Unsung Heroes
Check out our other political project that helps visualize the ridiculous differences between the wealthy and the rest of us.
The progressives you may have never heard of! These candidates score 80 or higher on our progressive rubric, have no more than 2 endorsements from the organizations we track, are not incumbents, and are running in districts not overshadowed by another progressive candidate with 4 or more endorsements. There might be more than one highly-progressive candidate in a district, which means you have an embarrassment of riches to choose from, and you'll want to consider other factors in your decision. These are the unsung heroes — amazing progressives who aren't getting much national attention! See our methodology for more details.
Dear candidates: Your progressive commitment is amazing — and there are three ways to turn it into a stronger listing here: apply for endorsements, sign progressive pledges, and spell out your positions in detail on your own website (we can only go by what you publish). Our candidate information page walks through all three.
This list is very short because progressives like Carleigh Beriont and Connor Burbridge now have enough endorsements to be in the Top Endorsed list — and also because there are very few states with primaries remaining!
Maxwell Saal, Senate, New Hampshire Vote Sep 8
(Alternative to higher-scoring Karishma Manzur)
Runs with no PAC money and no television budget on what he calls the Worth Doing agenda, arguing New Hampshire is short fifty thousand homes because building them was made illegal. Would tie federal transportation dollars to zoning reform, unfreeze physician residency caps from the 1990s, publish all hospital prices, and end the filibuster first because everything else depends on it.
PolicingDiplomacyCandidates with potential:
- Jeff Appelhans, Delaware, Senate Vote Sep 15ClimateHousingImmigration
In the November Election
These unsung heroes have advanced to the November 2026 general election — primary winners plus independents and third-party candidates who skip the primary.
Community organizer and activist in Los Angeles; advocated for the Pico neighborhood's 19th Street community garden in Santa Monica; mother and daughter of immigrant communities. Backs a National Health Insurance system (all-inclusive with dental, vision, and mental health), the Green New Deal, "End Israeli Aid," tuition-free public college, Homes for All Act, ranked choice voting, For the People Act, and ending Citizens United.
Policing
An Indiana Democrat running in the Ninth Congressional District under the banner Standing up for Democracy, with a platform grounded in the rule of law as economic infrastructure. He supports Medicare for All, a national clean energy standard, raising the standard deduction from $15,750 to $20,000, and expanding overtime protections to salaried workers earning under one hundred thousand dollars.
CorruptionPolicing
Kaylee Peterson, ID-01, Idaho Primary Winner
A labor-first Idaho Democrat who enrolled in college at the age of thirty after the COVID lockdown, double-majoring in criminal justice and political science. She won the ID-01 primary and advances to the November general election on a platform built around government accountability and a labor-first economy, including repealing right-to-work laws and aggressively penalizing union-busting.
PolicingDiplomacy
Micah Lasher, NY-12, New York Primary Winner
A New York State Assembly member and former official in the state Attorney General's Office who won the NY-12 Democratic primary. He supports Medicare for All and co-sponsors the New York Health Act, and his legislative record includes barring warrantless arrests at sensitive locations and stopping twenty school districts from blocking the enrollment of undocumented children.
A best-selling author who grew up poor in a small Ohio town and was the first in her family to attend college, later building her adult life in Roanoke. Her deeply reported books exposed how opioid executives preyed on vulnerable communities and helped shift America's understanding of addiction. She won the VA-06 primary and faces Ben Cline in November.
Diplomacy
A Marine veteran running in Indiana's Fourth District who won his May primary and advances to the November general election. He supports a single-payer Medicare for All system, overturning Citizens United, pulling military aid over Gaza, a federal moratorium on AI data centers, and uncapping the House of Representatives to restore full proportional representation nationwide.
ClimateHousingImmigrationPolicingDemocracyAlso worth mentioning:
Candidates with potential:
- Cyril Jefferson, North Carolina, NC-06HealthClimateImmigrationDiplomacy
- Christian Vukasovich, Michigan, MI-05HealthCorruptionImmigrationPolicingDiplomacy
- Aaron Gies, New York, NY-23HealthClimateCorruptionImmigration
- Laura Jones, Texas, TX-08ClimateImmigrationPolicing
- Robert White, District of Columbia, DC-ALClimateCorruptionImmigrationDiplomacy
- Erik Osberg, Minnesota, MN-07ImmigrationPolicingDiplomacy
- Matthew Gromlich, Louisiana, LA-04ClimateImmigrationPolicingDiplomacy
- Rebecca Cooke, Wisconsin, WI-03CorruptionImmigrationPolicingDiplomacy
- Tom Perriello, Virginia, VA-05HealthHousingImmigrationPolicing
- Denise Powell, Nebraska, NE-02ClimateHousingPolicingDiplomacy
- Ben Ambrose, Michigan, MI-02CorruptionHousingImmigrationDiplomacyDemocracy
- Katy Padilla Stout, Texas, TX-23ClimateCorruptionHousingDiplomacy
- Colin Allred, Texas, TX-33HealthJusticeClimateCorruptionPolicingDiplomacyVision
- Alani Bankhead, Montana, SenateCorruptionImmigrationDiplomacyVision
- Kimberly Hardy, North Carolina, NC-07HealthHousingImmigrationPolicingDiplomacyDemocracy
- Trina Swanson, Minnesota, MN-08CorruptionHousingPolicingDiplomacy
- James Russell, Arkansas, AR-04JusticeClimateHousingImmigration
- Joy Powers, Virginia, VA-09CorruptionHousingImmigrationPolicingDiplomacyDemocracy
- Dan Schwartz, Maryland, MD-01ClimateHousingDiplomacyVision