John, the establishment has had plenty to say about Leaders We Deserve. They have criticized our approach and said we shouldn’t primary incumbent Democrats in safe seats.
But last night, Democrats demonstrated exactly why our mission matters so much:
Despite having public approval on their side and the momentum of an electorate that just repudiated Donald Trump and the GOP on Election Day, Senate Democrats caved last night.
The majority of these Democrats were older, retiring, and/or not up for reelection in 2026. It’s safe to say this was all a part of the Democratic establishment’s plan to let them fall on the sword.
And what did they get in exchange for this “deal?” Nothing. Just a brutal tradeoff that forces millions of Americans into an impossible choice: pay skyrocketing healthcare premiums that have doubled or even tripled overnight — or lose access entirely to the care they depend on.
Healthcare is one of the only issues voters both trust Democrats more on AND say is one of their top 5 voting issues. And what did we just do? Give voters even less of a reason to vote for us or trust us. Democrats said they were fighting to prevent your insurance rates from skyrocketing and what did they just do? Give up. After a month of doing one of the only things in their power to hold Trump accountable, they agreed to a deal that gives our side literally nothing and still will see Americans' cost of healthcare go up by thousands of dollars.
At a time when people are already stretched thin trying to afford medicine, rent, and groceries, these Senate Democrats just sent a cruel and unmistakable message: your health, your survival, you — just aren’t worth fighting for. Not to them. Not when it really counts.
Let me make something clear, John: Leaders We Deserve exists because our country desperately needs a new generation of progressive leaders in power.
We need leaders who won’t sell us down the river because they’re too weak and ineffective to do the jobs they were elected to do. We need leaders who know what’s at stake, who are ready and willing to fight like hell, and who have the energy and creativity to find real solutions instead of just caving to Trump.
That’s why we're primarying asleep-at-the-wheel Democratic incumbents, helping flip the House, and fighting to win back state legislatures in 2026. We challenge Dems in safe seats, not because it makes us popular in DC (it definitely doesn’t!), but because it’s the one thing we haven’t tried at scale. In case this has not made it clear enough, our party doesn't have a messaging problem; it has a COWARDICE problem, it has a MESSENGER problem. We aren’t here just to tell voters to vote for Democrats because we aren’t Republicans. Leaders We Deserve is here to build a party that tells voters to vote for Democrats because they are Democrats, and as such they aren’t a party of folders, they’re a party of fighters. Fighters against special interests like the insurance lobby, big pharma, and all the other lobbies that have made life so much harder in this country. That won’t change until we build a culture in our party that shows if you fold on something as important as 22 million Americans’ healthcare, you will be challenged.
I am tired of asking young people to have faith in a party that increasingly fails to prove why we should believe in it anymore. That’s why we do this work. Not because it’s easy but because it is necessary to help get our party and country back on track by building a party of fighters for the people's interests NOT special interests. That's why we count on you to support us because we have never and will never take corporate money.
Are you with us, John?
Pitch in $5 to help us elect new Democrats who will actually fight for us.
We’re not giving up on the fight for the future. We just need stronger fighters.
Thank you for your support,
David Hogg
