Blowing off the Windy City: Some Democrats give Kamala and the DNC a cold shoulder

To some Senate Democrats facing competitive reelection bids, Chicago is not their kind of town.

Prominent Democrats from battleground states like Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., all gave the city of big shoulders the cold shoulder, as their party convenes the Democratic convention in Chicago.

“Every candidate’s going to make their own decision as to where they should be. And certainly, some candidates would much rather just be in their state talking to voters in their state,” said Sen Gary Peters, D-Mich. Peters chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), in charge of getting Democrats elected to the Senate.

Democrats are trying to cling to their slim Senate majority this fall. There are currently 51 senators who caucus with the Democrats and 49 Republicans. The Senate battlefield favors Republicans with a host of Democrats up for re-election in red or swing states. It’s an uphill climb for Democrats to knock off Republicans who are up this cycle like Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Ted Cruz, R-Tex. Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.V., is retiring. That seat is almost destined to turn red. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., is retiring. The race between Democratic nominee Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and GOP standard-bearer, former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., is tight.

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So Democrats are ducking Vice President Harris and distancing themselves from progressives who take the stage at the convention, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. 

Better to blow off the Windy City when you can campaign back home and not face tough questions from the national press. Or, if you’re a moderate, get your photo snapped with someone who is too far to the left. Or is controversial when it comes to the war in the Middle East. Or get asked about your take on President Biden dropping out, something Vice President Harris said or the military service of Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).

Jon Tester scratched Chicago for Pearl Jam.

The band’s bassist, Montana native Jeff Ament, headlines a fundraiser for Tester in Missoula, Mont., in the middle of the convention.

If Tester wins, he scores a fourth term in the Senate. Or, as Pearl Jam might sing, “Come Back.”

Democratic leaders applauded their colleagues who stayed away from Chicago. 

“I think it will help Jon,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill. “Jon is running as a Montana Democrat. Not a national Democrat.”

Rosen is keeping her distance from Chicago as she seeks a second term in the swing state of Nevada. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., barely won reelection in 2022 by less than 8,000 votes. Cortez Masto’s race was the last one called. Her victory preserved the Senate Democratic majority. President Biden bested former President Trump in the Silver State in 2020 by fewer than 35,000 votes. Even though Rosen is staying clear of Chicago and Harris, the senator’s allies believe a win by the vice president in Nevada could boost Rosen. The Senate contest tilts slightly in favor of Rosen right now. The Cook Political Report shifted it from a “toss-up” to “lean Democrat.”

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However, some Democrats from swing states who are on the November ballot aren’t shunning Chicago.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., is attending. He’s running for the Senate against GOP nominee Kari Lake. Sen. Kyrsten Sinem, I-Ariz., who caucuses with the Democrats, is retiring.

And then there are sitting Democratic senators from competitive states: Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., and Bob Casey, D-Penn., surfaced in Chicago.

The Keystone State’s other senator, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., is not up this fall. But Fetterman skipped the convention. He said he had other things to do. Fetterman has sparred with the left over his positions on immigration, the border and the Middle East.

However, this cohort of Democrats aren’t the only ones who have been no-shows at their respective party conventions.

Former Sen. Clarie McCaskill, D-Mo., faced a competitive re-election bid in 2012 when Democrats convened their convention in Charlotte. Tester and Manchin faced challenging re-election bids that year, too. Same with then-Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.V. All ducked the convention. And all won their races. Hard to argue with that strategy.

Many Republicans weren’t enamored with former President Trump. So they dodged the GOP’s 2016 convention in Cleveland and the pandemic-curbed convention in 2020.

Former Sens. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Pat Toomey, R-Penn., weren’t on hand for 2016.

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Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, sat out the 2020 show.

In some cases, prominent political figures have even spoken at the convention of the opposite party. 

Late Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., addressed the Republican convention in New York, renominating President George W. Bush for a second term as he tangled with the Democratic nominee, former Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. 

Former Republican Ohio Gov. and Congressman John Kasich spoke at the Democrats’ quasi-convention (due to COVID) in 2020. This is especially interesting since Kasich ran for president as a Republican in 2016. 

Late Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., came to the Senate as a full-fledged Democrat in early 1989. But after losing his 2006 primary – but winning re-election – Lieberman declared himself an “independent Democrat.” Still, Lieberman caucused with the party at the end of his career. He was Al Gore’s running mate in 2000. But Lieberman spoke on behalf of 2008 Republican nominee and late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., at the GOP convention in St. Paul. The move almost prompted Democrats to bounce Lieberman from the Senate Democratic Caucus. Especially since the nation elected President Obama – who at the time was Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. 

Tracking the political taxonomy of former Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., is nearly as complicated as that of Lieberman. Crist was elected governor of Florida in 2006 as a Republican. He then lost the GOP Senate nomination to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in 2010. However, Crist still ran for Senate as an independent that year. Rubio won. Crist then spoke to the Democratic convention in Charlotte in 2012. Crist joined the Democratic Party later that year. He ran for governor as a Democrat and lost in 2014. Crist then ran for the House as a Democrat and won in 2016. He then ran again for governor in 2022 as the Democratic nominee. But Crist lost to Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

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Michael Bloomberg had been a lifelong Democrat but ran as a Republican for Mayor of New York in 2001. As mayor, Bloomberg even scored the 2004 GOP convention for New York following 9/11. However, Bloomberg spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. And he ran as a Democrat for president in 2020, losing to President Biden.

In another era, it’s possible that the Democratic loyalists attending the convention might send those back home a postcard reading “wish you were here.” But if Democrats truly want to hold the Senate, Brown, Tester and Rosen wouldn’t receive one of those “which you were” here postcards. Because frankly, the best chance Democrats have to retain the Senate is to keep those lawmakers as far away from Chicago as possible.