A growing number of Democratic incumbents are facing primary challenges from younger progressives, underscoring generational and ideological rifts within the party.
At least three long-serving members of the House — including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — have already drawn younger primary opponents, with more potentially on the way. The developments come amid growing speculation that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) could challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
The primary challenges shine a fresh light on Democrats’ frustration with their leaders following the party’s losses last year, and they point to a potentially volatile campaign season leading up to the midterms.
“It's what you're seeing kind of across the country,” Jake Rakov, a former Capitol Hill staffer who recently launched a primary bid against his former boss Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), said in reference to the campaign against Pelosi. “In terms of the new administration, the elected representatives have not matched where the voters are.”
Pelosi, who has represented California in the House for nearly four decades, faces a challenge from tech millionaire Saikat Chakrabarti, a veteran of Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) 2016 campaign and a former chief of staff to Ocasio-Cortez.
“I respect what Nancy Pelosi has accomplished in her career, but we are living in a totally different America than the one she knew when she entered politics 45 years ago,” Chakrabarti, 39, said in his launch for the 11th Congressional District.
Pelosi, 85, reportedly filed paperwork to run for her 21st term in 2026, though she’s yet to formally announce her plans. She won reelection in the deep-blue district by more than 60 points against a Republican challenger last year, after stepping down from House leadership at the start of the cycle.
Pelosi notably led the effort to block Ocasio-Cortez to lead Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last year.
“It's kind of crazy that, basically, if you're 50 years old or under, or maybe even a little over, you're considered young in the Democratic Party,” said Zack Exley, a former Sanders adviser and campaign manager for Chakrabarti.
“The Democrats are still operating almost in this 19th-century mode of political seniority, and it's just really not working for them.”
In California’s 32nd Congressional District, the 37-year-old Rakov says his campaign against Sherman will show a “generational, operational difference” from that of his former boss.
Rakov worked as a deputy press secretary for Sherman’s office back in 2017, before serving on Tom Steyer’s long-shot presidential campaign in 2020.
Sherman, who at 70 is seeking his 16th term in the House, told The Hill in a phone interview that he didn’t recall much ...
