Veteran Dem senator cruises past far-left primary challengers in bid for sixth term

Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Jack Reed fended off two progressive primary challengers Wednesday, extending a three-decade hold on his party's nomination as the 76-year-old senator seeks a sixth term in Washington.

Reed defeated Connor Burbridge, a "small business owner, elder-care worker, community organizer, and a working-class Rhode Islander," according to his campaign website, and Luis Muñoz, a medical school graduate, med tech entrepreneur and former candidate who previously ran for Rhode Island governor in 2018 and 2022, according to Muñoz's LinkedIn profile and local reporting about his previous runs.

The victory sends Reed to the November general election against Republican Ray McKay, who ran unopposed in his primary, and independent Michael Bahry.

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Reed's father was a World War II veteran and janitor from Cranston, Rhode Island, before eventually working his way up to becoming a custodial supervisor of the city's entire school system, according to Reed's campaign website. 

Reed, who cites that working-class background as pivotal to his upbringing, attended West Point later in life, and ultimately spent time in the Army before getting a Master's degree in public policy and a law degree from Harvard.

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The primary exposed a divide between a more moderate establishment candidate like Reed, and the two progressive challengers he faced who ran on things like abolishing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), taxing wealth and ending aid to Israel.

Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has supported continued military assistance to Israel despite criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calling for renewed efforts toward a two-state solution.

He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 after serving three terms in the House, and in addition to being the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, Reed also serves on the Appropriations, Banking and Intelligence committees.

His campaign reported roughly $3.4 million in total receipts during the 2025-2026 election cycle through Aug. 20 and had nearly $3.1 million in cash on hand, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.

By comparison, Burbridge reported raising just over $25,000 through Aug. 20, while the FEC listed no fundraising totals for Muñoz's campaign ahead of the primary.