dan turrentine

Co-host w’ Rachael Bade & Sean Spicer of @thedchuddle on YouTube; x-Dem politico, Capitol Hill chief of staff, lobbyist; healthy habits; NY sports fan; fam of 6

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

Wrote the same thing on @Substack yesterday....

[David Axelrod @davidaxelrod]

Lost in the recriminations about Platner is the most essential question that applies well behind Maine:
How did a deeply flawed but gifted candidate build such a devoted following?
It was a vote of no-confidence in policies and a politics that many Mainers feel are failing them.
So Dems, you may not have liked his RXs but you'd better have some real, meaningful answers to these concerns.

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

Platner Is The Opposite of Biden

https://t.co/K2HVALJRuI

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

Interesting, because some of @NYCMayor advisors are also @grahamformaine ‘s.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Mamdani on Platner: "I believe it's time for him to drop out of the race"

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

As of today, unless AOC runs, the Sanders wing of the Party currently has a vacuum for ‘28 , so I get folks thinking here. AOC is a great political athlete, but, as of now, I have a tough time seeing her capturing the nomination. Long way to go!

[Polymarket @Polymarket]

BREAKING: AOC soars to an all-time high in the odds to be the 2028 Democratic nominee.

She’s now within 2 points of Gavin Newsom.

[Amy Walter @amyewalter]

Lotta folks overthinking Platner replacement. Gideon’s failure in 2020 wasn’t that she was unable to flip rural Maine blue — instead, she drastically underperformed Biden in the most populous parts of the state.

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

Will be fascinating to watch the CBC next Congress. It is likely to lose more members, as more southern states redistrict post VRA.

The likely next Congressional Black Caucus chair has big plans for the shrinking powerhouse - POLITICO https://t.co/CxU10lGvUC

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

With all due respect to The Leader and DSCC Chair, the real question is what do Maine neighbors, early endorsers @BernieSanders & @ewarren say? If they withdraw support, it’s not the establishment, but movement leaders, who give a permission structure for the grassroots. Sanders, Warren et Al’s endorsement of the next candidate will be crucial to unity.

[Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur]

New Schumer/Gillibrand statement: “The allegations reported today are incredibly disturbing – violence, abuse and sexual assault are absolutely unacceptable. 

“Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins. The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot.”

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

The news today about Platner was not a surprise to one organization. I hear a certain group was in the field late last week testing a handful of D’s against Collins.

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

@Billyismyboss @SenWarren @grahamformaine @dscc That was assuming the sexual assault allegations he swore were not coming, did not come. When the facts change….

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

I go back to what I said at the time on air and wrote about on Substack: @SenWarren question of @grahamformaine at the @dscc about whether any sexual assault allegations were coming was not random.

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

Reposting the Substack I wrote June 4, Why Graham Platner Should Be Very Nervous

https://t.co/V2w6bTR3cI

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

Very, very curious to hear @RahmEmanuel ‘s speech in Israel. He is one of the smartest, most savvy people I have ever seen, often seeing around corners well before others.

https://t.co/2TXfhGmQEZ

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

😳. How nimble, aggressive, smart a candidate is at a sudden development speaks to what kind of a political athlete they are. Also speaks to how bad they want to win. Great scoop @adamwren

[Adam Wren @adamwren]

Scoop: @AbdulElSayed reached out to @MalloryMcMorrow directly after she suspended her campaign Sunday. Stevens didn’t—until this evening minutes after POLITICO reached out for comment.

[Rob Flaherty @Rob_Flaherty]

Welp.

Quick take hot takes:

✅ Piker thing was a mistake, but was emblematic of the box McMorrow was in. They assumed their “first voter” was going to be a Stevens voter and not an AES voter. In the rear view mirror, that’s probably right, AND

✅ Speaks to just how hard it was for her to be the “just right” candidate. Making a play for one side iced you out of the other. Don’t know there’s much she could have done differently.

✅ CW is obviously that this helps Stevens, but I don’t know that it’s a clear bet. “Pull from everywhere” means MM had voters who thought Haley was too old school and AES was too progressive. Not clear 100% of those voters split to Stevens, or even 50%!

