Progressives eye another upset in Delaware primary against Sen. Tom Carper

In Delaware, Kerri Evelyn Harris is looking to unseat longtime Sen. Tom Carper.

September 6, 2018, 11:46 AM

Tom Carper has held elected office in the state of Delaware since 1977, has represented the state in the U.S. Senate for close to two decades and has not lost a race in his political career.

In Thursday's primaries, he faces a challenge that a growing number of longtime Democratic incumbents have been grappling with this midterm cycle: a young, progressive candidate looking to capitalize on the desire for an ideological and generational shift in the Democratic Party.

The challenge to Carper in the state's Democratic primary for U.S. Senate comes from Kerri Evelyn Harris, a biracial, 38-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran and community organizer who would be the country's first openly-LGBTQ woman of color elected to Congress. She has the backing of many of the same national groups that helped propel the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Andrew Gillum, who ran on similar platforms to Harris, to their upset victories earlier this summer.

But even with the support of progressive groups that have found success in recent races, Harris still faces a steep challenge in unseating Carper, a political institution in the First State. FEC records show that Carper dwarfs Harris in the money race, raising over $3.5 million to Harris' $120,000.

PHOTO: Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., asks a question of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen as she testifies to the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., asks a question of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen as she testifies to the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP, FILE

Similar to other progressive campaigns this year, the race in Delaware follows the same 'David versus Goliath' narrative that progressive candidates have pursued in 2018, and Harris is quick to emphasize that her experience better connects her to the working class than Carper.

In a recent interview with ABC News, Harris said her decision to challenge Carper is rooted in the need for a "diversity in experience," and criticized the incumbent for his sluggish acceptance of a proposed Medicare-for-All healthcare system, and a voting record she says indicates a coziness with big banks and pharmaceutical companies, that she says strays beyond the political mainstream in a reliably blue state.

"He’s doing what he thinks people want to hear," Harris told ABC News, "We need people to lead from the front and know what their people need before it becomes a popular issue."

For Carper's part, he has not shied away from aggressive campaigning and has avoided the same criticism that high-ranking House Democrat Rep. Joe Crowley, who lost his primary to Ocasio-Cortez in June, faced for avoiding debates and appearing not to take his challenger seriously.

Carper has staked out more moderate positions on both health care and financial regulation, and it's his willingness to work across the aisle and compromise that he says voters will reward him for on Thursday.

"Delaware's always gotten rewarded for working to the middle, finding consensus...I don't think that's changed," Carper recently told the Associated Press.

In a recent campaign ad, Carper brags about the "482,000" miles he's logged in his minivan talking to Delawareans, as scenes of him working out at the local YMCA and taking the Amtrak to Washington, D.C., as did former Vice President Joe Biden, arguably the only Delaware politician more well-known that Carper.

Harris has joined calls to abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), another flash-point for progressive candidates this cycle, and says Carper believe in a "top-down" economic approach.

"I believe in a middle-out approach. That’s supposed to be how Democrats consider our economy," she said.

Harris has also focused on mobilizing voters aligned with Sen. Bernie Sanders, communities of color that don’t vote regularly, immigrants, and low-income communities. She said that her coalition even includes Trump voters, because "they realize it’s the issues that matter."

Will the progressive winning streak continue?

Thursday's contest in Delaware is yet another opportunity for progressive groups like the Working Families Party (WFP), which endorsed Ocasio-Cortez, Gillum and successful candidates in Wisconsin and Connecticut and is backing Harris on Tuesday, to prove their political might as primary season winds down.

"The progressive victories we're seeing show that there is an incredible appetite in America for a bolder and more transformative kind of politics," WFP spokesman Joe Dinkin told ABC News in a phone interview.

PHOTO: Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum speaks during a Democratic gubernatorial debate held at Florida Gulf Coast University's Cohen Center in Fort Myers, Fla., July 18, 2018.
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum speaks during a Democratic gubernatorial debate held at Florida Gulf Coast University's Cohen Center in Fort Myers, Fla., July 18, 2018.
Wilfredo Lee/AP

Emboldened by their recent victories, WFP and progressive groups say they are putting the "Democratic establishment" on notice, and Harris' candidacy is another example of a candidate that has a chance to continue that mission.

"Kerri is emblematic of this and this generation of diverse, activist candidates who are proving that frankly, no incumbent is safe without being willing to address the issues that progressives want to talk about," Dinkin said, "I think we’re proving that progressives can compete at every level of government and that corporate-backed politicians have to choose a side the establishment can either get on board or get out of the way."

In the final weeks of the campaign, WFP has made a $100,000 push that includes door knocking, direct mail pieces, digital and text advertisements that aim to highlight Harris' progressive credentials and highlight positions that Carper has taken they believe are out of step with the modern Democratic Party.

Early Thursday morning, Harris gave a shout out to those progressive groups that backed her, including WFP, and in a short video on Twitter sounded optimistic about the chances of what would be one of the cycles most shocking political upsets.

"It's going to be a wonderful day, and change is coming."

ABC News' Adia Robinson contributed to this story.

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