Primary Season Is Far More Important Than The DCCC Wants You To Think It Is

Chuy Garcia and Carlos Rosa, 2 of Chicago's best

ProgressivePunch rates Jan Schakowsky's voting record an "A." This year she scores 100. And career-long she gets a 96.43, the 13th best score in Congress. The only other Illinois member with an "A" is Danny Davis. Robin Kelly has a strong progressive voting record as well. And Luis Gutierrez's isn't bad. His "B" rating is strong and this session his 95.16 score is the 37th strongest in the House. His lifetime record is 89.47. the 54th best in the House-- nothing to sneer at, and more important is Gutierrez's leadership on the issues that have meant the most to him, primarily immigration policy. He'll be missed. Yesterday he announced he's not running for reelection and endorsed Chuy Garcia, a very progressive Cook County commissioner who had forced Rahm Emanuel and all his millions of sleazy dollars into a runoff for mayor 2 years ago.

Gutierrez's district, is one of the most progressive in the country. Bernie handily beat Hillary in the primary and Hillary absolutely crushed Trumpanzee in the general-- 82.1% to 13.2%. The PVI is D+33, second only to Danny Davis' IL-07 at D+38. That's the kind of district where Democrats should be looking for cutting edge leadership, for men and women to be not just be sitting and voting well, but to be bringing forth ideas that might not be generally accepted for another decade. Gutierrez's endorsement of Chuy Garcia will go a long way towards helping him win the primary (tantamount to winning the seat)-- and Chuy is likely to be an even more progressive member than Gutierrez. But there's another candidate in the race that shouldn't be overlooked, Chicago Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, a Democratic Socialist and former aide to Gutierrez, who also threw his hat into the ring. Rosa, openly gay and the youngest Chicago alderman, was a Bernie delegate to the Convention.

Although the DCCC is working very hard to prevent it, the next Congress could see a far more dynamic, ethical, progressive and independent-minded Democratic Party than the current one. Around the country, there are actual top notch candidates running, not just the usual array of pathetic hacks and self-funding conservatives the DCCC strongly prefers. And this goes beyond just extraordinary progressives fighting to replace corrupt conservatives already in office-- like Tim Canova vs Wasserman Schultz in South Florida and Marie Newman vs Dan Lipinski in Chicago. Open seats and shaky Republican seats could bless Congress with men and women like Kaniela Ing in Hawaii-- that state's most progressive legislator replacing hawkish corrupt conservative Colleen Hanabusa-- Sam Jammal replacing bigot Ed Royce in Orange County, Derrick Crowe replacing corrupt science denier Lamar Smith in Austin/San Antonio, Jared Golden-- another cutting edge state legislative leader, replacing Wall Street hack Bruce Poliquin in Maine-- Lillian Salerno (TX), Austin Frerick (IA), Jenny Marshall (NC), Randy Bryce (IL), Dan Canon (IN), David Gill (OK)... and everyone else you find on the page you find by tapping the thermometer above.

There are only 3 freshmen with 100% ProgressivePunch voting scores-- Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Ro Khanna (D-CA). It's important to remember that there are other measurements of effectiveness and leadership. We have an opportunity now-- during primary season-- to guarantee that the Congress elected in 2018 and seated in January 2019 will be among the best in contemporary American history. We have that chance-- or we can just give in and let the Blue Dogs, New Dems and DCCC fill the seats with piles of garbage, which they are working diligently-- even furiously-- to do. It's up to you and me and all of us. This is a time we can pick between dynamic change or a turgid status quo we all hate. Don't be fooled again.