The Democratic Socialists of America have spent the summer knocking off more moderate House Democrats, one primary at a time. On Tuesday, the group tries to extend its streak in Michigan and Missouri, where two DSA-backed challengers — and a third progressive running alongside them — aim to unseat more establishment-friendly rivals.

In Michigan, state Rep. Donavan McKinney looks to unseat Rep. Shri Thanedar in the 13th Congressional District, which includes much of Detroit. In the 17th Congressional District, progressive activist and Sunrise Movement co-founder Will Lawrence is running against two more moderate Democrats for the chance to challenge Republican Rep. Tom Barrett in November.

Meanwhile, in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, which encompasses all of St. Louis, former Rep. Cori Bush is trying to reclaim a seat she held for four years, challenging Rep. Wesley Bell, who ousted her in a primary in 2024.

Follow MS NOW’s midterm elections live blog for the latest updates and analysis on today’s biggest races across Michigan, Missouri, Kansas, Virginia and Washington.

The pattern has been growing all summer. In June, DSA-backed challengers ousted two sitting House Democrats in a single primary night, besting Rep. Diana DeGette, a 30-year incumbent in Colorado, and Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in New York. In another primary that same day, DSA-endorsed Assemblywoman Claire Valdez won the nomination in New York’s Brooklyn-Queens 7th House District. 

Taken together, it is the left’s most sustained run at the Washington establishment since 2018, when a wave of progressives — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez among them — first proved that entrenched Democrats could be beaten in their own primaries. No longer simply a protest vote, the group’s candidates increasingly run as a bloc that expects to be reckoned with — and to make demands of the leaders who would depend on their votes.

Even before Tuesday’s votes are counted, two of the challengers are signaling they will not hand House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries their support unconditionally. Bush and McKinney both told MS NOW they would need to speak to Jeffries before they back him for speaker.

“Are we going to do enough for our working folks, or are we going to continue to serve two masters?” McKinney said of the “assurances” he would want from the New York Democrat.

Bush said she wants to know “how [Jeffries] plans to work with” the newest DSA-backed candidates, including Darializa Avila Chevalier of New York and Melat Kiros of Colorado — both of whom are heavily favored to win their general election matchups.

Lawrence told MS NOW that he would support Jeffries for speaker, breaking with other progressive candidates across the country, a stance that may help him in a district far less blue than those where other progressives have found success this year.

He pointed to Rep. Chris Deluzio, a Pennsylvania Democrat from a purple district and a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who has highlighted his legislative work with Jeffries. Deluzio, Lawrence noted, “won a tough district, purple district,” then expanded his margins there “while being a real fighter for the working class” and championing higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

This cycle’s progressives are betting they can translate their electoral gains into influence on Capitol Hill — even in a slim Democratic majority, where a single fracture could ultimately sink a bill.

“This is a national movement,” said McKinney. “People are excited about us because we’re talking about issues that not only they care about but they’re going through every single day.”

Bush warned against sidelining the newest progressive members. “A problem that we have within our party is this idea that only certain people are the ones … pushed up front by the party, especially within the House Democratic Caucus,” she said.

When she first won her seat, Bush said, progressives across the country did not run as a coordinated bloc. “Was there a slate running together? Yes,” she said. “But we were still trying to figure out … how to really make an impact with that, and then how to support one another.”

That has changed. Bush and other progressives now trade notes in group chats, talking regularly as they try to steer the party’s direction.

“What I hear all the time is, ‘I’m struggling to get by every single day,’ and so, for me, tapping into what’s happening nationally, I think people are just excited about candidates that are unapologetically and authentically themselves,” McKinney said. “But also unapologetically and authentically about working people.”

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