While the 2024 Senate map is shaping up to be a difficult terrain for the Democratic Party, some of the party’s candidates are seeing an opportunity to push the caucus in a more progressive direction.
The Arizona and California races specifically have the chance to move the party from more moderate to progressive due to two Democratic challengers, possibly giving left-wing members more power even if the party loses seats.
DEMOCRATS ON DEFENSE AS 2024 SENATE MAP BEGINS TO TAKE SHAPE
Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Katie Porter (D-CA) are seeking to unseat incumbent Democratic senators, offering up themselves as more progressive options to Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). Neither Sinema nor Feinstein has announced their 2024 intentions, but it has not prevented the two members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus from throwing their hats into the ring.
“Even if Democrats don’t do well,” Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of left-wing organization Our Revolution, told the Hill, “I think progressives will. The progressive voting bloc in the Senate is poised to become stronger.”
The most difficult of the two seats progressives hope to take is the Arizona seat, as centrist-independent Sinema running for a second term could make the election a three-way race between her, Gallego, and a Republican. Porter is likely to face a crowded field for Feinstein’s seat, which she has held since 1992.
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The Senate map for 2024 has Democrats on defense in three states Republicans have dominated recently, including Montana, Ohio, and West Virginia. Democrats will also be defending seats in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, and Wisconsin.
Democrats hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate, but the majority looks poised to flip back to Republicans in 2024.
