Progressives head to US House in record numbers

House progressives, long dismissed as the Democratic party's leftwing outliers, are heading into the next Congress in larger numbers than ever and vowing to push the new Democratic majority to the left.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus said on Sunday it will welcome more than 25 new members, including a record number who won in red districts, expanding its ranks to more than 105 lawmakers. The caucus had 100 members in the last Congress.

Progressive leaders say the midterm blue wave shows that voters will back candidates who promise sweeping change, as many of the newcomers ran on Medicare for All, stronger protections for workers and ending US arms and military support for Israel over its war and conduct in Gaza.

With Democrats set to control both chambers in January, the caucus says it must now test its mandate in Congress. The caucus chair, Greg Casar, said in front of the Capitol building, 'Progressive ideas won that election, and we need to deliver on those promises.'

The caucus endorsed nine candidates in competitive red-to-blue races and six won, flipping seats. Randy Villegas won in California, where Trump took the district by two points in 2024, and Katy Padilla Stout won in Texas by eight points in a district Trump carried by 15. Sam Forstag won in Montana, where Trump won by 11. Both Villegas and Padilla Stout are set to join the CPC.

Six Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates also won House seats in safely Democratic districts. Several were present at the press conference, including Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez of New York, Donavan McKinney of Michigan and Chris Rabb of Pennsylvania.

Pramila Jayapal, the caucus's chair emerita, said even she was caught off guard by the surge of wins coming from candidates in risky races who campaigned on Medicare for All. 'I don't think anyone could have expected this level of wave support,' she said. She said the caucus plans to take members on the road to promote Medicare for All, including in red states such as South Carolina and Florida. She also pointed to Alabama, where Shomari Figures, a representative who beat a Republican gerrymander to win reelection, signed onto the bill six to eight months ago.

Jayapal said that when Republicans tested attacks against Figures in his Trump-leaning district, the Medicare for All attack tested so badly that they never ran it. 'Healthcare has collapsed across the country,' she said, 'and I think the cruelty of that also gives us this amazing opportunity to really, once and for all, reform this system.'

But the progressives are not the only bloc growing. The centrist New Democrat Coalition, already the largest House Democratic caucus with 114 members, is expected to add about 39 members, 30 of them from flipped seats. The two groups overlap, but the New Democrats' growth is concentrated in swing seats. The centrist thinktank Third Way argues that moderates 'delivered' the majority, and said candidates backed by the more moderate New Democrats, Blue Dogs and WelcomePAC flipped 31 Republican-held House seats, 25 of them in districts Trump won.

But Casar's takeaway from voters this midterm cycle is not to stay cautious, but rather to spark some action. He said the caucus would bring bills on wages, corruption, housing costs, credit card interest rates and child care to the floor, and was not worried about vetoes. 'The best way to not get something into law is to never pass it,' he said. Asked whether the caucus would back Hakeem Jeffries for speaker, Casar did not commit. 'Every single member here is going to have their individual vote,' he said. He said the caucus would work with leadership on a direction that delivers on the promises members made on the campaign trail, 'from the most moderate to the most progressive'.

So far, none of the incoming members endorsed by the DSA have committed to supporting Jeffries. Among the newcomers to CPC is Adam Hamawy of New Jersey, a former US Army combat surgeon who volunteered at a Gaza hospital in 2024 during Israel's devastating military campaign and blockade, and who will become the state's first Muslim member of Congress. He said voters had sent a clear message. 'The American people voted. They want change, and the priorities stay the same,' he said. Asked what he wanted to prioritize, he said: 'I want to pass Medicare for All, and I want to stop this genocide [in Gaza]'.

Three incoming progressive House Democrats have already put their new platform to use. Brad Lander of New York, Scott Wiener of California and Daniel Biss of Illinois, all at the press conference, wrote to Israel's ambassador on Friday demanding the release of Abed Abu Shehadeh, a Palestinian journalist and Israeli citizen detained at his home in Jaffa on election night on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent. His lawyers say the case concerned a single interview with an exiled Palestinian intellectual and former member of Israel's parliament, and he was released on Sunday without charges.

Lander said, 'I didn't expect it would be the first thing I would lead a 'dear colleague' on, but it was very moving to do something together with Daniel [Biss].'

Rabb, one of the DSA-backed newcomers, cast himself as a bridge-builder. 'There's a lot of people who don't define themselves with these political labels that the average voter doesn't care about,' he told reporters. They want to 'get rid of the type of corruption that has been normalized here', he added, and he intends to find common ground with colleagues wherever they sit on the ideological spectrum.

Whether the left sets the majority's agenda will depend on how the new members vote, in the speaker's race and beyond. Casar said he is not trying to outdo other caucuses. 'We didn't even try to be the biggest we've ever been,' he said. 'It just turns out we are.'