One would think that, having succumbed to an election thrashing in 2024 that featured a crushing repudiation of divisive identity politics, Democrats might have licked their wounds, assessed the political and social landscape, and dialed back the woke pandering for five minutes.
Instead, Senate primaries for the resistance party are already devolving into an all-out woke arms race. And Democrats risk marching straight back into the same unelectable clown show that voters have overwhelmingly rejected.
Several 2026 Democratic U.S. Senate primaries are being dominated by candidates who are aggressively competing on identity politics and “woke” credentials rather than on policy substance or results for their potential constituents.
Minnesota’s Democratic Senate primary is already a master class in identity one-upmanship. On one side, you have Rep. Angie Craig (MN-2), who suddenly can’t stop reminding voters she’s a lesbian mother, and Bernie Sanders-endorsed Native American Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.
Craig is running to be “the first lesbian mom ever elected” to the U.S. Senate. (You see, Senator Laphonza Butler was the first lesbian mom appointed to the Senate.)
Flanagan, meanwhile, has boasted to anyone that will listen how she “was the first Native American woman to chair a national party committee in history.”
In announcing her campaign, Flanagan impressed upon voters that her name means “speaks in a loud and clear voice woman” in Ojibwe, and she has bragged of being a member of the White Earth Nation on her campaign website.
Because these labels are somehow résumé enhancers in the minds of Democrat politicians.
In Ojibwe, my name means ‘speaks in a loud and clear voice woman.’
Today, I’m officially launching my campaign for the U.S. Senate to go to D.C. and speak in a loud and clear voice for ALL of Minnesota.
— Peggy Flanagan (@peggyflanagan) February 20, 2025
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There is a massive fraud scandal exploding in the North Star State, and Democrats want you to know the top qualifications of their candidates for handling such a mess are being a lesbian or a member of the White Earth Nation. Impressive.
Not to be outdone, Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health professor, is separating himself from the pack in Michigan’s messy three-way primary by bragging about becoming “the first and only Arab and Muslim voice in the entire US Senate ever.”
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed brags that he would be the “first and only Arab and Muslim voice in the entire US Senate ever” if he is elected. pic.twitter.com/g3yNFWG6Kb
— Rusty (@Rusty_Weiss) December 10, 2025
Over in New Hampshire, there is a two-way race taking place, with Democrat Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-1) defending his left flank and running on being… gay.
Pappas asked the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund to support his campaign to help “make history” and send the first “out-gay man” to the U.S. Senate. He followed that up with a recent cringe AI-generated TikTok video suggesting his is an inspiring journey since he never could have imagined running for the U.S. Senate after “growing up gay in New Hampshire.”
“Growing up gay in New Hampshire, I never imagined I could live openly — let alone run for U.S. Senate. But my community showed me what’s possible,” the caption reads.
@chrispappasnh Growing up gay in New Hampshire, I never imagined I could live openly — let alone run for U.S. Senate. But my community showed me what’s possible.
Iowa is also experiencing a wild three-way primary, but State Rep. Josh Turek is separating himself from the crowd by announcing he is “the first permanently disabled member of the Iowa House.”
All well and good, but one of Turek’s opponents, Zach Wahls, a former Minority Leader of the Iowa Senate, burst onto the national spotlight by advocating for his two mothers’ right to marry. Wahls bragged about the viral moment in his campaign announcement video.
I’m Zach Wahls. A sixth-generation Iowan and a new generation of Democrat.
And I’m running for U.S. Senate to defeat Joni Ernst. pic.twitter.com/GlqBYY4MdQ
— Zach Wahls (@ZachWahls) June 11, 2025
Setting yourself apart by demographics seems to be a pattern for Democrat Senate candidates. They are obsessed with historic identity “firsts” and out-woking each other, to the exclusion of addressing voters’ actual concerns.
NRSC Regional Press Secretary Nick Puglia tells RedState that the ploy will backfire.
“Hard-working Americans don’t care what you look like or your sexual preferences; they want leaders who deliver results,” Puglia said. “But radical left Democrats have nothing to offer the American people except divisive identity politics.”
They’ve learned nothing from the outright rejection of such tactics in 2024. The clown show just keeps rolling on.
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