US progressive primary surge puts 2028 Democratic race in sharper focus, senator warns

A leftward shift in Democratic primary contests, most visible in New York, is drawing fresh attention to the shape of the party's 2028 presidential field. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital he sees the recent wave of progressive victories as a signal that radical leftist politics will set the terms of the next Democratic nominating fight. The read-through, in his view, extends well beyond a single state.

New York as the opening act

Candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani swept their congressional primaries in June, the most concrete evidence yet of the progressive cycle Schmitt is tracking. Brad Lander unseated Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y. Darializa Avila Chevalier replaced Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y. Schmitt called the outcome a "hammer-and-sickle wave" and a "flashing red light," telling Fox News Digital that Democratic primaries will now be dominated by candidates who, in his characterization, "want to go to war with Western civilization."

Michigan raises the stakes

The next major test is in Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed is locked in a contested primary against Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., for a Senate seat. The race carries broader significance because it sits outside New York's political orbit. Its outcome will indicate whether the progressive pattern is truly sector-wide or still concentrated in the most left-leaning urban districts.

Immigration and the Reid gap

Schmitt placed immigration at the center of the party's ideological shift. He pointed to Senate Democrats' distance from former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who in the 1990s pushed legislation that would have changed birthright citizenship. The Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship earlier this month. Schmitt's read: the party has moved so far left it can no longer hold the centrist ground once occupied by Reid or Bill Clinton, both of whom he cited by name.

Schumer and the succession question

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., enters the next cycle with his own leadership under pressure. Schmitt predicted Schumer will face a primary challenge from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., or a comparable figure, and argued the senator may end up supporting an AOC presidential run openly as the price of avoiding a direct fight with her. Whether the pattern established in New York spreads to Michigan first will shape how seriously that prediction is taken. Schmitt's own characterization of where Democratic money and energy now flow: "radical leftist communists."