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A pack of progressive candidates have crashed this yearâs Democratic primaries, hoping to unseat incumbents and push the party to the left. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the fifth-ranking Democrat in the House, has other plans.
Jeffries and two of his House Democrat allies on Wednesday rolled out the first slate of endorsements from Team Blue PAC, a political action committee intended to protect incumbents from intraparty attacks. The endorsements and their attendant $5,000 campaign contributions are the strongest demonstration of support yet from Jeffries and his allies â and serve as a warning shot to primary challengers seeking to unseat incumbents as Democrats fight to hold onto their fragile majorities.
The primary challengers and their allies see things differently â and think Jeffries and his allies should take a different tack in protecting their majority. âIt is extremely alarming that critical resources from Democratic Party leadership are going to protect incumbents from having to face any competition in deep-blue districts instead of protecting the swing seats weâre in danger of losing in November,â says Waleed Shahid, the communications director of Justice Democrats, the left-wing group that supported Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other successful progressives in their House primary runs.
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âWhat you see coming from me is an effort to lower peoplesâ costs, whether thatâs through the gas tax relief bill or other bills that Iâm looking at introducing,â Warnock said in an interview. Republicans âare focused on politics, and Iâm focused on the people Iâm here to represent ⌠people are struggling and they are focused on how they pay for their groceries.â
Republicans are dinging those Democratsâ moves as desperate re-election ploys as President Joe Bidenâs sinking approval ratings endanger control of the Senate. But the larger obstacle to Democratsâ latest pivot could be within the party itself.
Some Democrats have little desire to entertain a yearlong gas tax holiday just a few months after Biden signed the Senateâs infrastructure law.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who helped write that infrastructure law, said heâs âalways reluctantâ to take away a dedicated funding source for roads and bridges. Others were harsher.
âWhile the oil and gas industry are extracting massive windfall profits, to support that without having them have significant responsibility would be a real mistake,â said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), whoâs won three difficult races in a red state, said suspending the gas tax âcould help working families move forward.â Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top tax writer in the Senate, said the gas tax is too regressive and that suspending state taxes on some goods could be âvery attractiveâ for the Senate to take up.
But given the 50-50 Senate split, itâs debatable whether any of these ideas can become law. Senate Republicans dismissed them as both nonsensical and desperate, suggesting getting 60 votes would be near impossible.
âItâs blatantly transparent. And obviously very politically motivated. This isnât something theyâd be rolling out unless they were looking at polling that suggests they are taking on a lot of water as result of a huge spike in gas prices,â said Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.).
He said âmaybeâ itâs good politics for Democrats but predicted voters would âsee throughâ Democratsâ tactics. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said of Democrats: âThese are the same people last year that were trying to raise taxes and now because theyâre in tight races they want to cut them.â
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