[Upshot] The 2026 Democratic Challenger Guide
A mathematical analysis of who's the most MAGA Democrat
Ten months ago, I published a meta-analysis of all members of the Democratic party in the U.S. House of Representatives.
After nearly a year of additional votes, the analysis is holding strong. The worst of the worst have gotten worse, and the fighter for good are still fighting.
With primary elections well underway and running through September, there’s still time to look at the candidates running against incumbents who have failed to stand up for our democracy.
You can see when your state’s primary and general (or runoff) elections are here.
Rep. Cueller (TX) took the top spot, but other than shifting places, not much has changed.
We can’t keep voting in Fetterman’s and Moskowitz’ and expect to save our Democracy.
The updated analysis includes bills from the second half of 2025, in addition to select bills from 2026, including: HR 8029, HR 5103, HR 1958, HR 556, HR 7744, H Con Res 38, H Res 1099, HR 4758, HR 4626, HR 2189.
Based on the index, here are the representatives Democrats need to start working toward primarying, starting with the worst for our democracy:
Cueller (TX)
Golden (ME)
Davis (NC)
Perez (WA)
Gonzalez (TX)
Moskowitz (FL)
Gray (CA)
Landsman (OH)
Suozzi (NY)
Vasquez (NM)
Gillen (NY)
Costa (CA)
Gottheimer (NJ)
Lee (NV)
Pappas (NH)
You can read the original post with the original methodology below.
I’ve developed an index which Democrats should use as a guide for challenging those in our ranks who do not support us or democracy in 2026, based on the voting records and bill proposals of every member of the Democratic Party in the U.S. House of Representatives in 25 key legislative votes1,
I looked at legislation during the 118th and 119th congressional sessions in which only a small percent of Democrats broke with the party in voting for GOP-sponsored legislation.
Most of the legislation considered fell under one of five umbrellas: immigration, the environment/climate change, economic welfare, free speech, and MAGA “show laws” (like the absurd “Gas Stove Freedom Act”).
This is not simply a liberal-or-conservative scale and it does not consider tweets, dramatic speeches on the house floor, or one-liners and talking points on the news, only their legislative record.
Which, at the end of the day, is all that really matters when electing someone to congress to legislate.
There are 213 Democrats currently serving in the House of Representatives.
Sixty-one Democrats scored highly enough to be considered outside the normal clustering pattern for the party, though there were 32 amongst them who broke away even from that group.
The top nine voted more with the GOP on divisive legislation than they did with Democrats.
I will warn you: you might see representatives on this list that you like. I was surprised and even hurt to see someone I campaigned for in the last cycle on this list.
But this is the reality.
Remember that a large part of running for and staying in Congress now is marketing.
What someone says and what they actually do on their job can be two entirely different things.
Based on the index, here are the representatives Democrats need to start working toward primarying, starting with the worst for our democracy:
Moskowitz (FL)
Perez (WA)
Davis (NC)
Golden (ME)
Gillen (NY)
Gottheimer (NJ)
Costa (CA)
Cuellar (TX)
Landsman (OH)
Craig (MN)
Gonzalez (TX)
Gray (CA)
Lee (NV)
Pappas (NH)
Suozzi (NY)
Ryan (NY)
Shrier (WA)
Kaptur (OH)
Torres (NY)
Morelle (NY)
Horsford (NV)
Soto (FL)
Vindman (VA)
Budzinski (IL)
Case (HI)
Davids (KS)
Goldman (NY)
Harder (CA)
Houlahan (PA)
Scholton (MI)
Stanton (AZ)
Wasserman-Schults (FL)
What about the good ones?
If you want to know who is out there voting to save democracy, the way I created this index allows me to pull out lists from within subject areas.
Here are the top 10, starting with the highest scoring at #1, for those working hardest to ensure our civil rights and freedoms are not trampled out, that our universities are not dismantled, and that agencies continue to protect the people as they’re supposed to.
TLAIB (MI)
OMAR (MN)
OCASIO-CORTEZ (NY)
PRESSLEY (MA)
LEE (PA)
GARCIA (IL)
CASAR (TX)
RAMIREZ (IL)
FROST (FL)
GARCIA (CA)
On these issues, for example, Moskowitz (FL) ranks #357 out of 438 for all representatives — in the bottom 20% of ALL of the House of Representatives (even Republicans).
If you want to know who is working the hardest on fighting for economic justice, working class people and families, and unions, here are your top ten, from the highest scoring at #1.
GARCIA (TX)
TURNER (TX)
ANSARI (AZ)
BELL (MO)
WATERS (CA)
CASTEN (IL)
JAYAPAL (WA)
CLARKE (NY)
SIMON (CA)
SCHAKOWSKY (IL)2
Some of the key legislation considered included:
H.Res. 189, S.5., HR 867, H.Res. 845, H.J.Res.88, H.R. 22, H.R.1048, S.J. Res.11, H.J.Res.42, H.J.Res.61, H.R.1640, H.J.Res.20, H.R.35, H.R.26, H.R.23
Schakowsky announced this week that she does not intend to run for re-election in 2026, which leaves the seat to an open primary. Illinois’ 9th district is entirely urban and based in the greater Chicago area. It is a safe seat for Democrats that will be determined in the primaries.