It has been an eventful primary season, but with the Wisconsin and Florida primaries behind us, the Welcome Win the Middle slate is moving on to the general election. Here’s what has happened recently:
Beating Left-Wing Challenges
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez cruised to victory in Washington’s 3rd congressional district, easily beating left-wing candidate Brent Hennrich 38.9% to 15.3%. She enters the general election in her strongest position yet with Democratic candidates taking in 55.9% of the vote (recall Washington has a top-two jungle primary where candidates of both parties share a first ballot, and the top-two candidates move on to the second round). She heads into the general election with a 2 to 1 cash-on-hand advantage over Republican John Braun.
Rebecca Cooke convincingly won her primary with 57% of the vote, beating a left-wing candidate, and a rematch against Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin’s third congressional district is now official. Cooke came within three points of defeating Van Orden in 2024, even as Donald Trump carried the district by seven. Now she gets another shot in a considerably more favorable national environment and against an incumbent who voted for the GOP’s reconciliation bill, causing voters in the district to reel from rural hospital closures.
Bale Dalton decisively defeated progressive challenger Marialana Kinter and former Rep. Alan Grayson to win the Democratic nomination in Florida’s 7th congressional district. Republicans also chose a new nominee in former television anchor Ryan Elijah, ousting scandal-plagued Republican incumbent Rep. Cory Mills. While Republicans now have a candidate with less baggage, Dalton enters the general in a strong position. A Navy veteran and former NASA chief of staff, Dalton has both a compelling resume and the resources to put a traditionally overlooked district on the map.
Scaring off the GOP
Jamie Ager scared off several Republicans from running in North Carolina’s 11th congressional district after incumbent Chuck Edwards dropped out (the second Republican to leave the district in disgrace, after Edwards unseated Madison Cawthorn). Republicans have now installed state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom as their replacement nominee, giving Ager a rare opportunity against an untested opponent in an open seat. He has more than $2 million banked, deep ties to the district, and a clear head start, but in an R+5 district, the race remains an uphill climb and any support helps.
Rolling into the General
Pia Dandiya won her primary in Florida’s newly redrawn 22nd congressional district by 37 points after Florida’s late redistricting pushed her into a new seat just months ahead of the election. A former high school principal and White House fellow under Presidents Trump and Biden, Dandiya has already raised more than $2 million ahead of the general. She now heads into an unpredictable open-seat race against Republican nominee Casey Askar in a sprawling district that backed Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2024.
In Iowa, Christina Bohannan is officially headed for another match-up against incumbent Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa’s 1st congressional district. The 2024 race was decided by just 799 votes, and Bohannan enters this cycle’s contest with significant financial resources: she outraised Miller-Meeks last quarter and has more than $5 million cash on hand (the Associated Press recently covered her efforts to win rural voters). And Sarah Trone Garriott will face incumbent Rep. Zach Nunn in Iowa’s 3rd congressional district. Nunn has spent most of his time as a congressman trying to leave Congress. He previously considered running for governor and then reportedly explored jumping into the safer 4th congressional district before the White House pushed him to stay in his seat. Trone Garriott has turned that reluctance into a real vulnerability by outraising Nunn last quarter and entering the general election with $3.9 million on hand, slightly more than Nunn has. The Iowa Capital Dispatch recently covered her race.
In Pennsylvania, Janelle Stelson has turned her rematch against Scott Perry into one of Democrats’ best pickup opportunities by outraising the former Freedom Caucus Chair by more than two-to-one last quarter. Paige Cognetti has moved Pennsylvania’s 8th congressional district into toss-up territory.
In Texas, Bobby Pulido is taking his working-class, culturally grounded campaign across South Texas. On the other end of the spectrum, his district will soon be visited by Speaker Mike Johnson. Republicans are clearly sweating their Texas gerrymander, with a new poll showing Pulido up 5 points and hitting 50% of the vote.
Incumbent Reps. Vicente Gonzalez, Tom Suozzi, Kristen McDonald Rivet and Adam Gray are defending Trump-won districts with proven track records of winning. Check out our new video on Adam Gray here.
These leaders are ready to prove that Democrats can go on offense, win the middle, and help flip the House. Support the Win the Middle slate here.