Democratic power struggle puts heat on older white incumbents

Bloomberg

He’s a white, 10-term incumbent in a majority-minority district. She’s two decades younger and wants to be the state’s first black woman elected to Congress.
The Democrats vying in a Tuesday primary for a Boston area US House seat—incumbent Mike Capuano, 66, and Boston City Councilwoman Ayanna Pressley, 44—highlight a choice the party has been confronting around the country: stick with more experienced and older white men or field younger, more diverse candidates.
The power struggle in the party was vividly illustrated in a June primary in a predominantly minority district in New York, where political novice Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, defeated Representative Joe Crowley, 56, who also has served 10 terms and is a member of the party’s House leadership team.
The outcome of races like the ones in Boston and New York, which are safe Democratic seats, will determine how effectively the party can turn out voters in November in their bid to win control of the House or Senate. Polls show Democrats hold significant advantages with registered millennials, women, blacks, Hispanics and Asians, and progressives say nominating candidates who more closely reflect the voters in their districts could help win elections.
To gain a House majority, Democrats need to gain a net 23 seats, a prospect that independent analysts say is within reach. The party will have a tougher time gaining two seats to control the Senate, where Democrats have 26 seats to defend, compared with just eight for Republicans.
There are key differences between the Democratic primary in Boston and the June primary that put Ocasio-Cortez on the November ballot—among them, both Massachusetts candidates share similar policy positions. Ocasio-Cortez is a self-described Democratic socialist who faced a more moderate incumbent.

Face of the Party
In Boston, a Pressley upset would underscore a desire by Democrats to change the face of their party while a Capuano win would show a desire to stay the course. Voters in the district appear poised to do the latter. A WBUR radio poll released August 2 found Capuano leading 48 percent to 35 percent, echoing the results of a poll in February.
The candidate who wins the primary will run unopposed in the November general election.
Efforts by Democrats to present a new face have been evident in a record number of women running for office and winning primaries, and with a growing number of the party’s candidates calling for single-payer health care. Liberals have won a handful of surprise victories, most recently Andrew Gillum’s victory in last week’s Florida Democratic gubernatorial primary.
Another test for party voters will be on September 6, when three-term Senator Tom Carper of Delaware faces Air Force veteran and organiser Kerri Evelyn Harris in a Democratic primary where she’s running on a more progressive agenda than Carper.

‘New Blood’
“Now is the time for us to think about who we’re sending to Washington and to bring new blood and fresh faces here,” said Guy Cecil, chairman of the Democratic super-political action committee Priorities USA. He said he’s backing Pressley in the Boston contest. “If we can’t make those kind of changes in wave elections in safe seats, then we can never make those types of changes.” Pressley has gained the endorsements of Boston’s two major newspapers and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. Capuano still has plenty of support among establishment Democrats, including Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.