California congressman challenges party to be bold
Silicon Valley freshman Rep. Ro Khanna has become the first member of Congress to join a progressive group that has pledged to back Democrats who fit its progressive political views, even if it means challenging sitting Democrats to do it.
“It’s time that the Democrats had a clear, bold progressive vision and that we had spine and willingness to stand up for those bold, progressive ideas,” the Fremont Democrat said on “The Young Turks,” a popular online progressive show.
The group was founded in January by Cenk Uygur, founder of the Young Turks video network, and several advisors from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign with the goal of expanding the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Last week, the group, Justice Democrats, announced that it is endorsing Cori Bush over Rep. Lacy Clay, a Democrat who has represented his St. Louis district for nine terms.
Khanna beat incumbent Democrat Rep. Mike Honda in 2016 to win his seat. Khanna said Democrats shouldn’t fear primaries. He believes that competitive elections will open the door to more diverse candidates and better ideas and, he hopes, help Democrats win back the House.
“This is a democracy. These seats don’t belong to me, they don’t belong to anyone. They belong to people, and you ought to earn the right to represent folks. Competition makes you better,” Khanna said on the show. “How are we going to get more women, more minorities, more progressives elected if you can never primary anyone?”
Khanna stressed that he isn’t going to back all challengers over incumbents, or even back everyone Justice Democrats endorses. He said he’s gotten grief for backing House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) rather than challenger Stephen Jaffe.
Khanna’s decision to join Justice Democrats, along with his pledge not to take PAC or lobbyist money, are unexpected establishment-flouting moves for a man who just started his political career and hopes for a longterm role in the party. Khanna said he’s not worried about the ramifications.
“I rocked the boat to get to Congress. This was consistent with what I ran on,” he said.
“I think the question is, are you going to be with the institutionalists of the party or with the people? We’ll see how it plays out.