Decision 2026 - Tracking The Justice Democrats, Part 1: Halfway Through the Midterms Where The Floyd Pattersons of Fighting For America Are

 

 

The last few years I've been watching Pariah: The Rise & Fall of Sonny Liston. Among its many virtues it told me many things about sports figures I knew very little about.

One such figure was Floyd Paterson. Paterson became the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world after a series of fights with Ingemar Johnson. Paterson was a quiet African-American who was popular among those in the civil rights movement for being quiet and non-threatening at a time when the movement needed 'Negros to be less militant' (The documentary's words)

During this same period Sonny Liston was rising fast in the boxing world. Easily one of the most dominant brawlers of all time (Mike Tyson is quoted as much) Paterson spent a lot of time refusing to fight him. The public reason was that it would be bad for the sport to fight a boxer who had criminal ties. The real reason was that Paterson's manager knew that if he were to fight Liston, Liston would destroy him.

Which is exactly what happened. When they finally fought Liston knocked out Patterson in what is still one of the quickest boxing matches in history: it barely lasted a minute into the first round. In the rematch Paterson only lasted four seconds longer.

Now it is possible that the members of the Justice Democrat caucus when they claim to fight for democracy, fight against capitalism, fight against racism, etc. would know doubt frame themselves as Muhammed Ali who is one of the few sports figures that could pass their litmus tests of being a 'role model'. But having watched them for a decade its now crystal clear that what they are is the Floyd Paterson's of the Democratic Party, particularly when it comes to running for office in the first place.

In Pariah contemporaries and historians make it very clear that Paterson's manager did everything to make sure that Paterson never fought anyone who had a chance of beating him. That's been how the Justice Democrats have been trying to fun for office since they got demolished in 2018. They know that they can't win in red districts in red states or even in swing districts. They also know that they can't win for Senate or Governor; they haven't tried that since 2020.

So in the 2026 campaign their 'biggest fight for progressivism in years' they spent much of the leadup to the fall campaign by endorsing 14 newcomers and one former representative. It's important to note that while in the last few months many things have affected the Congressional landscape (and I'll be dealing with that in regard to the Justice Democrats down the road) it had no effect on their success record. They were only running in places that they'd already had success: California, Illinois, Texas, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania – in other words big states. They are making a few attempts in the same deep blue districts in swing states but they haven't gone to well.

This is, for example, one of the reasons I find it very difficult to take the AOC's or Ilhan Omar seriously when they claim to be 'fighting for the people in a rigged system'. First they're not fighting for all the people because much of the country has rejected them. Second they're using the system to try and gain the power they have.

After the primaries of June 2 in California and New Jersey we're now more or less halfway through the primary seasons for the Justice Democrats. So I figured its worth seeing how the fight for them is going. The answer is: not well

 

TEXAS MARCH 3^RD

 

Greg Casar is an incumbent member of the Justice Democrats and leads the progressional caucus. After the districts were gerrymandered in Texas he chose to run in the 37^th district rather then his old district which was now Republican. Casar will make it clear that this is them the rigging game which is true. What's also true is that his brand of progressivism doesn't have a chance in a ruby red district and he's doing to a district that will. Two things can be true.

As I mentioned before after Jasmine Crockett tried and failed to run for the Democratic nomination for Senate Frederick Haynes III won the nomination for her district the 30^th. Haynes will be 66 by the time he takes office so its hard to argue this part of a generational move for progressivism.

TWO HOLDS

 

NORTH CAROLINA MARCH 3^RD

4^TH District

 Nida Allam tried to run against Valerie Foushee  on an anti-ICE platform, was endorsed by Bernie Sandrs, gun control activists and the working families party. She lost by a small margin though she didn't concede until Wednesday.

This wasn't the first time Allam challenged Foushee, She'd done so in 2022 and lost by nearly ten points to her. That time she didn't have the Justice Democrats on her side; this time she had the entire left-wing establishment – and it still wasn't enough for her to win.

ONE LOSS

 

ILLINOIS MARCH 17^TH

Delia Ramirez an incumbent managed to hold her seat in the third district.  Two other challengers Junaid Ahmed and Kat Abughazaleh tried to win in the 8^th and 9^th district respectively.

Abughazaleh was the first Gen Z woman and a Palestinian American. Her campaign managed to raise $378,000 on campaign contributions. She received a lot of coverage as a progressive stars and was castigated for using profanity in public statements. She also didn't live in the 9^th district, having only registered to vote in the 7^th district before the announcement. She received a lot of publicity because of her campaign and she finished second to Daniel Biss, the Mayor of Evanston. She received less than 26 percent of the vote as did  Ahmed.

ONE HOLD, TWO LOSSES

 

Pennsylvania May 19^th

A lot has been said about Chris Rabb and Chris Rabb has said a lot of things when he ran for the 3^rd district. I won't dignify him by bothering to repeat him. I'll be honest he makes me yearn for the days of Marjorie Taylor Greene and that's the main thing he has in common.

He's running unopposed in the general. No Republican opposition. No opposition at all.

