well-heeled, liberal gym rats who canceled their memberships in droves, The Post exclusively reported at the time.

Ross isnt currently involved in the latest efforts, which are being backed by developers William Lie Zeckendorf and Albert Laboz, Leb said.

Link:
Progressives beware! Two NY super PACs raising $4M to back law-and-order candidates - New York Post