Electability. It might be an uninspiring battle cry, as the 2026 national primary season kicks off, especially for progressive Democrats. It will certainly land with a thud among the Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren crowd. Yet, if Democrats don’t nominate the most electable candidates, their party will lose big in November.
The chance to retake the U.S. House and Senate is an opportunity too scrumptious to ignore. In Illinois, there is no fretting over electability. In this deep-blue state, Democrats can nominate a ham sandwich — even one with ketchup — and the odds will remain overwhelmingly in their favor.
Take one sizzling race, the primary campaign for the U.S. Senate. The three leading Democrats are enmeshed in a torrid fight for their political lives. Whether it is U.S. Reps. Robin Kelly or Raja Krishnamoorthi or Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, next week’s primary victor will be a shoo-in for the Nov. 3 general election.
It’s a lock for the Democrats. No matter who the GOP nominates, they will be overwhelmed. The same goes in the sprawling battles for the five open congressional seats in the Chicago metro area. The blue blood is in the water in Illinois.
The odds are so lopsided that the GOP has struggled to field candidates. The Illinois Policy Institute looked at the 155 primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Illinois legislature in 2024. Democrats did not run a candidate in 28 of those contests, while Republicans failed to present a candidate in 50, according to the IPI’s analysis of voting data from the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Illinois may be a safe harbor for Democrats, but in other political arenas, electability will be a pivotal factor.
Nationally, the Dems must pick up four new seats to flip the U.S. Senate their way.
Last week, Texas appeared in the windshield as it rolled into the first primaries of the 2026 midterms. It cooked up a most appetizing dish for Democrats to pick up a Senate seat.
On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett ran to the progressive left, while Texas state Rep. James Talarico took the centrist lane.
Crockett was heralding the turnout of the forgotten voter as a key to her victory. She revved up the rhetoric to bring out disenchanted voters, younger ones in particular. “Go left, young men and women,” was her mantra. Don’t listen to the noise, her backers declared. This brilliant, vibrant woman was a singular candidate, who could turn out her fervent base for a win.
That strategy hasn’t worked before in red Texas, but Crockett was hoping for a different ending this time around. Sadly, voters didn’t buy it.
Talarico prevailed, as he plodded down the middle to appeal to centrist Dems and independents.
That positioning makes him far more electable for the fall.
Even Kamala Harris got it. The 2024 Democratic presidential nominee endorsed Crockett in the primary. The day after Talarico won, Harris dispatched an urgent fundraising appeal for Talarico.
“This was a hard-fought Democratic primary, and Texans were lucky to have such inspiring leaders step up in this moment,” she says. “Now James needs us all to get behind him so he can fend off the attacks coming from Republicans across the country and turn Texas blue.”
The maturity of Texas voters won out, with the buzzword of electability ringing loudly in voters’ ears.
On the GOP side, four-term U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are headed to a runoff for the Republican nomination.
Texas has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1988, according to an analysis by The Texas Tribune. That’s a long time in the wilderness. The Democrats have been marinating in their own juices for ages. That may be good for barbecue, but for politics, not so much.
Now they pray that Paxton will prevail in the runoff. That’s because his electability quotient is low, given his past scandals and combative style.
The Democrats see him as quite vulnerable. Will Republicans fail to recognize Paxton’s electability shortcomings? They are watching to see who President Donald Trump will bestow with his golden endorsement and expect the other one to fold.
Will Trump bow to the electability argument and back Cornyn, even though he seems to despise him? Trump once called Cornyn “weak, ineffective and very bad for the Republican Party, and our nation.” The president has argued that Cornyn is a patsy for the Democrats.
In 2026, electability will reign. Even Trump will agree with me.
Laura Washington is a political commentator and longtime Chicago journalist. Her columns appear in the Tribune each Wednesday. Write to her at LauraLauraWashington@gmail.com.
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