The Democratic House candidates who didn’t win a party committee’s endorsement this week are looking for a silver lining.

Being associated with the Democratic Party might actually be bad in this political climate, they’re arguing.

“It’s almost a badge of honor that D.C. has let us know who their candidate is, who they believe will bend the knee to party leadership and to corporate interests,” said Randy Villegas, who is running to be the Democratic nominee in California’s 22nd District, currently led by Rep. David Valadao.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee backed his opponent, California State Assembly member Jasmeet Bains, in a slate of endorsements announced earlier this week for candidates they think can flip red districts blue.

The committee weighed in on four contested primaries this week. DCCC picks Joe Baldacci in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, Bob Brooks in Pennsylvania’s 7th District, and Marlene Galán-Woods in Arizona’s 1st District also face primary challengers. The list caused a stir within the party.

Several House progressives rebuked the DCCC for intervening in contested primaries.

“We disagree with the DCCC’s decision to attempt to tip the scales in this race. Voters, not the DCCC, should pick Democratic nominees,” several members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said in a statement.

For its part, the DCCC is defending its picks. The stakes of this midterms cycle, where Democrats have a real shot of taking back the House majority, are too high, the committee said.

“It’s imperative that Democrats must take back the House to hold Trump accountable and deliver on what truly matters to voters – lower costs and affordable health care,” Viet Shelton, the DCCC’s national press secretary, said in a statement. “That’s why we are proud to announce our latest round of Red to Blue candidates who span the ideological spectrum, are authentic voices in their districts, and are best positioned to win in November.”

In making an endorsement, the committee considers momentum on the ground, fundraising, polling and local support. In other words, if they see a stand out, they’re going to back them.

“If we know that one candidate is going to put us in that strongest possible position to win the general, the stakes are too high to do anything else,” a source familiar with the committee’s thinking said.

Endorsements from House Democrats’ official campaign arm typically unlocks operational and fundraising support, which can range from candidate training to staff resources to help on campaign strategy.

The House Majority PAC, the House Democrats’ Super PAC, has not spent in any primaries yet this cycle but “nothing is off the table at this point,” a source familiar said.

The candidates that didn’t get the DCCC’s endorsements and their supporters said they were frustrated by the party weighing in on their primaries. But they’re also trying to make the case that the Democratic Party’s brand is currently so toxic that perhaps the association isn’t one worth seeking out.

They pointed to a number of the party’s recent miscalculations as evidence of its waning influence: losing the White House in 2024, the unreleased autopsy analyzing that loss, and the establishment’s preferred Senate candidates who are lagging behind in the polls.

“Fortunately, the DCCC endorsement doesn’t carry a lot of weight with voters in [California’s 22nd District] at a time where people have serious questions about Democratic leadership and trust in the Democratic Party,” said Ravi Mangla, a spokesperson for the Working Families Party, which endorsed Villegas.

Perhaps no state is witnessing more of an anti-establishment wave than Maine. Last week, Gov. Janet Mills, the apparent pick of the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, dropped out of the state’s Senate primary against oyster farmer turned populist political sensation Graham Platner.

“The response from people in Maine has been, ‘This is wrong,’” Jordan Wood, a former congressional staffer running in Maine’s 2nd District against Baldacci, told NOTUS. “Why are they trying to decide the primary for us? We are weeks away from starting to vote. Why do they think they know better than us? It looks just very reminiscent of what we’ve been dealing with for months in the Senate race.”

Ezra Levin, co-executive director of the progressive organizing group Indivisible, also believes the DCCC’s endorsement could be more of a liability because of how disliked party leadership is right now.

“There’s just this sense that the national Democratic Party failed to prevent the catastrophe of the ’24 election, and then spent a year plus failing to rise to the occasion while Trump accumulated power,” he said. “The DCCC’s engagement here fits into an image that the national Democratic Party has earned.”

That’s evidenced by the diverse group of voters rallying behind Platner, he said.

“There has never, since Indivisible existed, been a greater gulf between rank-and-file Democrats and the national Democratic Party,” Levin said, criticizing the party for only backing the status quo.

The source familiar with the committee’s thinking pushed back on the idea that their picks are status quo, pointing to the variety of candidates the party has backed.

Bob Brooks, for example, who is running in Pennsylvania’s 7th District, has earned endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders and the Blue Dog PAC.

“I do not think anyone who looks at the profiles of the folks that are on this Red to Blue program would think they are status quo in any way, shape or form,” the source familiar said.

Veteran operatives of past midterms cycles say aspersions cast at a DCCC endorsement are just sour grapes.

“[That argument is] probably familiar to folks who weren’t picked for the kickball team in recess,” Drew Godinich, a former deputy communications director at the DCCC, said.

“We should be thankful that you have a national Democratic arm that is doing the work that we need to select the candidates and give them the resources so that they have an easier path to victory in November,” said Godinich, who is now working on D.C. councilmember Brooke Pinto’s congressional bid.

“It’s not about ideology, it’s about who’s running the best campaign.”