Democratic and GOP strategists on what the parties have learned from voters

Jeff Bennett:

Joining us now for more political analysis are two political strategists. That’s Democrat Amecia Cross and Republican Wyatt Ayres.

It’s great to see you both.

So, Amicia, we’ll start with you.

What lessons, if any, can Democrats take from those victories as they head into the midterms?

Amecia Cross, Democratic strategist:

Affordability, affordability, affordability, installing Trump in the hardest hit places.

I think the economic downturn as it relates to people’s wallets and not being able to go to the grocery store, not being able to feed their families, the SNAP cuts that are coming from the Big Beautiful Bill Act, but on top of that, the government shutdown, where millions of families across this country in poverty are unable to access SNAP food stamp benefits.

You name it cost, it’s gone up. And the families are really hurting. I think this is a great night for Zahran Mamdani, as well as for Mikey Sherrill. We also saw great victories in Virginia. We’ve also seen him in red. I have family in Mississippi.

I think to see a black state senator running and disrupting what is an overwhelming majority in Mississippi, which is a very red state, is very big. So, I think Democratic voters showed up all over the ballot and showed that their voices were heard. But they also witnessed this administration’s authoritarian slide, which is what really drove them to the polls.

And I think Democrats need to keep telling this story. They must continue to depend on the cost of goods and services, how people need them, and what the government can and should do for them. This is the path to victory.

Jeff Bennett:

And, Wyatt, if you look at the margins of those races, those key races, it was a blast. We have some data we can put in there now. And if you look at the polls, they showed that voters were very concerned about the economy and jobs and the cost of living, as Amicia was discussing.

Given President Trump’s inability to deliver the economic transformation he promised, how much responsibility will Republicans bear in the coming months and years?

Whit Ayres, Republican strategist:

There is no doubt that the economy and cost of living was a major factor. Donald Trump was elected largely to stimulate the economy and reduce inflation.

So anything that does the opposite is a problem for Republicans. They got a year to find out. Most economists I spoke to seem to believe that tariffs increase inflation, not lower prices. So they will have to figure out how to deal with both tariffs and inflation, which seems to be creeping up.

Jeff Bennett:

And, Amicia, there will inevitably be debate about which model Democrats should follow before 2026. Is it the pragmatic centrism of Spanberger and Sherrill, or the populist progressivism of Mamdani?

How do you see this formation?

Amicia Cross:

I guess it depends on where you’re running.

All politics are local. We know that. Tailoring your message to your audience will always be extremely important. Affordability is the name of the game. And at the end of the day, if you’re running in New York, if you’re running in South Carolina, if you’re running in Georgia, if you’re running in Massachusetts, people will still care about affordability.

There is a way to carry this message without being too far left. There is a way to carry this message by being moderate, in the center, in the center left. And I think we saw in multiple states yesterday that they’ve figured that out based on the population that they serve. This could be at the national level as well.

Anyone running for president in 2028, as well as those running throughout next year’s midterm elections, are aware of who their voters are. They will talk to them and meet them wherever they are.

The best lesson I learned, I think they took away from last night’s races, is that you have people who listened to their constituents. They heard their screams. They cared about what people wanted to see from their government, and they gave them a message that worked. They included them in their campaigns. They used this messaging strategy to get the vote out. This is what really matters.

White Iris:

Jeff, let’s keep the New York elections in perspective here.

A very talented socialist got about half the vote in one of the most liberal, Democratic-dominated cities in the entire country. This is not a formula you can follow on the road in most of America, with the possible exception of San Francisco or Portland.

Jeff Bennett:

The two losing candidates in the New Jersey governor’s race and the Virginia governor’s race were closely allied with President Trump and refused to distance themselves from his policies.

So, to what degree should last night’s results be viewed as a referendum on Donald Trump and Trumpism?

White Iris:

Well, Amy did point out that Donald Trump was a major factor, but it was also a strange strategy on the part of these two Republican candidates.

Donald Trump lost both states three times. The best he did was in 2024, where he got 46 percent in both states. I can’t see how running as a Donald Trump clone in a state he lost three times is the path to victory. This was not the case for any of these Republican candidates.

Jeff Bennett:

Amicia The flip side of Mamdani’s rise and victory in New York City is that Republicans will be eager to make him the new face of the Democratic Party. Could this be a risky proposition for Democrats heading into the general elections and midterms?

Amicia Cross:

Well, we’ve seen them try that before. They tried to make AOC the face of the Democratic Party. They tried to make several New York leaders the face of the Democratic Party. It is the most populous city in America, the most diverse, and has a larger economy than most states.

We’ve been here, done that, and seen this page before outside the Republican Party. What they have to understand here is that most people in New York could have cared less about whether Mamdani was a democratic socialist or not. If you ask most of them, they don’t know what a democratic socialist is.

What they cared about was the fact that this guy was running on a platform of affordability, making sure that their grocery prices were lower, making sure that they had the ability to afford child care, you name it, so that they could have access to what we all consider the American dream. This is a message that can work across the country.

And I think Republicans need to focus more on opening up government, which is one of the main reasons he lost at the polls as well, as well as ensuring that the things that Trump ran on that got votes in 2024, which was largely affordability, that he can achieve.

If he can’t, he will continue to pile up losses, and so will his party.

Jeff Bennett:

Whit, in the remaining time, I want to draw on your extensive experience here in Washington and ask you about the shutdown, because in this closed-door meeting today with Senate Republicans, the president said, “The election results prove that the government shutdown was worse for us than it was for the Democrats and that Republicans are getting killed.”

That’s according to several Republican senators. This is a complete contradiction of the message that Republican Party and congressional leaders are trying to put forward. What is the effect?

White Iris:

I think most Americans are disgusted by a Congress that cannot pass a budget and keep the government open. I think they blame Republicans, they blame Democrats, they blame anyone involved.

They need to open up this government and get people back to work. Otherwise, I think America will blame everyone involved, and Congressional approval for jobs will drop below 10%. It’s not really good right now.

Jeff Bennett:

Whit Iris, Amicia Cross, thank you both. It’s good to talk to you.

White Iris:

It would be my pleasure. It’s good to see you.