In just the same way that a series of unexpected events, fumbles, and falls saddled the Democrats with a Joe Biden candidacy they never wanted, a Biden presidency could see another unexpected figure vault to prominence. That would be Delaware senator Chris Coons, the man sitting in Biden’s old Senate seat, whom Politico dubbed “the Biden whisperer,” and who is tipped to serve in his cabinet or play a key role in pushing his agenda through Congress.

For anyone still seriously hoping a President Biden will be the second coming of Franklin D. Roosevelt, this poses a problem — because Coons is not just a Biden-style centrist dealmaker who favors a GOP sign-off on whatever he does, but one of the most dependable footmen for the pharmaceutical industry.

Tomorrow, Coons is looking to survive a primary challenge by Jessica Scarane, a DSA- and Sunrise Movement–backed thirty-five-year-old progressive running on a Berniecrat agenda that includes Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and a $15 minimum wage. Scarane has made Coons’s warm relationship with Big Pharma one of the cornerstones of her insurgent campaign, saying that his work for the industry is “just unacceptable to me.”