Politics

Tennessee House primary puts Democratic Party’s generational divide on display

Published

6 days ago

October 8, 2025

Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson is challenging 10-term House incumbent Steve Cohen, turning the Democratic primary into the latest test of the party’s debate over age.

David Hogg’s political group, established to elect younger people to office, is pledging $1 million to Pearson.

In his announcement video, Pearson described himself as a “Memphian, born and raised, who understands how to build bridges across race, identity, ethnicity and generations in order to build the future that we want to live into.”

“We always stand up against those who try to silence us, push us to the periphery, push us to the back, in the places that should represent us,” Pearson added. “Now, I am ready to fight for us in the United States Congress.”

The primary represents the latest clash between generational forces in the party, with the 30-year-old Pearson taking on the 76-year-old Cohen. A wave of Democratic primary candidates, from California to Indiana to Georgia, are challenging longtime incumbents whom they feel are weak leaders at a time when the party is searching for a path back to power. They argue the party needs a stylistic makeover, led by a younger generation of candidates.

Pearson didn’t name-check Cohen in his launch video, but a pair of his progressive backers did. Hogg, who co-founded Leaders We Deserve and pledged to challenge “asleep-at-the-wheel” Democrats, urged Cohen to “pass the torch” in a statement. Justice Democrats called Cohen an “average absentee congressman” who “rarely shows up in the community, campaigns for support or holds town halls … while still cashing checks from corporate PACs.”

Cohen is also the only white member from either party to represent a majority-Black district.

Pearson and Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones gained national attention for their expulsion, then reinstatement, to the state legislature in 2023. The pair led a gun control protest on the state House floor after six children were murdered at a Christian school in Nashville.

Cohen, who was first elected in 2006, has faced primary challenges before and he’s usually crushed his opponents. In 2024, he won with nearly three-quarters of the vote.

Politics

Chuck Schumer gets his preferred candidate, Janet Mills, in crowded Maine Senate race

Published

2 hours ago

October 14, 2025

Blue Light Newsroom

Maine Gov. Janet Mills joined her state’s crowded Democratic Senate primary as the establishment favorite on Tuesday, aiming to flip Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ seat in a pivotal midterm year.

Democrats view the seat as one of their top pickup opportunities — the only in a state Kamala Harris won in 2024 — and Mills is among a few top-tier candidates Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer aggressively recruited to run this cycle. But first the term-limited governor must contend with a competitive primary against breakout candidate Graham Platner, an oyster farmer who announced he has more than $3 million in the bank and already received the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Maine Beer Company owner Dan Kleban is also running for the nomination and his fundraising figures will be made public Wednesday, when federal filings are released.

In her launch video, Mills highlighted her recent fight with President Donald Trump over transgender sports and accused Collins of enabling him. “I won’t sit idly by while Maine people suffer and politicians like Susan Collins bend the knee as if this were normal,” Mills said.

Despite initial hesitation, the governor started interviewing staff and telling local reporters she was seriously considering a bid last month.

She addressed that long contemplation in her announcement, saying in the video, “Honestly, if this president and this Congress were doing things that were even remotely acceptable, I wouldn’t be running for the U.S. Senate.”

The race sets up the latest generational clash for a party struggling to find its footing after losing the White House and both branches of Congress last year.

Mills, who won her seat by wide margins in her last two races, is 77 years old, making her five years Collins’ senior at a time when Americans are grappling with debates about the age of their politicians. If elected, she would be the oldest first-year senator ever. Platner is 41 and unlikely to leave the race for Mills; Kleban, who is 48, has so far dodged questions about what he would do if Mills jumped in.

Democrats need to pick up four seats in order to win back control of the Senate, a difficult task that all but has to include a pickup in Maine, where Harris won by 7 points.

Democrats poured millions of dollars into an ultimately-unsuccessful effort to unseat Collins in 2020 — but her declining popularity in the bluing state is giving Democrats hope that next year’s race could be their best chance yet.

Republicans are eager to expose Mills’ weaknesses, and have already targeted her public fight Trump, as well as her age.