“To the Democratic establishment: This is not your opening,” said Joseph Geevarghese, the head of Our Revolution, a group that came out of the ashes of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign. (Late Tuesday, Our Revolution announced it was “rallying behind” Jackson, who took steps Tuesday to form a fundraising committee for the seat.)
Meanwhile, Mills remains a force in Democratic politics in the state, although no one is really championing the 78-year-old to make history as the oldest first-termer elected to the Senate. And all the while, in a sign that politics in this era is anything but rules-governed, actor Patrick Dempsey’s name is being bandied about as an option with high name ID and zero voting history.
The consequences to all this are real, and could impact toss-up races around the country. Democrats’ de facto super PAC operation said it would nix $24 million in earmarked spending there if Platner remains the nominee. The official campaign arm for Senate Democrats also said there would be no party cash for that race unless he exited. Allied interest groups across the Democratic spectrum also rescinded their endorsements and urged Platner to step aside. Even Platner’s strongest backers in Washington, including Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna, urged him to realize his race was done.