As Biden faces a struggle to hold the Senate, Democrats’ divisions resurface - The Washington Post

In Pennsylvania, a Black, gay Senate candidate is already lashing out at his White Democratic primary rival, calling on him to apologize for once brandishing a shotgun to detain an unarmed Black jogger.

In North Carolina, a barrier-breaking Black woman is rallying support from activists angry that Democratic leaders last time anointed a White male candidate whose campaign ended up imploding.

As Democrats survey the upcoming fight to keep their narrow Senate majority, they face similar challenges in an array of states: The factions that set aside their differences to deliver the Democrats control of Washington are redividing along racial, gender and generational lines.

“We are going to see a lot of disruption in 2022,” predicted Donna Brazile, a veteran Democratic strategist and former party chair.

With Republicans making a strong play to retake the House, the Senate could hold the balance of power in Washington after 2022, making it critical to the rest of his term.

But the White House, in deference to the sensitivity of the party divisions, is taking a hands-off approach to the primaries for now, even while watching them intently.

“Historically, President Biden has rarely endorsed in Democratic primaries,” said White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jen O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s point person for the midterms.

Some Democrats argue for traditional, often White leaders like Biden himself who can attract centrists; others advocate for women and people of color who can electrify the party, like Raphael G.

Aimee Allison, founder of She the People, which promotes women of color in politics, said Democrats are paying overdue tribute to diversity but are often more comfortable with the type of candidate they have long known.

The party that controls the White House often suffers major defeats in the midterms, and Democrats are bracing for a bad outcome next year, though some hope that with a surging economy and a defeated pandemic, Biden can buck the trend.

Top White House officials argue that the president’s policies, from covid relief to economic aid to jobs, give the party something to unify around.

Toomey’s retirement has opened the door for Democrats in a state Biden won, and Lt.

Mike Donilon, a longtime Biden adviser who now serves as a top White House aide, worked for Lamb in a 2018 special election victory that grabbed national attention.

In the House, Democrats have an edge of just six seats in the 435-seat chamber.

Senate Republicans are defending 20 Senate seats in 2022, compared to 14 for the Democrats, giving them some hope of hanging onto control.

Richard Burr’s retirement puts in a play a purple state where Democrats have come up just short in recent federal elections.

Many Democrats there are still angry about the 2020 Senate race, when Senate Majority Leader Charles E.

Schumer (D-N.Y.), then the Minority Leader, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), which coordinates the party’s Senate campaigns, got behind Cal Cunningham in the primary.

Beasley has won the support of prominent groups and activists such as Collective PAC, which supports Black candidates and was critical of party leaders for rallying behind Cunningham; and Allison, who suggested that party leadership can take a step toward redemption by getting behind her.

Also in the race is Jeff Jackson — like Cunningham, a White state senator with a military background.

But now, they say, it is Democrats who appear to be losing control over their primaries amid a surge in activism by liberal and Black voters.

“We’ve looked at how Senate Democrats have staged their primaries with considerable envy over the years,” said Steven Law, president of the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC that works for a Republican Senate majority.

Some Democratic officials and activists are urging party leaders to get involved, but this time on behalf of diverse candidates — effectively asking them to muscle into races as they have long done on behalf of White hopefuls.

“The Democratic Party nationally needs to do a better job in elevating this very thing,” said Florida state Sen.

And while Cunningham was groomed by party leaders and lost, John Hickenlooper, a former Democratic governor of Colorado, ran for Senate with similar strong backing from the party and easily knocked off Republican incumbent Cory Gardner

Often, such help is provided by allies several layers removed from top party leaders