Progressive group rolls out 2026 candidates, pitching working-class challengers
Justice Democrats announced a dozen contenders for the 2026 cycle.
Justice Democrats, a progressive group that recruits and backs candidates in Democratic primaries, announced a dozen contenders for the 2026 cycle, pitching the slate as a working-class answer to Democrats' debate over how to confront President Donald Trump's administration.
The group said it is aiming at Democratic primaries and open seats as it tries to build a new progressive bloc in Congress.
Executive Director Alexandra Rojas told ABC News the organization is building a "team of fighters in Washington" to "build power for the working class in Congress," arguing the Democratic Party is overrun by corporate PACs and lobbies. Justice Democrats said its candidates will not take corporate PAC money or money from American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the crypto lobby or the artificial intelligence lobby.
The slate of candidates mixes local officials, state lawmakers and new candidates, including former Rep. Cori Bush in Missouri, Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang in California and Dallas pastor Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes III in Texas. Others include Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney, Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam and Rep. Justin J. Pearson, a member of the "Tennessee Three."
For Vang, the endorsement was personal. She said she first learned about the group while watching "Knock Down the House," the Netflix documentary that followed several 2018 primary challengers, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Summer Lee and former Rep. Bush. Years later, Vang said, she found herself running with the same group's backing.
Vang, the daughter of Hmong refugees and the eldest of 16 children, is challenging longtime incumbent Rep. Doris Matsui in California's 7th Congressional District.
"I've always voted for Doris Matsui, you know, and I have deep gratitude and respect," Vang told ABC News. "But this moment just requires a different type of leader that really understands what's happening on the ground."
"I'm running for Congress because I don't have the luxury of waiting on the sideline," she added.
Matsui said in a statement to ABC News, "I was born in a Japanese internment camp here on American soil, so when I talk about injustice, I'm not referencing a textbook — I'm speaking from lived experience."
"That's why I'm fighting relentlessly against Trump's cruel immigration policies while delivering billions for our communities for flood protection, infrastructure, and lower health care costs. Experience isn't about clinging to power; it's about being effective when the stakes are highest for our families," Matsui added.
Bush's story is one Justice Democrats often cite as an early example of its strategy. Bush was the group's first endorsed candidate. Bush told ABC News the organization was central to her first run for Congress.
"I could not have made my first run without the Justice Democrats," Bush said.
Bush is running again in Missouri's 1st Congressional District after losing her seat to Rep. Wesley Bell. She said the decision was not immediate.
"It was gradual," Bush said, describing the loss as "crushing" and saying she weighed the impact of campaigns on her family. She said Rep. Rashida Tlaib urged her to run again, and strangers did, too, approaching her in public to say, "You better run again."
Bush said a deadly tornado in May 2025, that tore through the St. Louis area, helped crystallize the choice, as residents were still waiting for help.
"People are still not whole," Bush said. She said the community felt the effects of what she described as efforts to defund the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and she argued the district needed more aggressive advocacy.
If she returns to Congress, Bush said she wants to pick back up work on reparations and the ERA caucus she helped start with Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and to press for Supreme Court reforms.
Bell's campaign has argued voters should not return Bush to office. In a statement, campaign manager Jordan Blase praised Bell's first year in office and criticized Bush's record, saying, "She repeatedly failed to stand alongside Democrats, voting against the Biden administration."
Bush also pointed to her 2020 run, saying she considered leaving the race after contracting COVID-19 and struggling with asthma complications. She said she was scrolling on social media when she came across a livestream sermon by Haynes.
"I caught the last four or five minutes of the sermon, and the sermon was exactly what I needed," Bush said. She said she stayed in the race that would change her life.
Haynes, the longtime senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, is running in Texas' 30th Congressional District, an open seat vacated by Rep. Jasmine Crockett.
"My experience in the church and other social justice work has taught me that people are hungry for justice -- racial, economic, environmental, and social," Haynes told ABC News. "Working class people don't need a savior, we need a container for our organizing."
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