Snubbing the Windy City: Some Democrats give Kamala and the DNC the cold shoulder

For some Democratic senators facing competitive re-election bids, Chicago is… No Your kind of city.

Prominent Democrats from battleground states such as Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Jon Tester of Montana and Jacky Rosen of Nevada gave the city of big shoulders a cold shoulder as their party convenes its Democratic convention in Chicago.

“Each candidate will make their own decision about where they should be. And certainly some candidates would prefer to be in their state talking to voters in their state,” said Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. Peters chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), which is charged with getting Democrats elected to the Senate.

Democrats are trying to hold on to their slim Senate majority this fall. There are currently 51 senators who caucus with Democrats and 49 Republicans. The Senate battleground favors Republicans, with a multitude of Democrats running for reelection in red or swing states. It’s an uphill task for Democrats to defeat Republicans who are on top this cycle, such as Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is retiring. That seat is all but destined to go Republican. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., is retiring. The race between the Democratic nominee, Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and the GOP standard-bearer, former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., is tight.

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Democrats are thus bypassing Vice President Harris and distancing themselves from progressives taking the stage at the convention, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

It’s better not to campaign in the Windy City when you can campaign at home and not face tough questions from the national press. Or, if you’re a moderate, get your picture taken with someone who is too far to the left. Or who is controversial when it comes to the war in the Middle East. Or be asked what you think about President Biden’s withdrawal, something Harris said, or about Democratic vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s military service.

Jon Tester left Chicago to join Pearl Jam.

The band’s bassist, Montana native Jeff Ament, headlines a fundraiser for Tester in Missoula in the middle of the convention.

If Tester wins, he’ll secure a fourth term in the Senate. Or, as Pearl Jam would say, “Come Back.”

Democratic leaders applauded their colleagues who stayed away from Chicago.

“I think it will help Jon,” said Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, D-Ill. “Jon is running as a Montana Democrat, not a national Democrat.”

Rosen is staying away from Chicago as she seeks a second term in the key swing state of Nevada. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., barely won reelection in 2022 by fewer than 8,000 votes. Cortez Masto’s race was the last to be called. Her win preserved the Democratic majority in the Senate. President Biden edged out former President Trump in the Silver State in 2020 by fewer than 35,000 votes. While Rosen is staying away from Chicago and Harris, the senator’s allies believe a win for the vice president in Nevada could boost Rosen. The Senate race is leaning slightly in Rosen’s favor right now. The Cook Political Report changed it from a “tie” to “leaning Democratic.”

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But some Democrats in key states on the November ballot are not rejecting Chicago.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., will attend. He is running for Senate against Republican candidate Kari Lake. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent from Arizona, who sits on the Democratic caucus, is retiring.

And then there are the incumbent Democratic senators from competitive states: Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Bob Casey, D-Pa., appeared in Chicago.

The Keystone State’s other senator, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., will not be in attendance this fall, but Fetterman skipped the convention because he said he had other things to do. Fetterman has clashed with the left over his positions on immigration, the border and the Middle East.

(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

However, the Democrats who did not show up this year are not the only ones who have been absent from their respective party conventions.

Former Sen. Clarie McCaskill, D-Mo., faced a very tight election campaign in 2012, when Democrats held their convention in Charlotte. Tester and Manchin also faced tough election campaigns that year. So did then-Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va. They all bypassed the convention and all won their elections. It’s hard to argue with that strategy.

Many Republicans disliked former President Trump, so they avoided the 2016 Republican convention in Cleveland and the pandemic-halted 2020 convention.

Former Sens. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) were absent in 2016.

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Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, did not participate in the 2020 event.

In some cases, prominent political figures have even spoken at the opposing party’s convention.

The late Sen. Zell Miller, D-Georgia, addressed the Republican convention in New York and renominated President George W. Bush for a second term as he faced the Democratic nominee, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

Former Republican Ohio Governor and Congressman John Kasich spoke at the quasi-Democratic convention (due to COVID) in 2020. This is especially interesting because Kasich ran for president as a Republican in 2016.

The late Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, came to the Senate as a full-fledged Democrat in early 1989. But after losing the 2006 primary — but winning reelection — Lieberman declared himself an “independent Democrat.” Still, Lieberman joined the party late in his career. He was Al Gore’s running mate in 2000. But Lieberman spoke on behalf of the 2008 Republican nominee and the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., at the Republican convention in St. Paul. The move nearly prompted Democrats to expel Lieberman from the Senate Democratic caucus. Especially since the nation elected President Obama — who at the time was Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Archive)

Tracing the political taxonomy of former Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., is almost as complicated as Lieberman’s. Crist was elected governor of Florida in 2006 as a Republican. He then lost the Republican Senate nomination to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in 2010. However, Crist still ran for the Senate as an independent that year. Rubio won. Crist then spoke at the Democratic convention in Charlotte in 2012. Crist joined the Democratic Party later that year. He ran for governor as a Democrat and lost in 2014. Crist then ran for the House of Representatives as a Democrat and won in 2016. He then ran for governor again in 2022 as the Democratic candidate. But Crist lost to Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

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Michael Bloomberg was a lifelong Democrat, but he ran as a Republican candidate for mayor of New York in 2001. As mayor, Bloomberg even won the 2004 Republican convention for New York after 9/11. However, Bloomberg spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. And he ran as a Democratic candidate for president in 2020, losing to President Biden.

In another era, Democratic supporters attending the convention might send their congressmen a “wish you were here” postcard. But if Democrats really want to keep the Senate, Brown, Tester and Rosen wouldn’t be getting one of those “wish you were here” postcards. Because, frankly, Democrats’ best chance of keeping the Senate is to keep those lawmakers as far away from Chicago as possible.