Several Democratic members of the House of Representatives are facing primary challenges ahead of the 2026 midterms amid growing frustration with the party’s response to President Donald Trump‘s policies.

Newsweek reached out to a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for comment via email.

Why It Matters

The Democratic Party is facing anger from its own voters over concerns elected officials aren’t doing enough to oppose Trump. The 2024 election left Democrats divided on the best way to move forward, and some have called for more progressive economic populist policies, but others have said the party should shift toward the center.

The divide is strategic as well. While some believe Trump’s approval ratings will fall on their own without much action from Democrats, others want elected representatives to be doing more.

Growing frustration with the party and calls for a new generation of leadership mean some House Democrats may face competitive primary challenges next year.

What To Know

So far, at least four House Democrats are going to be facing high-profile challengers if they choose to seek reelection. The challenges aren’t necessarily ideological in nature and are largely tied to calls for younger leadership in Congress.

Among House lawmakers, the median age was 57.5 at the start of the new Congress, according to the Pew Research Center. While that is down from 58.9 in 2023, Democrats are facing renewed pressure to embrace younger leaders after backlash over President Joe Biden running for president again, despite age concerns, as well as recent deaths among lawmakers.

All four primaries so far are in districts where Democrats will be favored in 2026, and public polling hasn’t been released on any of these races, so it’s unclear just how competitive they will be.

Here is an overview of the House Democrats who are already facing primaries.

Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi

Saikat Chakrabarti, who previously served as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez‘s chief of staff, is challenging Pelosi, who served as the party’s speaker from 2007 to 2011 and 2019 to 2023.

Pelosi, 84, has filed paperwork to run again, but has not said for certain that she plans to seek reelection in her San Francisco-based district. She is viewed as a political legend by many Democrats, and was instrumental in getting Biden to end his presidential campaign last year.

But some Democrats believe a more progressive member of Congress could represent one of the most liberal districts in the country.

Chakrabarti’s former boss famously unseated former Representative Joe Crowley in a 2018 Democratic primary.

Representative Jan Schakowsky

Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, is facing a challenge from TikTok contributor Kat Abughazaleh, 26, in a district consisting of parts of Chicago and its northern suburbs.

Abughazaleh announced her campaign last week, saying in her announcement that she believes it was time for Democrats to “drop the excuses and grow a f****** spine.”

Schakowsky, 80, also hasn’t said whether she plans to run for reelection, but told local outlet Evanston Now she believes she can “be a part of the opposition [to Trump].”

Representative Brad Sherman

Sherman on Wednesday became the latest House Democrat to find himself facing a primary challenge, from his 37-year-old former aide Jake Rakov, Politico reported.

Sherman, 70, represents parts of Los Angeles County, including some of the areas ravaged by wildfires earlier this year.

Representative David Scott

State Senator Emanuel Jones has filed paperwork to run against Scott, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in January. He told the newspaper he plans to run whether or not Scott, who has faced questions about his health for years, runs again. Scott’s safely Democratic district is based around Atlanta, where he received only 57 percent of the vote in the 2024 primary.

What People Are Saying

Jake Rakov told Politico: “He [Brad Sherman] and people like him, who have stayed on for so long, who don’t even check into the district anymore are why we have Trump twice, and why our party is so bad at fighting back against him now.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat: “[Schakowsky] is a long-standing member, obviously, a long-standing, stalwart progressive member. I’m unfamiliar with this particular challenge, so I can’t [comment] on it beyond having a conversation with Jan at some point. There’s a lot of energy, a lot of angst, a lot of anxiety across the country as it relates to the parade of horribles that Donald Trump has been unleashing on the American people.”

What Happens Next

The fate of these primaries, and others where candidates are yet to announce, will be determined next year.