Democrats Feud Over Stock Trading Rules Ahead of Midterms
Internal divisions are roiling the Democratic Party over congressional stock trading rules, even as the party works to sharpen its anti-corruption message against President Donald Trump ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. From Texas to California, Democratic candidates are increasingly targeting one another over personal stock trades, wealth, and corporate money in a series of heated primary battles, as AP News reports.
The Texas Showdown
The most intense clash is unfolding in Texas’ 33rd Congressional District, where former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred is challenging incumbent Rep. Julie Johnson in a Democratic primary runoff on Tuesday. Allred has made stock trading a central issue, denouncing Johnson for trades involving Palantir, a data analytics firm with ties to the Trump administration.
“What about the stock trading in Congress? What about people getting rich in Congress?” Allred said, describing the questions he hears from voters. “And I have to say to them, you’re absolutely right about that, too. We need to be better.”
Johnson defended her trades, saying they were handled by a financial manager and that she made only $90 on the Palantir transaction. She accused Allred of being “only out for himself,” pointing to disclosures showing his wealth nearly doubled during his time in Congress. Allred countered that his assets were in a blind trust and the growth came from his wife’s income as a law firm partner.
“To be clear, the sum total I made on that trade was only $90,” Johnson said of her Palantir stock. “My opponent is trying to make it seem like it was hundreds or thousands.”
A Party-Wide Pattern
The Texas race is emblematic of broader debates within the Democratic Party over the role of money in politics. Accusations that political rivals are self-dealing or beholden to special interests have become a mainstay of Democratic primaries across the country.
In Utah’s 1st District, state Sen. Nate Blouin has criticized former Rep. Ben McAdams for holding equity in a Utah data center firm. McAdams said the equity was payment for a past contract completed while he was a private citizen. Blouin also defended his own decision to return corporate donations, saying, “There is a perception that campaign contributions from lobbyists and companies influence votes, and I think there is some truth to that.”
In New York’s 10th District, former NYC Comptroller Brad Lander has accused Rep. Dan Goldman — an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune — of trying to “buy” the election with his personal wealth. Goldman, who placed his assets in a blind trust in 2023, said through a spokesperson that he has raised more campaign funds than Lander “without taking a dime of corporate PAC money.”
“It is certainly anti-democratic when a quarter-billionaire like Dan Goldman dumps millions of his own inherited wealth into his elections,” Lander countered.
California Contests
Even representatives who support a stock trading ban are feeling the heat. Rep. Brad Sherman of California, who backs a ban and holds only three inherited stocks, faces primary challengers criticizing him for holding any stocks at all.
“I only own three individual stocks, which I inherited from my mother when she passed away, which were originally acquired by my grandmother,” Sherman said. “I have never sold them because I made a promise to my constituents that I would not buy and sell individual stocks.”
His challenger, Jake Levine — a former climate adviser to President Joe Biden who signed the Political Integrity Project’s pledge — said Sherman “knows he’s losing because voters are sick of politics as usual.”
In the race to succeed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco, state Sen. Scott Wiener has criticized progressive opponent Saikat Chakrabarti over undisclosed stock trades and personal wealth. Chakrabarti, a former Stripe employee who earned millions before entering politics, said his wealth as a private citizen is not relevant and pledged to place all assets in a blind trust if elected.
The Political Integrity Project
Tracking these battles is the Political Integrity Project, a nonpartisan organization founded by Daniel Lobo-Lewis and Nico Agosta that monitors congressional stock trading and corporate donations. The group asks candidates to sign an “integrity pledge” to refrain from trading stocks or accepting corporate donations while in Congress. About 90 challengers and seven sitting lawmakers have taken the pledge so far.
“The difficulty is that right now, no party has the mantle on anti-corruption,” said Lobo-Lewis. “Many voters outside of the beltway see both parties as corrupt, because they see all politicians as bought by the donors or by their own self-interest.”
He added: “If we want to, in any way, start rebuilding trust in our political institutions, it starts with no-brainer changes like this that have an approval rating above and beyond any other issue you could imagine.”
A Stalled Bipartisan Effort
Despite broad public support and even President Trump’s endorsement during his State of the Union address, a bipartisan bill to ban congressional stock trading has stalled in Congress. Multiple proposals exist on Capitol Hill, but none have gained sufficient traction to become law.
Meanwhile, Trump himself has drawn scrutiny over his own stock trading. The president disclosed more than 3,700 stock trades in the first quarter of 2026, valued between $220 million and $750 million, including investments in companies directly affected by his policies, as AP News reported.
What’s Next
The Democratic infighting over stock trading comes at a critical moment. The party is simultaneously trying to build a unified anti-corruption platform, with House Democrats recently launching a task force to overhaul ethics rules and highlight Trump’s business dealings, as AP News reported. The 2026 midterms will determine control of both chambers of Congress, and the outcome of these intraparty battles could shape the party’s message — and its chances — in November.
For now, the feud shows no signs of abating, as candidates across the country continue to weaponize the very issue that Democrats hope will carry them to victory.