The stars of the anti-Donald Trump resistance movement that characterized much of his first presidential term failed to gain traction as they sought elected office this year amid broader upheaval in the Democratic Party over its direction and tactics.
On Tuesday, Alex Vindman, a former national security official who played a leading role in the first Trump impeachment, lost in a stunning upset to a Democratic Socialists of America member, Angie Nixon, in Florida’s Democratic Senate primary. The establishment-backed Vindman out-raised Nixon 16-to-1 and outspent her 13-to-1, yet still failed to capture the Democratic nomination to take on incumbent Republican Sen. Ashley Moody.
This election and others like it have shown that relying solely on an anti-Trump message may no longer be a viable winning strategy.
In New York, lead Trump impeachment lawyer Rep. Dan Goldman lost his Democratic primary to a left-wing challenger, and attorney George Conway, a top Trump critic who vowed to lead Trump’s third impeachment, finished fifth in his bid for Congress. In Colorado, Rep. Diana DeGette, who played a prominent role in both Trump impeachments, lost to a progressive challenger as well.
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Other prominent critics from Trump’s second impeachment, which involved his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, also lost their bids for office this year, including former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn in Maryland; former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican turned Democrat; and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican.
Olivia Troye, a former national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence and vocal Trump administration critic, withdrew her bid for a House seat in Virginia after the state’s Supreme Court tossed a proposed redistricting map drawn by Democrats. So did Lev Parnas, a former Trump ally turned critic, after seeking a congressional seat in Florida. Both announced they would run as Democrats.
Not every Trump resistance hero lost this year. Other impeachment managers, such as Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland), who led the prosecution of Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, easily won their primaries.
Vindman opened his campaign for Senate with a video that invoked his starring role in Trump’s impeachment, one that helped him raise millions of dollars. But he failed to match Nixon’s energy and grassroots support, especially in Tallahassee, where she made a name for herself as a state representative standing up to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“Angie Nixon won because she flat hustled,” Florida Democratic strategist Steve Schale said in a blog post.
Still, it’s clear the Democratic Party is undergoing a major generational and ideological shift. Nixon is the first DSA member to win a statewide primary, and the first to be nominated for the U.S. Senate. Democratic socialist candidates have also swept to victory in a range of primaries in New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., capitalizing on voter frustration with the establishment and focusing heavily on economic populism.
Or, as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) put it in a speech Wednesday at the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association: “It’s not enough to just talk a good game. These are serious times that demand serious action.”
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