Briahna Joy Gray: Progressives like Turner should reconsider running as Democrats

Briahna Joy Gray, former national press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign, said Wednesday that the defeat of progressive candidate Nina Turner in Ohio’s special congressional primary race should lead similar politicians to question whether to run as a Democrat in the future. 

In an interview on Hill.TV’s “Rising,” Gray reflected on the efforts by members of the Democratic establishment to campaign against Turner and back her opponent, Shontel Brown, who won the race Tuesday. 

Brown had attracted the support of House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and former 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, while Sanders openly campaigned for Turner. 

“I think these election results are going to tee up deeper questions that have been percolating about how much a candidate like [state] Sen. Turner should continue to try to run within a Democratic Party that will go so far and do so much to try to prevent them from being in office,” Gray argued. 

She went on to say that if progressive candidates are “going to be smeared as anti-Democrat for supporting Medicare for All… at what point are… progressives going to continue to run candidates that openly choose to identify with that party?” 

Watch part of Gray’s interview above.