‘Save democracy’ Democrats aim to win primaries thanks to anti-Trump sentiment

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Harry Dunn, a former Capitol Police officer whose pitched battles with supporters of former President Donald J. Trump beginning on Jan. 6, 2021, propelled him to political stardom, was welcomed Tuesday night in Annapolis, Maryland, as 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 bid for the U.S. House of Representatives.

“We have a person here with a proven legislative record,” Jessica Sunshine, an Annapolis Democrat, told Mr. Dunn, referring to state Sen. Sarah Elfreth, his primary opponent in next month’s Democratic primary. But she added: “You have a heart.”

But Dunn, a towering former offensive lineman who stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 325 pounds, didn’t shy away from the reason he’s running: saving what he considers a democracy on the brink. “This moment, right now? It takes a fighter,” he said.

He’s not the only one making that argument to Democrats.

Over the next three months, primaries in three House districts in the Mid-Atlantic (from outside Washington, D.C. to Harrisburg, Pa.) will test the strength of memories of January 6 and whether the cry of battle to “save democracy” will be heard. enough even for Democratic voters who have many other concerns.

For many voters, partisan celebrity is virtually the only factor in their support for candidates like Dunn, who played a starring role in the Jan. 6 hearings, and Yevgeny Vindman, who goes by Eugene and along with his identical twin brother, Alexander, played a key role in highlighting Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine to dig up information on Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Margaret Pepin, 71, could hardly believe it when Vindman rang the video doorbell Tuesday afternoon in Occoquan, Virginia, and his unmistakable face, made famous during Trump’s first impeachment trial, appeared on her security screen. . “I looked at my ring. I said, ‘Is that really him?’” she said, acknowledging that she might have confused him with his better-known twin brother. “I am delighted.”

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, not even in the Democratic primaries, where the threat to democracy will be a key issue in a year with Trump in office. electoral ticket.

“There’s certainly a small subset of people for whom this is not enough,” Vindman said of his campaign’s approach. “But the vast majority of people do think that democracy is the most important issue, because they see it in a very similar way to how I see it. All other topics are included.”

In Pennsylvania, Democratic voters will go to the polls on April 23 to choose between the two leading candidates, Janelle Stelson and Mike O’Brienand four others, all hoping to take on Rep. Scott Perry, a conservative Republican who was deeply involved in Trump’s effort to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election.

O’Brien, a former Marine Corps officer and fighter pilot, has made preserving democracy a central element of his candidacy. Stelson, a former television news anchor with household name recognition, has made that issue one among many.

Dunn is one of 22 Democrats vying to succeed retiring Rep. John Sarbanes in Maryland’s May 14 primary, which will almost certainly decide the next House member for the predominantly Democratic Third District. , of the state. His opponents include Ms. Elfreth, a state senator backed by 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 hoping primary voters in her marginally Democratic district will side with her on June 18 against seven other Democrats.

Vindman, an Army colonel who was fired from Trump’s National Security Council for his connection to the first impeachment inquiry, and Dunn, the former Capitol Police officer, have become favorites of the Democratic activist group, turning 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 greater gifts include Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader, and actor Mark Hamill, widely known for playing Luke Skywalker and, more specifically, as an ardent enemy of Trump.

His closest fundraising rival, Prince William County Supervisor Margaret Franklin, raised $122,894.

Because Dunn didn’t formally start his campaign until January, he hasn’t yet had to release his fundraising numbers, but campaign officials say he will announce first-quarter totals next week that will approach $3.7 million. of dollars. Her closest competitor, Ms. Elfreth, raised just over $400,000 last year, but has significant financial support from outside groups.

Not surprisingly, Vindman and Dunn’s celebrity candidacies raised some eyebrows among elected Democrats who had held local offices waiting for a chance to run for the House. In both races, women, many of them minorities, feel particularly aggrieved.

“Yes, this campaign is about saving democracy, but it’s also about reclaiming the civil, human and women’s rights gains that people fought and died for and are being lost,” said Terri L. Hill, a doctor who worked in Maryland. House of Delegates for almost a decade.

“I have great respect for his heroism,” he said of Mr. Dunn. “I really respect what he did on January 6, 2021, but I’m really focused on January 6, 2025,” when the next Congress takes office.

The race for Maryland’s Third District may be the purest version of the tension between celebrity and worker, with Dunn, a political newcomer, facing off against Elfreth, an experienced legislator who has secured 84 bills since She was chosen as the youngest woman. state senator in Maryland history in 2018.

O’Brien called Perry’s role in the 2020 effort to overturn the election his “no. 1 issue,” and believes voters agree. “In primaries, Democrats care first and foremost about democracy itself,” he said.

But with just weeks before the April 23 primary, O’Brien is considered the underdog against Stelson, who is more nuanced when talking about women’s rights, abortion access and the price of gas and food.

“It’s certainly a big part of history,” he said of Jan. 6 and Mr. Perry. “It’s not the whole story.”

But for national Democrats, the district with the most at stake could be Virginia, since the party cannot afford to lose a seat it now holds. Democratic opponents worry about Vindman’s vulnerabilities: He is relatively new to Northern Virginia and will vote there for the first time in 2022.

His 25 years of service as an Army lawyer should serve him well even with some Republican voters in a district with four military installations, he said. But sometimes he resorts to the language of Trump’s ardent enemies who have embraced him.

“Will there be people who hate me for what I did to their orange prophet?” she asked, referring to Mr. Trump. “Undoubtedly.”