Holly Otterbein
Holly Otterbein is a senior politics reporter at Axios who covers Democrats, focusing on the party’s internal power struggles, campaign strategies and future leadership. Her reporting follows how progressive insurgents, establishment figures and party institutions clash and cooperate as they navigate primaries, midterms and the run-up to the 2028 presidential race. She has reported for national and local news organizations including Politico, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Magazine, the Philadelphia Daily News, WHYY and City Paper, giving her a long view of Democratic politics across different levels of government.
Bernie’s revolution gets a test run for 2028
Otterbein returns repeatedly to the question of how Bernie Sanders–style populism and democratic socialism are reshaping the Democratic Party ahead of 2028. In her piece on Michigan and Wisconsin, she follows Abdul El-Sayed and Francesca Hong as they cast their statewide campaigns as proving grounds for a more populist national agenda in key presidential battlegrounds.
She ties their efforts directly to the prospects of future progressive presidential hopefuls, arguing that success or failure in these races will signal how open Democratic primary voters are to a left-wing nominee in 2028.
Her broader 2028 coverage underscores the tension between identity and electability, including reporting on Democrats privately debating whether their best chance to win back the White House is to nominate a straight, white, Christian man. Taken together, these stories show a reporter focused on the long arc of party strategy, not just individual contests, and on how ideological currents on the left will shape the next presidential field.
Left turn in Michigan: Tuesday’s primary takeaways
Otterbein frequently uses “takeaways” pieces to interpret what Democratic primaries say about the party’s direction.
In Michigan, she explains how El-Sayed’s victory over moderate Rep. Haley Stevens is both a win for the insurgent left and a rebuke to party leaders and big donors who backed Stevens, even as she notes that he underperformed expectations. In Wisconsin, she frames David Crowley’s narrow win over socialist Francesca Hong as a setback for progressive momentum, highlighting how establishment Democrats scrambled late to block a left-wing candidate and what that means for party unity heading into November.
Her coverage of Graham Platner’s nomination in Maine stresses how personal scandals and strategic worries can complicate what looks on paper like a prime Senate pickup opportunity for Democrats. These analytical pieces rely on vote margins, polling and fundraising data, and they treat primaries as national signals about the balance of power between the party’s center-left and its more populist wing.
Scoop: Dems beef with party leaders over snubbed Black candidates
Otterbein’s scoop-driven work focuses on Democratic infrastructure and internal disputes over money, endorsements and representation.
In her reporting on House Democratic leaders, she details how members are pressing party leadership over the lack of Black candidates receiving top-level support in the closing weeks of the 2026 midterms. She has covered tensions over DCCC dues and fundraising expectations, showing how obligations to pay into party committees can become flashpoints among lawmakers and shape intra-caucus relationships. Her exclusive on an anti-AIPAC super PAC preparing to challenge nine House Democrats documents how outside progressive groups seek to reshape the party from the left, building on earlier primary victories over incumbents.
In a separate story on the Democratic National Committee’s 2024 election “autopsy,” she reports that its author concluded the war in Gaza hurt Kamala Harris politically and privately shared that assessment with a pro-Palestinian group, linking foreign policy decisions to intraparty criticism and future strategy. This cluster of coverage presents her as a reporter who understands the intersection of race, ideology, foreign policy and money inside Democratic organizations and who regularly uncovers internal debates that rarely surface in public.
Inside the socialists’ civil war over AOC and 2028
Otterbein closely tracks Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the broader left flank of the party, documenting both their influence and the pushback they face. She has reported on swing-state Democrats keeping AOC off the campaign trail, showing how candidates in critical battleground districts worry that her brand could complicate their own races even as she remains a star with the party’s progressive base.
In another piece, she follows AOC’s upstate New York barnstorming and voter turnout efforts as an early test run for a possible Senate bid, connecting her moves to the larger puzzle of how the 2028 Democratic primary might take shape.
Her co-authored story on the socialists’ “civil war” over AOC and 2028 examines divisions within the Democratic Socialists of America, revealing fractures among activists who previously powered progressive victories but now disagree over strategy and leadership. Complementing this focus on personalities, her reporting on Democrats’ ads tying Republicans to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal shows how campaigns deploy hard-edged attacks and scandals to try to define opponents in midterm races.
Across these stories, Otterbein emphasizes strategic calculations, reputational risks and the ways high-profile figures and aggressive messaging can help or hurt Democrats in closely fought contests.
4 more politics journalists.
A.D. Quig
A.D. Quig follows money and power through Chicago and Cook County government, showing how political decisions, taxes and public spending affect residents and businesses. At the Chicago Tribune, she covers city and county politics, municipal finance, tax policy, budgets and the structures shaping mayoral and council authority. She joined the Tribune in 2022 after covering politics for Crain’s Chicago Business and The Daily Line. Her work examines council power, ethics rules, police leadership, tax incentives, public agencies and pandemic aid. She has reported on data center tax breaks, property tax errors, federal relief spending and the fiscal effects of major development proposals. Quig combines insider government reporting with public accountability journalism. She uses public records, data and budget documents, follows committees and staff negotiations, and explains complex decisions in plain language with precise numbers and a direct link to everyday consequences.
Adam Daly
Adam Daly covers politics for amNewYork with a focus on the inner workings of city and state government and the low-profile forums where power is exercised and negotiated. He reports on commissions and panels that shape how New York is governed, treating charter reform and government efficiency as central political terrain. His coverage of moves to replace an Adams-era charter commission with a new government efficiency panel foregrounds mandate, authority, and what “efficiency” means in practice for agencies and services. He tracks who gains and loses influence when one commission supplants another and which constituencies are being answered to. Daly explains dense procedural questions in clear, reader-facing terms, using specific institutional details and occasional wordplay to connect jargon-heavy reforms to public spending, service delivery, and mayoral power.
Adam Pack
Adam Pack covers Capitol Hill through power struggles, investigations and ideological fights, focusing on how Congress intersects with Donald Trump’s agenda. He is a politics writer on Fox News Digital’s Capitol Hill team, covering Congress, federal elections, legislative battles, election rules, war powers, primaries and intraparty fights. He previously wrote for the Daily Caller News Foundation. His reporting examines deadlines, vote counts, bill language, campaign spending, court rulings, oversight reports, culture clashes and emerging issues such as AI-backed political groups. He has covered FISA reauthorization, defense spending, the SAVE America Act, housing policy, redistricting, candidate absences, primary spending and disputes over sex, gender, religion and race-based caucuses. He reports primarily through news features and investigative-style pieces built around documents, committee reports, court records, unearthed video and specific legislative details. He often co-writes complex Capitol Hill stories and publishes “FIRST ON FOX” exclusives.
Adam Sullivan
Adam Sullivan is a veteran politics reporter for WCAX who connects elections and party disputes to everyday life. He covers statewide races, party primaries, federal representation, political rhetoric, extremism, and accountability across the Upper Valley and neighboring states. His reporting includes Becca Balint’s victory over Molly Gray in the Democratic U.S. House primary to replace Congressman Peter Welch. He also reports when political controversies affect public safety, political culture, towns, and institutions, including a New Hampshire Libertarian Party post endorsing violence against elected Democrats. Sullivan follows cultural stories with civic consequences, such as Noah Kahan’s appeal to fans to stop stealing a Strafford road sign linked to his music. He writes straight news centered on concrete events, official reactions, political context, community impact, and what comes next.