Jordan Herrera, an attorney, Air Force veteran and former Missouri assistant attorney general, won the Democratic nomination Tuesday in Missouri\u2019s newly redrawn 4th Congressional District, defeating better-funded democratic socialist Hartzell Gray in a seven-way primary.
\nHerrera prevailed over Gray, the 33-year-old former Kansas City radio host and tenant organizer who drew national attention after appearing on Hasan Piker\u2019s Twitch livestream and blasting \u201csell-out Democrats.\u201d
\nThe result puts a more conventional Democrat on the November ballot against Republican Rep. Mark Alford in the GOP-leaning district, rather than Gray, who had framed his campaign as a left-wing challenge to the party establishment.<\/p>\n
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\nThe new 4th District takes in part of Kansas City before extending south through a broad swath of suburban and rural Missouri. While the map made Alford\u2019s district less Republican than it had been, it remains a solidly GOP seat.
\nGray emerged as the clear financial leader in the Democratic field. FEC records showed his campaign had raised about $250,000 through mid-July \u2014 more than six times the roughly $40,000 raised by Herrera and far more than Cass, the 2024 Democratic nominee who again sought the seat.
\nThe Kansas City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America said its backing of Gray marked its first endorsement in a federal race. The group praised Gray\u2019s refusal to take money from corporations, developers and lobbying groups, while pointing to his support for universal health care, tenant protections and more progressive taxation.<\/p>\n
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\nGray, who has also called for rent controls, Medicare for All and ending the Supreme Court\u2019s Citizens United decision, has framed his campaign as a rebuke of a Democratic Party he argues has become too closely tied to wealthy donors and corporate interests. The 2010 ruling allowed corporations and unions to spend unlimited sums independently to influence elections.
\nHis appearance on Piker\u2019s show helped turn an otherwise low-profile Missouri primary into a small test case for the party\u2019s socialist left, which has increasingly relied on social media personalities, small-dollar donors and activist networks to build support outside traditional party structures.
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\nGray\u2019s campaign said viewers gave more than $30,000 after the Piker appearance. He later appeared on The Majority Report, another left-leaning online program, as his campaign sought to translate national attention into turnout in Kansas City.<\/p>\n
The primary also included former Democratic nominee Jeanette Cass, attorney and Air Force veteran Herrera, radio host Randy Miller, Ashleigh Rogers, Wayne Russell and G. Rick.
\nGray\u2019s nomination is a win for a local Democratic Socialists of America chapter that had not previously backed a federal candidate. But the general election will test whether the kind of coalition that powered him through a fractured Democratic primary can compete in a district intentionally drawn to favor Republicans.<\/p>\n
This post appeared first on https:\/\/www.foxnews.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"