Unsung Heroes
These candidates score 75 or higher(65+ for honorable mentions, 55+ for also worth mentioning) on our progressive rubric, have no more than 1 endorsement from the organizations we track, are not incumbents, and are running in districts not overshadowed by another progressive candidate with 4 or more endorsements. These are the unsung heroes — amazing progressives who aren't getting much national attention! See our methodology for more details.
Austin Dyches is a military veteran, father, and member of the Frederick DSA running as a democratic socialist challenger to incumbent Sarah Elfreth in Maryland's 3rd District. His comprehensive platform — citing specific legislation for nearly every position — includes Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, abolishing ICE, the PRO Act, wealth taxes, the HOMES Act, banning private prisons, and ending US military aid to Israel over the Gaza genocide. He rejects all corporate PAC, billionaire, and AIPAC money.
Marine Corps veteran, honorably discharged 2012; used GI Bill for doctorate in music from University of Illinois. Visiting instructor at Purdue; percussionist with the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra and Lafayette Citizens Band. Son of a 35-year elementary school teacher and a fourth-generation Indiana farmer.
DSA member and community activist. Medicare for All, Green New Deal, abolish ICE, housing as a right, reparations, police accountability, Palestinian freedom. Rejects corporate PAC and AIPAC money entirely. Full democratic socialist platform touching every major progressive priority — healthcare, climate, immigration, housing, and foreign policy.
Matt Dodson
NM-Senate, New MexicoJun 2
Democratic socialist, USAF veteran, NM community organizer; Universal healthcare NOW, FDR tax rates, Taft-Hartley repeal, abolish ICE, Vienna-style public housing, prosecute Gaza genocide.
Former EPA scientist and California water resources official with deep environmental policy background. Medicare for All, abolish ICE, Green New Deal with climate justice framing; calls Gaza a genocide and opposes U.S. arms sales to Israel. Rejects corporate PAC and AIPAC money. Supports expanding the Supreme Court.
Navy veteran and software engineer. "No amount of money will change my positions. I don't care about being a good Democrat or politician. I care about being a good American." Believes government has the power to lower costs in nearly every aspect of life but that too many officials watch the stock market rather than feel what families face.
CA-36 progressive challenger; Medicare for All, defund/dissolve ICE, no corporate PAC, end Gaza funding, challenge AIPAC, housing as human right, progressive taxation.
Pell Grant recipient who earned a Ph.D. in Political Science with a Designated Emphasis in Computational Science and Engineering from UC Berkeley as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Now designs evaluation frameworks for frontier AI systems. UAW member at Harvard and UC Berkeley; as a grad student voted on one of the first major U.S. labor union BDS resolutions.
Born and raised in NYCHA's Coney Island projects; orphaned by 21. Spent two decades as a carnie, waiter, line cook, food-truck operator, nightclub photographer, and musician — "from the grill to the hill." High school dropout who earned an MBA from Brooklyn College in 2025. Tagline: "Zero Tolerance Left."
Unconventional progressive from Nevada; running for NV-02 on Medicare for All, Ban Big Money constitutional amendment, dismantle ICE/CBP, expand House to 870, and SCOTUS reform platform.
Democratic socialist in Brooklyn; Medicare for All, Green New Deal, abolish ICE, BDS/ceasefire, PRO Act, rejects corporate PACs.
Physics PhD, multi-cycle progressive candidate in FL-03; Medicare for All, Green New Deal, abolish ICE, voter vouchers, end endless wars, extremely comprehensive platform.
Electrical engineer and MBA who spent 25+ years in Bay Area tech: product design at Oracle, strategy at Cisco, new product launches at ServiceNow. Treats Congress like a startup, not a career. "Obsessed with shipping solutions that actually work." No corporate PAC money.
Former K-12 educator and community organizer. Calls Gaza a genocide and supports enforcing the Leahy Law to block U.S. weapons to Israel. Medicare for All, $25/hour minimum wage, $800B Homes for All Act public housing investment, abolish ICE. Rejects corporate PAC money. Links climate justice to labor and racial equity.