These are the exact kind of fights the Justice Democrats love. They don't have to justify anything to the electorate. And it demonstrates to me how for all the arguments about a 'rigged game' people like Rabb and other Justice Democrats benefit it from it as much as the Freedom Caucus does.

There are quite a few swing districts in play in Pennsylvania that are held by Republicans. The DNC wouldn't dare let a candidate like Rabb  or Summer Lee, the other Justice Democrat in the state anywhere near them and they sure as hell won't have them campaign there in the fall.

So yes this is a gain for the Justice Democrats but its also the only kind of gain they can manage.

ONE GAIN, ONE HOLD

 

New Jersey June 2^nd

Adam Hamawy is running to succeed Bonnie Watson Coleman in the 12^th district. Hamawy has served in the New Jersey national guard and served in the Iraq War. One of his patients was Tammy Duckworth who credited him with saving her life. He's served in disaster zones such as the aftermath of September 11^th. In May of 2024 he joined a volunteer mission organized in part by the WHO which led him to be trapped inside Gaza at the end of the mission. He's also volunteered following the siege of Sarajevo, the 2010 Haitian earthquake and the Syrian civil war.

The biggest difference between him and the typical Justice Democrat is that he has the support of a PAC, American Priorities a pro-Palestinian political action committee. This PAC spent nearly 1.5 million dollars leading to his eventual winning the nomination which he did last night, albeit with just under 28 percent of the vote in the New Jersey 12^th.

Two things occur to me. First even though Hamawy was endorsed by a PAC – a fundamental violation of the Justice Democrats core principles – no one among the Justice Democrats seemed that upset about it. And second even with the money invested into the race Hamawy still got roughly the same percent of the vote in so many contested primaries. 8 years ago Peter Jacob challenged Coleman without a PAC and could only get 19 percent of the vote. Here Coleman had retired, Hamawy had the full weight of the Justice Democrats behind me and a political action committee – and he still only got 27 percent of the vote. It's hard to argue that the people are truly onboard with so much of what the Justice Democrats want.  

ONE GAIN (PENDING)

 

California June 2^nd

Three new candidates were running for in California along with Ro Khanna who won his primary: Mai Vang in the 7^th, Saikat Chakrabarti in the 11^th (Nancy Pelosi's district) and Angela Gonzalez-Torrez who was challenging Jimmy Gomez in the 34^th district.

The clearest loser in this Chakrabarti and not just because he finished a distant third with less than 15 percent of the vote. Chakrabarti is the co-founder of the Democrats and served as AOC's campaign manager and then her chief of staff. He was part of Bernie Sanders presidential campaign which was the impetus for the Justice Democrats foundation. He is one of the major forces behind policy such as the Green New Deal. In rhetoric he's been as inflammatory calling the Blue Dog Democrats 'the new Southern Democrats'.

But when he ran AOC not only refused to endorse him but wouldn't even mention him in interviews, despite the Justice Democrats backing his campaign. He actually started his campaign one month after Trump's inauguration even before Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who had not yet decided she was going to seek reelection, announced her retirement. His rejection is the loudest and clearest sign of not only the lack of appeal the Justice Democrats have but how their own leaders will turn on their own.

Considering according to California politics the top two finishers in each primary advance it remains unclear how the others will play out. In the 34^th Angela Gonzalez-Torres was challenging Jimmy Gomez and while she will likely advance Gonzales-Torres is currently trailing by 20 points. For Mai Vang, challenging incumbent Doris Matsui in the 7^th district, she's currently fighting it out for second with GOP challenger Zachariah Wooden.

What is noteworthy is that for all three challengers none of them are doing particularly well even in heavily democratic districts. Chakrabarti finished with less than 15 percent of the vote, Vang has barely 25 percent and Gonzales-Torrez has just under 26 percent.

ONE HOLD, ONE LOSS, TWO PENDING

 

So halfway through the primary season the Justice Democrats have managed to get two candidates to win their nomination and one definite win. They've also lost four of their primaries, three in fairly convincing fashion. Two of them are pending though considering that in both cases they will have to compete against a heavily funded incumbent; the odds are not immensely in their favor. (They'll also hold four seats they have but this article is primarily about the new faces.)

This would seem to confirm my overall opinion of the Justice Democrats as not being a political movement in any reasonable definition of the term. Indeed my definition of them as the Floyd Paterson's of the Democratic Party is being generous at this point. Paterson may not have fought boxers who were true heavyweights but he was nevertheless able to win most of his fights. For people like Chakrabarti and the overwhelming majority of the defeated candidates they can't even land a punch where the judges should be willing to grant them more leeway.

One win and four defeats is not a great record for any major political banner. It's great by the Justice Democrats standard I grant you but considering that they lost 72 races in their first attempt (I will drive this point harder then Liston did to Paterson) they could only go up from there – and they have struggled just to keep an even keel.

And it needs to be said this group of contenders were the easy bouts on the schedule. It's only going to get harder from here. I'll be back to give the next official report on the fight in three weeks when New York's primaries are over as the Justice Democrat battle comes to the home turf of their own heavyweights.