Analilia Mejia's win with a nearly 20-point margin over Hathaway is significant, indicating strong voter support for Democrats in the current political climate.
James Talarico, a Democratic Senate candidate in Texas, has raised a staggering $27 million so far this year, with California donors contributing just under $1.2 million to back his campaign - second only to Texas supporters among those donors whose names were disclosed.
El-Sayed became the center of a heated debate on the left after he appeared at a campaign rally alongside Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who is known for his outlandish rhetoric.
Swalwell announced his resignation from Congress on Monday following the Friday publication of allegations that he sexually assaulted a former staffer from his Castro Valley office. While he denies the allegations, he was facing an expulsion proceeding in the House.
Vance is as unpopular as he is unlikable, which is quite the parlay, if you think about it. Even his bungling attempts to influence the Hungarian elections... were spun as his 'stepping up' into a more important role in the administration.
Martha, I think most people are economic voters. I think they're pocketbook issue voters, which is why we need to be speaking to them. And the one thing that we've made very plain is because of the things we did last summer, they're going to have more money in their pockets.
Saikat Chakrabarti, the 40-year-old centimillionaire and former tech engineer, has been doing his utmost to gain some name recognition in San Francisco, seen as a longshot challenger to Nancy Pelosi.
By rallying behind Talarico, the party sided with someone who pledged to change Washington while finding consensus. The 36-year-old state representative's win over Crockett cements his status as a rising star and will likely make him one of Democrats' most prominent candidates this year. He campaigned with denunciations of 'politics as a blood sport' and an insistence that people want 'a return to more timeless values of sincerity and honesty and compassion and respect.'
We need someone who has new ideas, new energy and a new perspective to be an advocate for our community. I'm not running against a person, I'm running against the problem, and the problem is the status quo.
In perhaps a vain attempt to prove themselves moderate, the Democratic lawmakers helped override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's vetoes. Voters responded with the kind of ballot-box fury that should serve as a lesson to other incumbents. It wasn't just a case that the incumbents lost. They were buried, with several of them getting trounced by margins of 40 points or more.
Affordability has been, understandably, the watchword for Democratic candidates over the last year. After downplaying inflation under Joe Biden, the party learned a brutal lesson when Donald Trump rode the cost-of-living crisis back to the White House in 2024. In 2025, Zohran Mamdani put affordability at the center of his own campaign and surged from the back of the pack to City Hall.