Democratic Socialist data scientist, born in LA, raised in Orange County by immigrant parents from Mexico and El Salvador — first in family to finish college and graduate school. Father died of lung cancer in 2023 due to unaffordable insurance; mother evicted a month later. Laid off by Boeing in 2024.
Air Force veteran and first Black woman to serve as Somerset County Commissioner Director; running for NJ-12; Medicare for All, ceasefire and weapons ban on Israel/Gaza, New Way Forward Act on immigration, 100% clean energy by 2035.
Baltimore progressive challenging incumbent Kweisi Mfume; Medicare for All, Green New Deal, abolish ICE, $25 minimum wage, Taft-Hartley repeal, names Gaza genocide.
Fourth-generation Californian from Santa Paula, raised in a working-class family — father a Vietnam veteran, mother a local community advocate and city council member. Nearly two decades in national advocacy and senior House staff roles; helped deliver environmental justice funding in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Paralegal and working-class advocate. Medicare for All, wealth tax on fortunes over $50M, national rent control plus major public housing investment, abolish ICE, end fossil fuel subsidies; end the death penalty and solitary confinement; $20 federal minimum wage; Citizens United constitutional amendment.
Fourth-generation activist: grandfather a civil rights leader, father continues that legacy at New Prospect Baptist Church. Social entrepreneur who built community mental health clinics providing trauma-informed care and STEAM programs for youth. Marketer and researcher helping small businesses stay rooted in their communities.
Long Island IATSE stagehand and Occupy Wall St veteran running for NY-04; ultra-comprehensive platform: Medicare for All, UBI, Free Palestine, close private prisons, instant union ratification, decriminalize all drugs.
Zach Shrewsbury
WV-Senate, West VirginiaMay 12
Zach Shrewsbury is a Marine veteran from Fayetteville, West Virginia, running as a progressive Democrat for U.S. Senate on a platform of universal healthcare, labor rights, environmental justice, and ending corporate money in politics. He previously ran in 2024 and won 36% of the primary vote. He is executive director of Bluejay Rising, a community nonprofit.
Community organizer who has worked multiple jobs, watched neighbors lose their homes, and seen families choose between medicine and groceries. Medicare for All, abolish ICE, calls Gaza an ongoing genocide, climate justice, raise taxes on the highest incomes; rejects all corporate PAC money. Third primary challenge to the incumbent.
Honorable Mentions
Emanuel Anastos, MN-08, Minnesota
Grassroots candidate from northern Minnesota running a people-powered campaign. Universal healthcare with zero out-of-pocket costs; free college and trade schools; $20 minimum wage; abolish ICE; halting U.S. funding to Israel for genocide; opposes mining projects threatening the Boundary Waters. Rejects corporate PAC money. · Aug 11
Angie Nixon, FL-Senate, Florida
Florida State Representative, union organizer, and mother born and raised in Jacksonville. Watched her mom work two jobs; lost her cousin to gun violence; attended public schools. Founded the Melanin Market to support local creators and opened Natalie's Nook to fight food insecurity. · Aug 18
Jason Brown II, VA-04, Virginia
School board member running a fully grassroots campaign. Calls his community "a sanctuary, not a hunting ground." Fights to abolish ICE, guarantee citizenship for undocumented families, fund education from a billionaires' tax, and pay reparations to Native nations and Gaza. · Aug 4
Terri Reese, NJ-02, New Jersey
Lifelong South Jersey resident; Penn grad who chose to come home. Spent 30 years in retail management (Victoria's Secret, Gap, Apple), then gave up her career to become her ailing mother's full-time caregiver for five years. Single mother of two who navigated the system for children with mental-health challenges. · Jun 2
