Jacobin Radio The Dig: Primary Strategy w/ Geoff Simpson
Mar 5, 2026
Jeff (Geoff) Simpson, PAC director at Justice Democrats who builds left House slates, discusses the 2026 insurgent campaign strategy. He covers why primaries and recruiting working-class, community-rooted candidates matter. He also talks about corporate and AIPAC spending, Muslim donor energy after Gaza, and the need for national coordination to turn safe blue districts into left strongholds.
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Left Wins Invite Coordinated Corporate Counterattacks
- 2020 and 2022 showed left candidates can beat entrenched incumbents but also attracted organized opposition funding.
- Jeff Simpson highlights Summer Lee, Jamal Bowman, and Cori Bush as pivotal wins that provoked counter-spending.
Post‑Election C4 Funding Collapse Hurt Left Infrastructure
- JD's 2023 layoffs were mainly on the C4 side due to a post-election collapse in C4 funding.
- That forced refocusing on core electoral work and highlighted fragile left infrastructure funding.
Massive Spending Signals Opponent Fear Not Invincibility
- Corporate actors spent heavily because Justice Democrats' success made them a real threat.
- Simpson reads heavy spending as evidence of the left's growing power, though it's emotionally devastating to campaigns targeted.
