Ex-Dem Operative Evan Barker Says $1 Million Progressive Campaigns Built a New Donor Establishment
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 30
Ex-Dem Operative Evan Barker Says $1 Million Progressive Campaigns Built a New Donor Establishment
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 30
Summary
Evan Barker, a former Democratic fundraiser who voted for Donald Trump in 2024, says in a new book that dark money, consultants and donors now drive the party’s progressive wing.
Barker argues that donor pressure pushed Democrats left on immigration, identity politics and policing, while tying economic messages to broader social-justice agendas that she says alienated working-class voters.
Her account traces that shift from Barack Obama’s 2008 coalition through Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s rise, which she says helped normalize a more identity-focused politics inside the party.
Barker says the trend has accelerated since Democrats’ 2024 loss, pointing to Zohran Mamdani and Darializa Chevalier as evidence that progressives now use super PAC-style outside spending like the party establishment.
Chevalier’s campaign rejected the charge, saying she raised more than $1 million from over 10,000 individual donors with an average contribution of $66 and takes no corporate PAC money.