Shavonne Hedgepeth, MD-04, Maryland
Hyattsville resident and published researcher who manages an $11B public asset portfolio. Fights for Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, free college and student loan cancellation, and closing billionaire tax loopholes including carried interest and stepped-up basis. Advocates community-based food access, affordable housing near transit, gun suicide prevention, and criminal justice reform through the Second Look Act. · Jun 23
Laura Rodriguez-Carbone, OH-07, Ohio Vote May 5
Longtime federal public health official who built a career protecting communities at the intersection of policy and practice. Backs Medicare for All with lowered Medicare eligibility age and prescription drug price caps; supports living wages, breaking up monopolies, price gouging regulation, and a clear union organizing pathway. Rejects corporate PAC money; opposes ICE as currently structured. · May 5
Rose Penelope Yee, CA-02, California
Born in the Philippines under the Marcos dictatorship — father jailed for defending student protesters, mother a journalist under censorship. Co-founded Green Retirement, one of the first Certified B Corps in the U.S., to align 401(k)s with progressive values. Knitter, chocoholic, dog mom to Kaboom. · Jun 2
Randy Bryce, WI-01, Wisconsin
Ironworker and union welder known as 'Iron Stache.' Medicare for All, housing as a human right, decarbonizing by 2030, eliminating mandatory minimums, refusing federal deportation cooperation. Supports worker-owned cooperatives, publicly funded childcare, treaty rights and sovereignty of Native nations, and peace over weapons spending in Gaza. · Aug 11
Connor Burbridge, RI-Senate, Rhode Island
31-year-old working-class Rhode Islander: elder-care worker, Army veteran (served as a lieutenant after ROTC), and owner of a worker-cooperative tree nursery in Smithfield — in its fifth season selling trees across the state. Partner Marlene teaches in Providence public schools. · Sep 9
Maria Jukic, OH-14, Ohio Vote May 5
Daughter of Croatian immigrants who fled communist Yugoslavia; valedictorian, magna cum laude law degree earned as a divorced single mom at 35. Fulbright Fellow in Croatia during the war, translating for men released from Serbian concentration camps. 24-year Cleveland Clinic marketing career; former Euclid City Councilwoman. · May 5
Diop Harris, MI-04, Michigan
Former congressional staffer who answered constituent calls and delivered results — "that's the standard I will bring to Congress." Advocates "VA Care for All" as proof-of-concept path to universal healthcare. Wants communities — not big tech billionaires — to control water and energy decisions. · Aug 4
Sean Dougherty, CA-19, California
Son of a nurse and mechanical engineer; left the University of Illinois after one year when student debt loomed — a paid IBM internship became a full-time engineering career. Radicalized after 9/11, deepened during the Iraq War, sharpened during Occupy. Raising a toddler in Santa Cruz with his wife. · Jun 2
Ardelia Holmes, OH-11, Ohio Vote May 5
Lifelong OH-11 community leader framing policy around outcomes over ideology. Calls for defunding ICE, ending unlawful detention, and modernizing citizenship pathways. Votes NO on military aid "funding genocide" in Gaza and demands immediate ceasefire. Fights for a federal wage floor tied to cost of living, criminal justice reform including drug offense expungement, and a "Neighborhood First" plan redirecting federal dollars from global monopolies to local communities. Rejects Christian nationalism. · May 5
Justin Wagner, PA-16, Pennsylvania Vote May 19
Army veteran who deployed to Iraq; senior automation engineer with 15 years at NASA, Boeing, Ford, and the City of Seattle — where he helped conserve salmon runs through wastewater control systems. Eighth-generation western Pennsylvanian. Home-schools four daughters, coaches youth hockey, plays in a local band and church worship group. · May 19
