7 Progressive Candidates Win Key Races for House, Senate
Gillian Richards /
At least seven progressive Democrats won races Tuesday for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.
With 99% of the vote counted, Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a Democrat, beat Republican nominee Calvin Wimbish to win Florida’s 10th Congressional District seat, 59% to almost 40%, The Associated Press reported.
Frost, 25, will become the first representative of Generation Z in the House.
“As the first Generation Z member of Congress, from Day One I will fight to end gun violence, win Medicare for All, transform our racist criminal justice system, and end the climate crisis,” Frost says on his campaign website.
Frost won the Democratic primary in August after being endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. He was one of several progressive-backed candidates to win primaries this year for open House seats.
Former Austin City Council member Greg Casar, with 89% of the vote counted, won Texas’ 35th Congressional District by beating Republican nominee Dan McQueen with 76.6% of the vote, AP reported.
Casar, 33, prevailed in a Democratic primary in March with high-profile endorsements from Sanders; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Justice Democrats; Our Revolution; and Sunrise Movement.
Among Casar’s policy priorities are “Medicare for All,” tuition-free higher education, and the legalization of marijuana.
Casar’s other policy goals, as stated on his website, include increasing access to abortion in Texas. Casar has taken credit for the Austin City Council’s passage of amendments to fund abortion travel costs in the Lone Star State.
His campaign website states that Casar “is dedicated to increasing access to reproductive health care, repealing the Hyde Amendment, and codifying Roe v. Wade through the Women’s Health [Protection] Act.”
With 75% or the vote counted, progressive Democrat Jasmine Crockett was leading Republican James Rodgers in Texas’ 30th Congressional District. Crockett, backed by Sanders and Our Revolution, stepped up as the district’s Democratic nominee in May after Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson announced her retirement.
Crockett proposed to expand voting access and codify Roe v. Wade, among policy priorities on her campaign website.
Bernie Sanders-backed Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., won the U.S. Senate seat in Vermont. With over 95% of the votes counted by early Wednesday morning, Welch defeated Republican nominee Gerald Malloy, 69% to 28%.
Welch’s priorities include combating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ending fossil fuel subsidies. He has also advocated LGBTQ+ initiatives such as the Equality Act and an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act which would allow transgender individuals to serve in the military. Welch has cosponsored the Women’s Health Protection Act to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law. As stated on his campaign website, Welch supports “fully funding Planned Parenthood and Title X family planning services.”
See Welch’s other policy goals on his campaign website.
Vermont state Senate President and Majority Leader Becca Balint, a Democrat, won Vermont’s single seat in the House of Representatives. With 95% of the votes in, Balint defeated Republican challenger Liam Madden nearly 63% to 28% in the state’s At-Large Congressional District.
Bernie Sanders and Our Revolution are among the progressives who endorsed her in this year’s midterm elections.
Balint’s previous initiatives in Vermont include banning “conversion therapy” for LGBT youth and backing a transgender bathroom bill in the senate. Her current goals include supporting the federal Equality Act, codifying abortion into federal law, and supporting a Green New Deal to fight climate change.
Her other policy goals appear on her campaign website.
Progressive-backed Jonathan Jackson, son of Rev. Jesse Jackson, won the general elections for Illinois’ 1st Congressional District, which includes much of the South Side of Chicago. Latest results show Jackson won 65.5% of the total votes counted so far (85%), while Republican nominee Eric Carlson garnered 34.5% of the vote.
Backed by Bernie Sanders and Our Revolution, Jackson became the district’s Democratic nominee after 15-term Democratic representative Bobby Rush announced his retirement in January.
Among Jackson’s priorities is affordable housing via the People’s Housing Program, which provides a progressive framework for housing by declaring it a fundamental human right. He also advocates a Green New deal plan that “emphasizes environmental and social justice and acknowledges how historically oppressed groups are more likely to be affected by climate change,” as stated on his campaign website. This plan calls for “protection of workers’ rights, community ownership, universal healthcare, and a job guarantee.”
He seeks to reduce crime by getting more guns off the street, and address “systemic racial and gender inequities” of the wage gap by raising the wages of all working women and providing pay equity.
See Jackson’s other policy priorities here.
Illinois General Assembly Fourth District Assistant Majority Leader Delia Ramirez (D) won the general election for Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District. With 82% of the total votes counted, Ramirez beat Republican nominee Justin Burau almost 67% to 33%.
LGBTQ+ rights are among Ramirez’s policy goals. According to her campaign website, “She will support and fight for the Equality Act to fully guarantee nondiscrimination protections for the LGBTQ+ community throughout the United States including in housing, employment, education, and federally funded programs.”
- She plans to add “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” as protected classes under the federal Fair and Equal Housing Act.
- “She will support the Every Child Deserves a Family Act to end discrimination against LGBTQ+ families in the child welfare system.”
View her other policy goals on her campaign website.
This is a breaking story and may be updated. See a previous report by this author on 10 progressive-backed candidates to watch.
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