‘Save democracy’ Dems look to win
Hope to prevail by riding anti-Trump sentiment wave
Harry Dunn, a former Capitol Police officer whose pitched battles with former President Donald Trump’s supporters on and after Jan. 6, 2021, vaulted him to political stardom, was greeted Tuesday evening in Annapolis, Maryland, like a celebrity.
But there was also an undercurrent of skepticism among attendees at the Beacon Waterfront Restaurant, where he appeared at a campaign event to bolster his candidacy for the U.S. House.
“We have a person here with a proven legislative record,” Jessica Sunshine, an Annapolis Democrat, told Dunn, referring to state Sen. Sarah Elfreth, his main opponent in next month’s Democratic primary. “You have heart.”
But Dunn, an imposing former offensive lineman who stands 6-foot-7-inches and 325 pounds, didn’t shy away from the reason he is running: to save what he sees as democracy on the edge. “This moment, right now? It calls for a fighter,” he said.
He is not the only one making that case to Democrats.
Over the next three months, primaries in three mid-Atlantic House districts — from the exurbs of Washington to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania — will test the strength of Jan. 6 memories and whether the battle cry of “save democracy” will be enough even for Democratic voters who have many other concerns.
For many voters, partisan celebrity is virtually the only factor in their support for such candidates as Dunn, who played a starring role in the Jan. 6 hearings, and Yevgeny Vindman, who goes by Eugene and along with his twin brother, Alexander, played a key role in highlighting Trump’s effort to strongarm Ukraine into digging up dirt on Joe Biden.
The celebrity-candidate
factor has allowed the “save democracy” candidates to raise so much money nationally that these less-experienced Democrats will dominate the airwaves.
But with issues like abortion, guns, inflation and immigration competing for attention, their victories are not guaranteed — even in Democratic primaries where a threat to democracy will be a key issue in a year with Trump on the ballot.
“There are certainly a small subset of folks that it is not enough for,” Vindman said of his campaign’s focus. “But the vast majority of folks do think that democracy is the most important issue because they see it very much like I see it. Every other issue is rolled into it.”
The voters will soon get their say.
In Pennsylvania, Democratic voters will go to the polls April 23 to choose from among the two leading candidates, Janelle Stelson and Mike O’Brien, and four others, all hoping to take on Rep. Scott Perry, a conservative Republican who was entangled in Trump’s effort to remain in power after he lost the 2020 election.
O’Brien, a former Marine Corps officer and fighter pilot, has made the preservation of democracy central to his candidacy. Stelson, a former television news
broadcaster with strong name recognition, has made that issue one of many.
Dunn is one of 22 Democrats vying to succeed Rep. John Sarbanes, who is retiring, in Maryland’s May 14 primary that will almost certainly decide the next House member for the state’s heavily Democratic 3rd District. His opponents include Elfreth, a state senator with the backing of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, two veteran members of the Maryland House of Delegates and a prominent gun-control activist.
Vindman — another new candidate — is seeking to replace Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who is running for governor and hopes primary voters in her marginally Democratic district will side with him on June 18 over seven other Democrats.
Vindman, an Army colonel who was fired from Trump’s National Security Council for his connection to the first impeachment investigation, and Dunn, the former Capitol Police officer, have become darlings of the Democratic activist set, parlaying fame into huge fundraising advantages.
Vindman raised more than $2 million through the end of last year, $1.5 million from donors whose contributions were too small to
require disclosure. Those with larger gifts include Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader, and actor Mark Hamill, known widely for playing Luke Skywalker in the “Star Wars” films and more narrowly as an ardent foe of Trump.
His closest fundraising rival, Margaret Franklin, a Prince William County supervisor, raised $122,894.
Because Dunn did not formally begin his campaign until January, he has not yet had to disclose his fundraising numbers, but campaign officials say he will announce totals for the first quarter this week nearing $3.7 million. His closest competitor, Elfreth, raised just over $400,000 last year but has financial support from outside groups.
The celebrity candidacies of Vindman and Dunn have raised some hackles among elected Democrats who had served in local offices waiting for a chance to run for the House. In both races, women, many of them minorities, are feeling particularly aggrieved.
“Yes, this campaign is about saving democracy, but it’s also about reclaiming civil, human and women’s rights gains that people fought and died for, and that are being lost,” said Terri Hill, a physician who has served in the Maryland House of Delegates for nearly a decade.