Chris Armstrong, WI-07, Wisconsin
Grew up on the Apple River; B.S. in Astrophysics from UW-Madison and U of Minnesota; spent 30 years running a small IT business in New Richmond. Universal healthcare as a right including reproductive and mental health; abolish ICE; renewable energy economic transition; protect small family farms over corporate consolidation; tax wealthy and corporations. · Aug 11
Kathy J. Dolter, IA-02, Iowa
Retired Army Lt. Colonel nurse; nursing dean at Kirkwood CC; PhD public health; ABCDEF platform: healthcare right, living wage, ICE reform, Iran war opposition, campaign finance reform. · Jun 2
David Esrati, OH-10, Ohio Vote May 5
Dayton-area advertising executive and Army veteran; longtime progressive activist; universal healthcare, anti-monopoly, real-time campaign finance disclosure, ranked choice voting. · May 5
Kevin Fagan, WA-05, Washington
Gonzaga alumnus; fights for Medicare for All, abolish ICE, end US military aid to Israel, reject corporate PAC money, overturn Citizens United. · Aug 4
Karla Kemp, FL-13, Florida
Former paramedic/firefighter; sustainability consultant; universal healthcare, eliminate detention centers, ban corporate housing ownership, end Citizens United, circular economy. · Aug 18
Sarah Preu, KS-03, Kansas
Lifelong Kansan, technology and communications professional, and former small business owner. Medicare for All; abolish ICE; no unconditional military aid to governments committing war crimes; rejects all corporate and AIPAC money. Posts an 'Open Books' page showing every campaign dollar. Focuses on responsible AI governance and farmer data ownership rights. · Aug 4
Danielle Welch, NY-03, New York
First-generation college graduate, public defender, proud union member, and mom. Frames the race as a moral question: "not between the political left and the political right" but "between what is morally right and morally wrong." Has personally experienced many of the challenges working-class people face. · Jun 23
Gabriel Cornejo, NV-01, Nevada
Entrepreneur and perennial candidate; Medicare for All, abolish ICE, no AIPAC/corporate PAC money, references genocide abroad. · Jun 9
Mike Barkley, CA-05, California
Lawyer/CPA/programmer/rancher/Navy veteran; perennial progressive candidate with unusually detailed platform; Medicare for All, strong labor rights, robust voting rights. · Jun 2
Caleb Norwood, CA-27, California
Born in San José, raised in Lafayette, Colorado; military spouse — wife serves in the U.S. Air Force, which brought the family to Lancaster. Résumé spans Kroger cashier, Quiznos sandwich maker, IBM tech support, janitor, Walmart, Target, dispensary cashier, and solar-panel monitoring support. · Jun 2
Ashley WolfTornabane, IA-04, Iowa
Sixth-generation Iowan from Storm Lake; stay-at-home mom, former waitress, retail worker, and Director of Christian Education (tripling Sunday School enrollment over six years). Stayed home from Luther College when her father, a Navy Vietnam veteran, was diagnosed with cancer — he died six months later. Has faced miscarriage and two stillbirths. · Jun 2
Also Worth Mentioning
- Martha Guerrero, California, CA-06
- Josh Turek, Iowa, IA-Senate
- Antonis Christodoulou, California, CA-33
- Katrina deVille, Wisconsin, WI-08
- Jules Roberson, Oklahoma, OK-03
- Tyler Farnsworth, Utah, UT-02
- Garrett Petersen, New York, NY-02
- Nick Albares, Louisiana, LA-Senate
- Kaela Berg, Minnesota, MN-02
- Frances Yasmeen Motiwalla, California, CA-52
- Pat Wilver, Georgia, GA-01
- Della Au Belatti, Hawaii, HI-01
- Corinna Contreras, California, CA-48
- Kyle Gauck, Connecticut, CT-02
- Tessa Lynn Hodge, California, CA-23
- Lukas Ventouras, New York, NY-01
- Jeffree Fauntleroy Sr., Georgia, GA-13
- Mark Heggestad, Florida, FL-05
- Destiny Wells, Indiana, IN-07
- Justin Douglas, Pennsylvania, PA-10
- Saddam Salim, Virginia, VA-07
- Steven Wendelin, West Virginia, WV-02
- Lourin Hubbard, California, CA-21
- Brad Meyer, Indiana, IN-09