✅ Does speak to how difficult “young, compelling, fighter, but not progressive” is as a lane to run up when the pincer is being applied on both sides

✅Schumer money and AIPAC money combined with the $ never being there for Mallory in the same way clearly had an impact here

✅I was a Mallory supporter, but just felt like the thing never clicked on. Great communicator. Great videos. Talked about smart issues. Was never quite clear what she was about relative to the others. Thought her last ad about fighting sort of made the whole thing about whether or not you thought Mallory was cool (which I do!)

✅ There’s just a lot of voters in the dem midterm coalition that are former republicans and will crawl over broken glass to voter for a normal-seeming republican over someone they view as too extreme, which is the risk here

✅ To that end, AES can win but he is definitely the highest variance candidate — could win by 3 if his theory is the electorate is right, could lose by three if he’s wrong. His job is to expand his ceiling in both a primary and a general. Don’t know that the evidence is settled that he’s bringing new voters into the fold yet — and *ahem* he does seem kind of allergic to doing so thus far.

✅Haley *can* win but she’s gonna have the internet against her the whole times and that will make communicating really hard, and certainly will cause problems. And I just don’t that she’s got the juice to do the Slotkin thing.

✅ All in all, gonna be a white-knuckle ride for everyone on all sides of the party here, where everyone is trying out their pet theory in a must-win state. One thing to test this in Maine, where you just need to win Harris voters. Another to test in a must-win senate race in a 2x Trump state, even in a midterm. Buckle up!

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

sometimes, his bullying, hardball tactics are for good 🇺🇸😀

https://t.co/CPiGoXgoPb

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

Wow. Huge news and likely a boost for @HaleyforMI. I have said it since March 2025: this race is the canary in the coal mine for 2028.

[Mallory McMorrow @MalloryMcMorrow]

Today, I'm announcing that I am suspending my campaign for United States Senate.

And I'm doing it with a deep, deep sense of gratitude. For our thousands of volunteers, for everyone who donated what you could — building a campaign with zero corporate PAC dollars. For my staff, who built this team up from nothing. I thank you.

For my family. For Ray, who believed in me long before I ever believed in myself. And for Noa. Our five-year-old, who presses her hands up against the window to wave goodbye every morning when I leave for work.

"Remember, Mom," she reminded me recently. "It's not about if you win. It's about trying hard and having fun."

She's right. So I want to be very clear about what this announcement is not. I may be suspending this campaign, but I am not leaving the fight.

I never planned on politics. After the 2016 election, I felt lost. I picked up my phone and typed five words into the search bar: "How to run for office."

And here's what I learned: when regular people get in the fight, things can change. In my very first election, we flipped a district against the incumbent. Four years later — with so many of you — we flipped the Michigan Senate for the first time in nearly forty years.

And we didn’t stop at winning. We repealed Michigan's abortion ban. We raised wages. We made sure every child gets breakfast and lunch at school. We made it easier to go to college. We expanded civil rights and voting rights. And so, so much more.

These wins took thousands of us — showing up every single day, refusing to give up when there were setbacks. That's why I'm staying in this fight. And why I need you to stay in it with me.

Now, I haven’t been shy about calling for new leadership and a better Democratic Party. I mean it. The energy is there. People are crying out for change. And we owe it to them to listen.

Then we need to build it up, together, from the ground up.

So here's what we do next. Every day through November 3rd. We win this Senate seat and send Mike Rogers back to Florida for good. Whoever wins this primary on August 4th will have my full support.

Then, let’s elect Jocelyn Benson as our next Governor. Let’s flip the State House, and expand our majority in the State Senate. Let’s elect Democrats up and down the ticket and show the rest of this country what it means to fight like Michigan.

Ten years ago, I started this work heartbroken, typing five words into a search bar. And I learned the only thing that has ever really changed this country: ordinary people who love something enough to fight for it.

I love this country. I love Michigan. And I love the little girl who waves at me from the window every morning, trusting the grown-ups to leave her a state and a country worth inheriting.

That's who I'm fighting for.

And I'm not going anywhere. I hope you'll join me.

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

@esanzi 🔥

[dan turrentine @danturrentine]

He has inherited his father’s love of patriotic flair. And thanks for the photo bomb, Lucy 🤪