In a Democratic primary race that has provoked comparisons to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s shocking victory over longtime Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) in June, voters in Delaware headed to the polls on Thursday to determine whether community activist Kerri Evelyn Harris will succeed in ousting Sen. Tom Carper, the incumbent three-term “business-friendly” centrist.
Although Harris is still being described by many political reporters as a “long-shot”—polling (pdf) conducted in July had Carper leading by double-digits—the race still has garnered national attention from journalists as well as the progressive groups that are backing her, including Our Revolution, which urged voters to cast their ballots:
Reporting from Delaware on Thursday, The Intercept‘s Ryan Grim wrote in his email newsletter, “Polls I’ve been briefed on have Carper winning in a landslide, but I’m here anyway, because it’s impossible to predict what could happen, and the debate between Harris and Carper is really a microcosm of the fight for the soul of the party.”
Harris, according to her campaign platform, supports a Medicare for All healthcare system, safeguarding women’s rights, ending mass incarceration, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, transitioning away from fossil fuels, holding Wall Street accountable, protecting victims of sexual violence in the military, and emphasizing diplomacy over military actions to resolve issues with foreign nations.
Her challenge to Carper “did not initially attract as much attention as intraparty brawls in states like Michigan and New York,” noted Dave Weigel at The Washington Post, “but the same organizers who’ve powered other upsets and insurgent campaigns this cycle have moved into Democratic-leaning Delaware.” Key members of Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign staff as well as Claire Sandberg, digital director for Abdul El-Sayed’s unsuccessful bid to serve as Michgian’s next governor, have thrown their weight behind Harris.
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
Click Here: camiseta river plate