So much for the rising tide of Democratic Socialism. The DSA just discovered the limits of its reach in Arizona's 4th Congressional District, even as the Democrat Party struggles to contain its radical upstarts from splitting the party. Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to demonstrate his strength in a relatively united GOP. He got a clean sweep for his slate of candidates in Arizona, and celebrated in an all-caps message this morning on Truth Social:
MAGA CANDIDATES WON EVERYTHING LAST NIGHT IN ARIZONA, A COMPLETE SWEEP!!! I WON ARIZONA 18 MONTHS AGO. THE DUMOCRATS ARE DUMBFOUNDED. AFTER DECADES, ARIZONA IS BECOMING A REPUBLICAN STATE. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL! President DONALD J. TRUMP
That is premature at best. Democrats still hold most statewide elected offices, including both US Senate seats, neither of which is at stake in this midterm cycle. (Republican Treasurer Kimberly Yee is the sole exception.) Trump had a lot of success in the primaries, however, and seems to have won without creating major rifts in Arizona:
A full slate of Republican candidates endorsed by President Trump, including former NFL kicker Jay Feely, emerged victorious Tuesday in Arizona’s primary elections while a Democratic socialist House hopeful suffered a crushing defeat.
Feely, who played for six teams — including the Jets and Giants — during his 14 seasons as a pro, defeated former state lawmaker Joseph Chaplik in the Grand Canyon State’s 1st Congressional District, which covers northeastern Maricopa County and is the wealthiest in Arizona.
The 1st District seat is being vacated by Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), who opted to run for governor. Democrats have targeted the district as a key flip opportunity as they try to regain the House majority after four years out of power.
That's a reach for Democrats. Arizona's 1st CD has a Cook index of R+1, but Trump won it by three points in the last election, and Yee won it by nearly seven points two years before that. However, Democrats won it more often than not in the past two decades. Feely's easy win last night contrasts with the Democrats' too-close-to-call result in AZ-01, where prior losing candidate Amish Shah has a narrow lead over two other candidates at the moment. Shah had earlier declared that he was running even more to the Left after his 2024 loss, which seems out of step for a slightly Republican district on the nicer outskirts of the Phoenix area:
During a Congressional District 1 Zoom candidate forum hosted by the Legislative District 3 Democrats on April 29, Shah, a four-term Democrat in the state House, reflected on his 2024 loss and told attendees that he plans to do things a little differently this election cycle.
Shah attributed his loss to three factors: underperformance at the top of the ticket with former Vice President Kamala Harris in her presidential race; the late Arizona primary election date giving candidates a shorter amount of time to campaign for the general election; and groups such as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee telling him he was too nice during his campaign — leading Shah to accept a challenge to use expletives to “prosecute (President Donald Trump and Republicans) as vigorously” as he could.
The NRCC responded with a bring it on at the time:
“Democrat Amish Shah said he lost because Biden and Harris were toxic, then ran even further left by calling for massive tax increases, socialism and open borders. Amish Shah’s radical statements will haunt him long after this race to the far-left primary,” NRCC Spokesperson Ben Petersen told the Yellow Sheet Report.
As evidence of Shah’s support for “tax increases, socialism and open borders,” the NRCC pointed to Shah’s opposition to Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, H.R. 1, his support for universal healthcare and lowering premiums, and calling Trump’s border and immigration policies “lawless.”
That's not the really bad news for progressives from last night's primaries, however. That took place in AZ-04, where the DSA attempted to push out incumbent Greg Stanton with upstart Kai Newkirk. Until now, the DSA has succeeded in deep-blue congressional districts by catching incumbent Democrats asleep at the switch. This time, however, the DSA attempted it in a district with a D+4 Cook index, and got clobbered as a result:
In the 4th District, centered in the Phoenix suburbs of Tempe and Mesa, incumbent Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) swamped Democratic socialist primary challenger Kai Newkirk by 30 percentage points.
Newkirk, who accused Stanton of being too supportive of Israel and corporations and slammed the congressman’s vote in favor of the Laken Riley Act mandating illegal immigrants who are arrested, charged or convicted of “burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting” be held by immigration authorities.
Well, whaddaya know. Turns out that immigration enforcement and not siding with terrorists against Jews pays off in straight-up election fights, at least in most of America. That should give Democrats a ringing lesson on the need to marginalize the DSA and its activists in future election cycles, although their situation may be too far gone to do much in the upcoming general election. Stanton will face conservative activist Zuhdi Jasser in November; Jasser ran unopposed in the primary on a platform featuring pledges for border enforcement, budget control, and strong national security. That's going to be an uphill battle for Jasser, but at least the DSA won't get to poach another House seat.
This lesson may prove prophetic for Democrats in other states, where the DSA wants to run where the electorates are far less radical. Michigan's Democrats may deny Abdul El-Sayed a Senate nomination, but Wisconsin Democrats look ready to nominate Francesca Hong in Wisconsin:
Democratic socialists predict another victory for their movement may arrive in an unlikely place: battleground Wisconsin, where state Rep. Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist running for governor, is testing the state's purple waters.
"Regardless of generation, but especially for young people, they are demanding a different type of politics and a different type of politician," Hong said in an interview with ABC News. ...
While reliable public polling has been scant, a statewide poll from Marquette in March found Hong pulling a slight lead over top contenders in the Aug. 11 Democratic primary, including former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and current Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, who dropped out of the race on Friday over a campaign finance controversy.
But in another shakeup of the race, Gov. Tony Evers on Saturday endorsed David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive. Crowley officially relaunched his campaign for governor after suspending it just days earlier and endorsing Rodriguez.
Wisconsin Democrats are a mess at the moment, but they're not giving Hong a chance at a default win that would make her into a punching bag for Republicans. The DSA can't compete outside of radicalized localities, as Democrats discovered last night, and may learn the harder way in November if they can't stop El-Sayed and Hong in the next three weeks.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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