Michelle Kang knows firsthand how the Democratic Party’s fixation on the top of the ticket can hurt down-ballot candidates like her.
Just last year, the state House candidate was in the home stretch of her competitive race when Kamala Harris arrived in Georgia for a major rally. The event attracted so much attention that Kang’s own volunteers ditched plans to knock doors for her state House campaign and instead attended the vice president’s event, leaving the local candidate’s political operation in a lurch.
“We feel like we were left behind by the presidential election,” said Kang, who ultimately lost the election. “All the attention, money, manpower were concentrated on the presidential election candidates.”