Liberal insurrection targets Delaware senator

WILMINGTON, Del. – This year, liberal insurgents toppled two 20-year-old deputies in Democratic primaries. Now, they are turning to the Senate, where Delaware pro-business Senator Tom Carper faces his first major challenge in decades.

Carper was elected statewide for four decades – longer than his opponent, Kerri Evelyn Harris. And while Delaware moved from a political battlefield to a trustworthy blue state at the time, Carper's long, moderate record made him vulnerable to criticism from the left before Thursday's primary. Harris, a 38-year-old veteran of the Air Force, criticized Carper for an election record that she says is too friendly to banks and pharmaceutical companies and too hostile to the environment.

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But above all, Harris – a biracial lesbian who tries to be the first successful challenger of a Democratic senator since 2010 – says that Carper and other political leaders are disconnected from ordinary Delawareans.

"They keep telling us how to fix our community. But they're never here, "Harris told a community center event last week with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the leader of the anti-historical movement who ousted Republican Joe Crowley (DN.Y.). a primary in June. "They show up, take a picture and go home."

Carper – like his former Senate colleague, former Vice President Joe Biden – travels daily on Amtrak trains between here and Washington. He was on Capitol Hill Tuesday and Wednesday this week, with a recorded vote taken every day.

But Carper says he will not be caught off guard by Harris's challenge.

"As long as I remember, I campaigned as if I was 20 points behind – at each race – and as if my opponents were 10 feet tall. And I certainly do it here, "said Carper last week. "We are ready."

Carper is in many ways a return to another era. His move from home to the governor's office was facilitated by "the exchange," when Mike Castle and GOP governor Mike Castle ran for the 1992 election. The signs for Carper's candidacy carry the slogan Today More Than Ever ", which evokes the slogan of the re-election of former President Richard Nixon in 1972.

But Carper is now trying to repel a progressive rebellion to replace the Democrats like him with younger shooters. The movement has already claimed two ten-seat Democrats in the House. The most recent, Rep. Mike Capuano (D-Mass.), Was strongly beaten this week by Ayanna Pressley, a member of the Boston City Council.

Pressley and Ocasio-Cortez are women of color, like Harris – while Capuano and Crowley, like Carper, are older white men.

Harris is supported by the same constellation of left-wing groups that have supported other liberal revolutionaries: Democracy for America, Democrats of Justice, Workers 'Families Party, and Our Revolution, the spin-offs of Senator Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign.

These groups understand the importance of ousting a Senate incumbent. "If Kerri wins, it's bigger than Ocasio-Cortez. It's going to be huge, "said Nasim Thompson of Justice Democrats. "That would kick out a long-time senator. This will affect, if not more than Ocasio-Cortez.

In addition to defeating Capuano and Crowley, the progressives have won high-level races in open races this year, such as Andrew Gillum's win at Florida's primary last month. But they have also failed in a number of other contests, such as the unsuccessful campaign of Abdul el-Sayed for the governor in Michigan, or the inability to repel Rep. Illinois. Dan Lipinski, an anti-abortion holder who represents a Democratic seat.

Harris's political breaks with Carper come mostly from the left. She blamed him for voting for the Keystone pipeline and supported drilling at sea (although he opposed it offshore Delaware). She says her ties with drug companies have not helped Delaware deal with the opioid crisis.

With respect to criminal justice issues, Harris blames Carper for the mass incarceration that dates back to his governorship in the 1990s. "My opponent is proud to have been tough on crime while it was a crime. he was governor, "Harris said at the event. "The biggest prison expansion has occurred is his watch. More blacks and low-income whites are in prison today than ever because of this expansion. You can not introduce yourself and pretend that you care when you destroy our families.

Harris is also verifying a litany of other liberal goals: Medicare for all, raising the federal minimum wage to $ 15, universal pre-kindergarten and using public funds to eliminate the federal government. student debt.

Democrat insiders are skeptical about Harris's chances. "It started late," said Rhett Ruggerio, a former member of the Democratic National Committee and senior advisor to former Wilmington Mayor James Baker. "If this race was in a month, we could have a different conversation."

But Ruggerio's and Harris' allies say the small size of Delaware – less than 64,000 votes were cast in the 2016 Democratic primary for a Congressional seat – gives the challenger a chance.

"Delaware is small, so the universe [of voters] is small, "said Ruggerio. "And when the universe is small, you are vulnerable."

Democracy for America Yvette Simpson has accepted.

"Delaware is small enough that you can build relationships through engagement, by being on the ground, working hard, talking to constituents and getting them out," she said. declared. "You can win a Senate race in Delaware, compared to another bigger state."

In a Q-and-A with reporters after the event here last week, Harris and Ocasio-Cortez both worked to launch the Delaware race in national terms. Ocasio-Cortez said the Delaware race is "part of a broader message and broader movement of social change" that saw her run across the country in support of other Democratic candidates, even though she was little known until June. a general election in New York in November.

"Win or lose, none of these races was a failure," agreed Harris. "You think 2018 sees insurgent candidates? You are waiting for 2020, 2024. We will continue – bigger, bigger, bigger.

James Arkin reported from Washington. Anthony Adragna contributed from Washington.