Democratic populists hold the key to control of Congress and the future of their party

Democrats have struggled for years with populist working-class voters, ceding precious political ground to Republicans. This year, a series of congressional races could help turn the tide — or intensify it, even after Election Day.

Democratic lawmakers like Senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Jon Tester of Montana, and Representatives Jared Golden of Maine, Mary Peltola of Alaska and Marie Gluesenkamp of Washington represent working-class districts that are waging tough reelection campaigns this year. With Republicans’ razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives and Democrats’ Senate majority, their races are at the heart of both parties’ path to control of Congress.

But as Republicans compete with working-class voters and Democrats have fewer and fewer national leaders with brands that appeal to them, retaining the remaining lawmakers is also critical to the party’s long-term hope bank of national spokespersons. fight against workers’ populism.

Populist enthusiasm among working-class voters is “absolutely a major driving force,” said John LaBombard, a former Senate aide to Red State Democrats. “I tend to think that my party has sometimes been slow to pick up on what a winning message and a winning candidate mean to working-class voters, and as a result of factors both within and beyond our control, to some extent we have lost that battle immensely.

LaBombard emphasized “the importance of having go-to figures in the national party where those people can stay with their constituents, “We are not just a national Democrat. We understand working people. We understand these issues and can talk about them.” And it helps the Democratic Party be a bigger tent, more attractive and less toxic to winnable voters.”

Since former President Donald Trump entered the political stage in 2015, Democrats have faded into the background compared to white voters without a college degree. He used his brash politics to appeal to voters frustrated by a government they felt had left them behind. That derailment, Democrats fear and polls show, is spreading to black and Latino voters without a college degree.

(WASHINGTON) – Voters without a college degree are far from the only desirable demographic. Vice President Kamala Harris is also working to expand support among women and seniors with appeals to issues like abortion and rights, and Trump is working to expand support among younger men, who are leaning on male-oriented podcasts to promote a to underline the bravado that his campaign believes is attractive.

But voters without college degrees are especially coveted as one of the cornerstones of contemporary politics. And they lean Republican — supporting Trump by a 50-48 margin in 2020, but by a 53-42 margin in a recent New York Times/Siena College poll — putting Democrats’ path to the White House and congressional majorities in jeopardy this year.

“It’s the biggest engine there is in Republican politics, and it’s the biggest area of ​​recovery that Democrats are particularly focused on this election cycle,” said former Wisconsin GOP strategist Brian Reisinger, author of ‘Land Rich , Cash Poor’, which examines the economic struggles of farmers. “Republicans are doing everything they can to maximize this as their main path to victory, and you have Democrats who have recognized this.”

Democrats emphasize that their policies are more suited to working-class voters, pointing to their support for unions and tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans, among other things. But, lawmakers and operatives said, there is a more emotional hurdle that Democrats have been unable to overcome before entering a policy discussion — while acknowledging voters’ frustrations.

“People communicate on an emotional level first and you can’t talk people out of their feelings with a spreadsheet. You have to understand what they are saying to you,” said Gluesenkamp Perez. “Rural communities like mine, we don’t like it, we don’t like it when a politician says, ‘Hey, sorry, your economy has collapsed, fill out this 200-page grant application, and maybe I can help you.’”

It is a strategy that an increasingly small number of lawmakers have used effectively to stay in power and represents what on paper appears to be hostile territory.

Golden, a tattooed combat veteran whose district is expected to support Trump again this year, described populism in a speech in July as “the public’s disdain for an elite consensus that appears to be stacked in favor of the powerful and wealthy — regardless party or ideology. – at the expense of everyone else – regardless of party or ideology.”

Voters “trust me, when necessary, to stand up for them against elites who don’t care about them, or where they come from, or how they have lived, even if that means standing up to my own party. ” he said.

To convince voters of this, however, Democratic lawmakers and candidates must have a shared experience with the voters whose support they want.

‘You have to have candidates who drive like crazy, who struggle to get a mortgage, who work multiple jobs. You have to have different candidates,” said Gluesenkamp Perez, who ran a car repair shop before winning her seat in 2022. “The model that you need to be someone with a JD and a trust fund and no kids doesn’t deliver the nuance.”

Democrats are trying to create an opening.

Harris elevated Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a military veteran, hunter and former public school teacher, as her running mate. Gluesenkamp Perez cited Rebecca Cooke, who grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, and Whitney Fox, the daughter of a nurse and single mother, as examples of congressional challengers who could broaden the party’s appeal.

And the party still has a group of lawmakers already in Congress — for now.

“There are a lot of voters in rural areas who may be very conservative, they may lean Republican, but they’re not that ideological. What I mean by that is if they think you’re fighting for them and they hear the right issues, they’re willing to vote for you,” Reisinger said.

Democrats’ ability, or lack thereof, to make that happen will be crucial this year.

Brown and Tester’s races will likely determine the Senate majority, and there are plenty of Democratic populists who could make a difference in which party controls the House of Representatives.

And in addition to fighting for majorities in Congress, Democrats, desperate to make up ground, especially in rural America, said they need the lawmakers in power to make a strong case and let them pass. see that the rhetoric of a big tent party is not just talk.

But standing in the way is a Republican Party that, under Trump, has gobbled up support in rural America, achieving a long-standing goal of the Republican Party.

“Twenty years ago I said the Republican Party should become the party of Sam’s Club, not just the country club. Ironically, Donald Trump did more to achieve that goal than any Republican candidate in a long time,” said former Republican Governor of Minnesota Tim Pawlenty.

And, some Democrats warned, the perpetuation of Democrats’ existing perceptions could turn into a political reality that could make it difficult for candidates to defy.

“There is still a lot of ground to make up in terms of credibility,” LaBombard said.

“Depending on how this election goes, we have the opportunity for some perhaps limited but important steps in the right direction when it comes to making the Democratic Party attractive to working-class, populist voters. Or we also have the possibility of losing a lot of ground in terms of the voices that we have and that we have elevated so far.”

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